Hey guys, i did search but didnt come up with any fixes,

My shifter started that annoying rattle about 2 months ago and i cant stand it anymore. Is there any fixes to it?

What i got from searching was just some cars do it and some dont. has to be a reason.

 

http://www.mazdatrix.com/shiftrat.htm

 

yeah, i read that so there is really no fix for the noise right? just have to deal with it?

 

unless you can figure something out that mazdatrix doesnt know. mine rattles too.

 

do you have a metal ****? i'm wondering if the **** i have makes the noise louder?

 

I fixed 2 by replacing the clutch back to oem. Both times the rattle was generated after the clutch was replaced. One was an RX4 and we put a solid clutch disc in it(no dampner springs). Another was an RX7 the rattle developed after replacing the engine and the clucth used was some aftermarket one. I remembered my 1st experience and replaced the clutch with an oem, noise gone. Apparently it is a result of vibrations transmitted though the clutch to the transmission and causing the rattle.

My current '81 GSL has that noise, but it is not time for a clutch yet.

 

That's interesting and i do have an aftermarket clutch but I would think if the clutch caused it at least in my case the sound would be more consistent maybe increasing with speed, but mine is intermittent. and it just started one day. I also have some twist play in the shifter it self, minimal but it's there, I'm going to take it apart this weekend and try some different ideas If i get anywhere I will post

 

First try replacing your shifter bushings. The rattle that Mazdatrix describes usually appears after installing a short shifter.

 

i have a short shifter not the stock, so i am getting the same problem they are.

 

No fix. That I know of.

 

Well the fix would be to swap in a transmission that doesn't rattle. But there is no way to know without actually installing it. Or go back to a stock shifter.

 

it is not transmission specific.

 

i was on google and youtube looking at other situations with the same issue, different cars. I saw a good amount of responses saying the rattles were from the short shifter making contact with the exhaust, i don';t know/think that's the case with the rx7 and i'm deff not swapping clutch/tranny to see if that solves it, lol

 

How on earth could a shifter ever come in contact with the exhaust?

 

^^^ now thinking about it, your right, lol it must have been a FWD car they were talking about the linkage, i didnt think that one all the way threw.

 

I've always been able to cure shifter rattle by using a complete set of new shifter bushings including springs as well as making sure the tension spring is in place. It has worked consistently on 5+ TII and NA transmissions.

None of these had short shiftes, however. Only stock.

 

yeah i don't see why the short shifter does this

 

From the mazdatrix rattling page. "On a customers '89 GTU we installed a Mazdatrix short shifter. The shifter did not rattle at all. The customer then replaced the transmission-the shifter now rattles."

Mazdatrix calls it "car" specific but they mean transmission specific. I've read that thing 50 times trying to figure out the rattle LOL!

The takeaway being, there isn't any reasonable fix to this issue.

 

In every case that I have ever seen it rattles the most in 4th gear, and some in 5th and 3rd, not at all in the 2 other gears.

Funny thing is, when I had an "02 Firehawk, this was also a topic on the forums if you changed to a short throw shifter. I avoided it then by using a B&M solid billet short throw shifter. So maybe the shifter does have something to do with it.

 

I think the extended part below the pivot point picks up vibrations otherwise canceled by the stock shifter? The world may never know

 

i got this problem after my short shifter.
on top of that i have soild tranny mount
and metal shift ****


just gotta have your hand on to it all times iguess

 

my s4 had the dreaded rattle when i bought it. when i swapped in my current motor i replaced some stuff on the trans as well. long with seals and such, i replaced both bushings, the tension springs, and the rubber boots. the old bushings and tension springs were completely broken down/destroyed. after swapping all this out my shifter is quiet as could be

 

My shifter started to make the buzzing noise after I replaced the tail shaft bushing and shifter bushings. I'm not sure if the if the spring could've been reinstalled wrong or if the bushing can be installed in the wrong order or maybe one of the springs popped off on the re install. I'll take it apart tomorrow and see if I can get it to be quiet.

 

My stock shifter started rattling after rebuilding my engine and replacing the motor mounts with the mazda comp ones. New shifter bushings did not cure it.

After replacing the inner rubber shifter boots, it went silent.

 

Another thing that helps is packing the shifter box full of thick grease, rather than just filling with transmission oil.