I'm having a very loud "gear whine" that the dealership refuses to address, they state it is normal even though I have less than 30k miles and have never heard anything as loud on the other RX8's I've driven.
To get straight to the point, if I rev and hold the throttle at any RPM while sitting still in neutral (6 spd manual) and keep the clutch pedal in there is only engine noise but if i hold the RPMS and let the clutch out there is that horrific whine... Push the pedal back in it goes away, let the pedal out and it starts again. My question is what parts could be causing that noise other than the throw out bearing? Do we have a pilot bearing and could it be the cause? If the tranny is neutral doesn't that totally elminate any internal transmission gears causing the noise? I have a meeting with the regional Mazda rep and want to be as educated as possible on the potential issues so they don't just blow me off too. Thanks for your input.

 

Yes, we have Pilot bearing.

but it should not fail like that.

and btw, why would you want to free revving it for no reason ?

the part itself is cheap, couple of bucks. its the labor that kills people.

 

Let me give a bit more background...

The gear whine I'm referring to happens all the way to redline (under load) and is quite loud, sounds like a WRC rally car (straight cut gears) and I can barely hear the engine/exhaust note over it. I've had the dealership tear down the tranny (under warranty) to replace a few parts they felt were making the noise, but that did nothing to fix the issue and they have now said they cannot do anything further without Mazda approval. The reason I explained my issue while free revving (2-3k rpms won't hurt anything) is that it eliminates alot of other variables (rear end, driveshaft, drive gears, etc). I'm just trying to find all the possible parts that could cause such a loud bearing whine and it sounds like the throw out and pilot bearings are really the only possibilities unless while the car is in neutral and the clutch is out there is still internal gears spinning in the tranny. When I meet with the rep I want to be able to explain what I feel is going on and have them prove me wrong.

 

this covers most of it...

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...=1#post2101062

if you are in neutral, it is normal.. if in gear and driving and you hear noise not so much..

beers

 

Thanks, i've moved my questions to that discussion.