ianmc54

So i purchased a short shifter hoping i would not be one of the cars that had rattling noises. I was wrong, it rattles...loud...annoyingly loud. I know its car specific according to mazdatrix's write-up but is there anything you can do to lessen the sound? I notice when I hold the bottom of the shifter its quiets a little. What have been your experience with this problem?

Rancid7

i think there is a disclaimer on the mazdatrix site stating that it will do that .

tekwiz99

quote: "if one rattles, then EVERYONE RATTLED" XD

ianmc54

i know, i read all that before i bought it. i was seeing if i should just return it OR if there is a way to somewhat dampen the noise

tekwiz99

don't think you can get rid of that without paying restock fees.

like they said, it is tranny specific. either live with it or replace the tranny (miata gears?)

Nick86

iTrader: (1)

I have a mazdatrix short shifter, and it rattled - so I fixed it; here's how:

In my car, the rattling wasn't actually the shifter, rather it was the metal spacer ring under the bottom bushing. It hardly moved, but enough to make a noise. I took everything out and slid a couple rubber shims in around that ring. Make sure there is rubber below the ring and between the ring and the side walls. You can usually find some sort of thin rubber insulating stuff at home centres. If not, try some pieces of elastic bands.

Anyway, once I did that and buttonned it up again, the noise went away. Hope it works for you too! Try it and let us know.

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

good info, i hadn't even thought about that though ive been too busy to try and isolate the rattles just yet.

Alex6969

so rattles are assosiated with all short shifters, or just the mazdatrix ones?

papiogxl

iTrader: (6)

yes if one rattled in your car they all will, however there are a couple of things you can do to fix it.
i think someone dipped the smaller ball end in a rubber dip and the rattle went away

MRX_Rotary

I just got a miata short-shifter in there and it rattles. But it seems like it rattles only when it responds to certain resonations from my exhaust, lol. It'll happen from about 3500-5000 rpm at a certain throttle position depending on the gear, most noticeably 3rd, less noticeably 2nd & 4th, and it's nonexistent in 1st and 5th (though I don't get my car in that rpm range in 5th gear often anyway, hehe). So, it rattles depending on the pitch and volume of my exhaust. So, if I put it in 3rd and take it up to 4000 and hold it there, it won't rattle since it's not loud enough. It only does it in those rpm ranges when I'm accelerating normally (which makes it louder), whish is about 1/3 throttle, if I had to guess. It doesn't really bother me though, it's just another drop of water in an endless sea of rattles in my FC.

BTW, Karack, my miata short-shifter dropped right in without sanding down the bushing of the lower ball. Once I got my OEM shifter out I lined the lower ball with the bushing of the miata short-shifter and eyeballed it. It seemed to be the same diameter to me. It may be because I have an S5, or because I got a different shifter. I did buy the shifter from another seller, but it looked the same to me from your pictures.

STR8BALLIN - R

with the mazdatrix unit.....i read nicks suggestion on a fix went out to the car opened her up to see what i could do.
I initially tried a piece of rubber that was too thick (really not thick at all) as the space we are talkin about here is pretty tight to begin with.
Then i found some old leather laying around that looked to be thinner so I cut some shims of that...still too thick.
the thing I got to work and it stopped my rattles was I cut my shims from a rubber dishwashing glove....and packed it in there...worked great!
good luck

Nick86

iTrader: (1)

Glad it worked! A rubber glove is the perfect thickness, as you said - it's tight in there.

vhold

Someone tell Aaron Cake, I'm all set to buy his short shifter once he solves the rattle problem...

Now we need to hook him up with a good source for rubber dishwashing gloves :-)