Shift lever vibration
07-12-2001, 01:49 AM
#1
Intermediate
Thread Starter
Shift lever vibration
My '96 993 C4 has a bad vibration at the shift lever between 2800 and 3600 revs. It seems to get worse when the engine is warm. The shift lever vibrates and rattles - it is really annoying. Any idea, what could cause this vibration? Thanks.
07-12-2001, 10:34 AM
#2
Rennlist Member
I just fixed this problem on my '95 C2 this weekend...so maybe I can help 
First off, with the car off, can you twist or lift the shift lever with your hand? Is it loose? This was the problem with my car, so what I did was to remove the center console face (the plastic that sits beneath the hand-brake lever), the forward switches (hazard, sunroof, etc. - they just pop out gently), and take the plastic top off the gearshift. The leather is attaced to this peice, so be careful not to rip it. It turns out that the gearshift handle is bolted to the gearshift arm just behind and below the actual gearshift handle. You can actually feel the bolt through the leather. This bolt was loose on my car. Once I tore everything down, cleaned it, and put it back (using lock-tight and torquing down the bolt properly), the rattles went away and everything is fine!
(I wish I'd had a digital camera to record the process for Robin's site, since I've encounted probably 5 people with this exact problem -- seems to be common on all 1989-1998 cars after ~50K miles of driving)
Incidently, I found about $2 in change underneath the plastic covers where the previous owner must have used the tray beneath the hand-brake lever as a change purse. This was also likely a cause of some of my rattle woes.
Hope that helps, let me know if you'd like some more detail in what I did.
cheers,
sean
First off, with the car off, can you twist or lift the shift lever with your hand? Is it loose? This was the problem with my car, so what I did was to remove the center console face (the plastic that sits beneath the hand-brake lever), the forward switches (hazard, sunroof, etc. - they just pop out gently), and take the plastic top off the gearshift. The leather is attaced to this peice, so be careful not to rip it. It turns out that the gearshift handle is bolted to the gearshift arm just behind and below the actual gearshift handle. You can actually feel the bolt through the leather. This bolt was loose on my car. Once I tore everything down, cleaned it, and put it back (using lock-tight and torquing down the bolt properly), the rattles went away and everything is fine!
(I wish I'd had a digital camera to record the process for Robin's site, since I've encounted probably 5 people with this exact problem -- seems to be common on all 1989-1998 cars after ~50K miles of driving)
Incidently, I found about $2 in change underneath the plastic covers where the previous owner must have used the tray beneath the hand-brake lever as a change purse. This was also likely a cause of some of my rattle woes.
Hope that helps, let me know if you'd like some more detail in what I did.
cheers,
sean
07-15-2001, 04:41 PM
#3
Intermediate
Thread Starter
Sean,
I followed your instructions and tightened the screw between gearshift handle and gearshift arm (see attached image). It needed just a little bit tightening though. A first test showed improvement. The gearschift arm still vibrates around 3000 revs (is that normal?), but the annoying rattling noise seems to be gone.
[img]null[/img] [img]null[/img]
Thanks for your help,
Dieter
I followed your instructions and tightened the screw between gearshift handle and gearshift arm (see attached image). It needed just a little bit tightening though. A first test showed improvement. The gearschift arm still vibrates around 3000 revs (is that normal?), but the annoying rattling noise seems to be gone.
[img]null[/img] [img]null[/img]
Thanks for your help,
Dieter
07-17-2001, 09:59 AM
#5
Rennlist Member
Dieter,
I went for an extended drive yesterday afternoon to conduct some "field research" into your problem...Grin.
There is no vibration in my sift lever at any RPM unless I push it forward (R,1,3,5) or pull it back (2,4,6) under full throttle...and even then, what I'm feeling is vibration through the transmission linkage, not anything unusual.
If you have a vibration in the tranny while your hand is simply resting on the lever at 3000 RPM, then this doesn't jive with my experiment and you may want to get it looked at.
You may also want to get some second opinions from others on this board...anyone else on the board feel like helping a fellow member conduct some "field research" ???
sean
I went for an extended drive yesterday afternoon to conduct some "field research" into your problem...Grin.
There is no vibration in my sift lever at any RPM unless I push it forward (R,1,3,5) or pull it back (2,4,6) under full throttle...and even then, what I'm feeling is vibration through the transmission linkage, not anything unusual.
If you have a vibration in the tranny while your hand is simply resting on the lever at 3000 RPM, then this doesn't jive with my experiment and you may want to get it looked at.
You may also want to get some second opinions from others on this board...anyone else on the board feel like helping a fellow member conduct some "field research" ???
sean
