Mike S.

I need your help folks. Primarily in fourth and also a bit in second, I hear a very noticeable noise emanating from the centerconsole area between the shifter and center dash vents. However, the noise is not that apparent in 1st, 3rd, or 5th gear. Just a hint and no more. Clutch in or out makes no real difference. A faster engine speed makes the sound a dicernably louder. Normal, low volume on the radio will mask the sound. This noise sound like a mix of AM radio hash and that of a bad ball bearing (i.e. high frequency rattle). Due to the higher pitched nature, it’s tough to pinpoint where it’s exactly coming from while I’m driving. It can sound like it’s coming out of the center dash vents. Somedays, it seems worse or better than others. But it doesn’t go away.

FYI, I’m at 62K miles. I bought the car (944 Turbo S) earlier this year at 60K miles. No noise until the last 500 or so miles. The past owner had a club racing clutch installed at 50K ish miles. It’s the original torque tube and transmission.

Any diagnosis help would be greatly appreciated. Why 2nd & distinctly 4th and not really any 1st , 3rd, or 5th has me puzzled. Many thanks in advance.

Mike

PSUice944

FWIW (since no one else is taking this)...

If I had a dollar for every seperate occasional rattle in my car, well, I'd have a lot of dollars.

Unless it distinctly sounds mechanical (which is usually a painful sound), I would try pusing and prodding various parts and places of your dash, maybe a good thump or 2 could fix it?

All it takes is a wire on something hollow at the right resonance to drive most people nuts!

Hope you figure it out, or keep the tunes loud

Mike S.

Chris,

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately it's a "painful" mechanical sound.

Mike

Michael Stephenson

These are some really, really wild guesses and I may be miles off the mark..

I think that there are bearings in the torque tube, but I do not know if there is a relationship between the position of the shifter and the forces exerted on these bearings. I know that when I had my clutch replaced, they replaced my shifter fork because it was bent. I was told not to rest my hand on the stick when not shifting gears becasue it can wear out some of the components.

Also, I used to have a 280Z that made noise in certain gears at certain rpm’s. Usually, these were at speeds that get a lot of use, such as 35 mph, 55 mph, etc. This car had 200,000 miles and I assume the gears were wearing out. I know that the tranny of our cars is in the rear, but when I had a bad clutch the sounds it made sounded as if it were coming from the rear of the car - has something to do with sound transfer through the torque tube. If you have nothing to do, you might consider changing the tranny fluid, but take the fill plug out before removing drain plug (in case the fill plug is frozen, you know).

Best of luck.

Mike S.

Michael,

My suspicion, although I hope I'm wrong, is that the problem is likely in the tranny. The sound transmission theory from the tranny up the torque tube seems possible. And thanks for the "make sure you can remove the fill plug first" caution. This reminded me of several past posts indicating that the fill plug sometimes corrodes itself in place. Hopefully I'll make some progress this weekend in hunting down the culprit or at least eliminating some of possible causes.

Mike

emilysgranny

Mike;sorry to say ,but this sounds like a bad bearing in the tranny.I agree with the posts about the sound travelling up the tunnel .

kukunaokala

Drain your trans and look for metal particles. Silver for steel or aluminum, magnetic particles-steel, gold particles- bronze. Stick your finger or something appropiate in the drain hole and wipe some more gunk to analyze. Changing your oil can't hurt.

Or, raise the car-jack stands, lift- and try to reproduce that noise. Then pin point the noise with a stethoscope.

Hana pa'a (good luck) and aloha, Neal

Mike S.

Emilysgranny and Neal,

Thanks for your responses and ideas. Out come the jackstands and stethoscope. If you start to see posts from me regarding "Rebuilding the Tranny," you'll know why!

Mike