Hey guys,

Looked around for the issue that i am having but nothing was described like my issue.

I do not notice increased gear noise while in gear but when i shift from 1st to 2nd or 3rd to forth i can hear a "phewwwuuu" sound especially when shifting quickly in high rpms. It isn't grinding because it goes in smooth but it does sound like the syncros spinning up. This sound was never apparant on upshifts with the old shifter.....is this simply a noise that i am now hearing because of the AFE SS all metal construction? and is it normal?

Thanks in advance for any insight,

Specialblend

 

I don't hear anything unusual with mine.

 

It almost sounds like when you drive over those ribbed painted strips on freeways, a very high pitched sound.

I guess you should also know that my car has the issue where when i shift from first to second, it stops in neutral for half a second then goes into second gear. While i am waiting for it to go into second that is when i hear the high pitched meshing noise.

Can't really hear it when going into third because it goes in right away but when i go into forth it does the same thing because it takes a second to finally drop into gear.

Any ideas.?....the gears still acted like that before, now it just sounds really weird.

 

1st to 2nd is always really crappy in this car I find.

 

you know with the AFE SS, ur supposed to get like a 'trigger' feeling right? cuz it gets stiffer when you upgraded from stock. i dont know if it is what you mentioned.
if it is, it only means good. but i guess people have different tastes. you shouldve tried mine at the last meet.

 

take you hand off the shifter..

beers

 

synchros

 

I put one in last week, and I hear it too.......

It COULD be the synchros spinning, it's very high pitched.

S

 

search gomez, duh!!!!

what **** are your running, and i dont mean that in a gay way!

really. the gomez search covers a lot of ground.. green felt comes to mind..

but really. i have answers!

beers

 

that was my first thought.
Did you remove the green foam from inside the boot?

If you're having to pause in neutral in between 1st and 2nd gear then it sounds like your synchros are going. (same thing happened to me)

 

It does sound like it could be the synchro's......but the metal construction is going to transmit a lot of sound into the cabin.....basically you have to learn to ignore it and try to enjoy the feel of the shifter....personally I couldn't get over it and i sold my ss to brianGT.

 

I've owned three STS and one that has the newest bushing on the bottom. I've also had two transmissions (2004 and a brand new 2008 unit). I've never had any noise that you guys describe.

 

With the voodoo **** you do hear some transmission noise, but it's difficult to hear unless the windows are up and no music is on.

 

The only time I hear any kind of noise if I have my hand on the shift **** and press it to the side of the gate... take my hand off the shift **** and sound is gone. The SS is such a treat to use, I can't imagine ever going back to stock.

 

The only time i can tell a different noise is on the decel in 2nd and 4th gear but that is so faint that it doesn't bother me at all. The noise that is weird is inbetween the shifts. It does sound kind of cool but i just want know if this is also caused by the short shifters construction or something else.

It is easy to ignore the noise all it takes is a little music, it just suprised me because i had never heard it before.

I do love the shifter though, locks right into place.

 

oh ya, stock **** as well.

 

I just switched to MazdaSpeed shift **** and it's great...

 

Sounds like synchro's to me. If you only hear it would doing aggressive high RPM (9k) shifting then it's just the synchro's. You need to give the engine a moment for the RPM to fall to where it needs to be for the next gear. A light flywheel and lightened pulleys can help shorten that time.

 

Ya that is what i figured......it also does it at lower rpm but then the noise isn't as high pitched and is shorter because it only pauses momentarily between gears. I am guessing that i had this before just with the old shifter i could not hear this noise as the construction of the old shifter prevented these vibrations from coming into the cabin.

I am thinking of switching to RP or Redline for the tranny fluid as that should help some of my notchyness. Is this something good to do before winter when usually the temperature is below 0 Celsius?

also is it important to do the diff fluid as well? i just had both the tranny and diff fluid swapped out this summer but because i was in a crunch i just got mazda to do it with the OEM stuff.

 

I've always herd the syncros spinning up between 1st-2nd gear change both transmissions a 04 and a 07. i actually enjoy the sound.

 

Ya. me too.. I like hearing what the transmission is doing.. Makes me feel like I am in a race car

I also like the "thunk" you get when putting it into 1st gear. I hear that this "thunk" is gone with the new '09 transmission

I guess it's more civilized, but I don't want my car to be too civil.

 

You need to pause in neutral between 1-2. Don't murder the 2nd synchro cause you really need that gear in this torqueless car.