Just installed Dweeb's quick shifter, please help!
 

Well, I got my quick shifter yesterday and I took it to my shop to get it installed right away...

First impressions: The shifter does appear to be made of high quality, and the workmanship is top notch. I did however expect the shifter to be much lighter than it was since my past experiences with titanium products have been quite light. This one feels a little heavier...maybe it's just me. By the way Dweeb, thanks for including the instructions, it made it much easier.

Install: I basically watched my guy install the shifter and he said it was very simple. He said it was a standard shifter like in past nissans and said nothing unusual. He followed every step in the instuctions and I thought everything was going to be fine...

Performance: After the install, I worked the shifter through the gears with the engine off, but clutch depressed and it felt a little stiff ( I figured it would loosen up after the engine was started and tranny warmed up a little), the gates of the gears were more defined as Dweeb sugested they would. Every gear worked fine, including reverse.

I was anxious to get started to test it out for real. I started the engine and pulled out of the driveway. I immediately noticed that reverse felt a little different from stock, but I didn't think much of it for now. As I put the car into first, I must say that the gear was very well defined, it just kinda got "sucked" into first gear and I was off. Sadly to say, I immediately started to hear a small whining/grinding noise from the shifter. I was a faint sound, but definitely noticeable and definitely not normal. It sounded like metal to metal contact and the grinding noise would get louder and louder as the engine revs increased. After 2.5k I shifted into second gear and the noise decreased, but again, when engine revs increase it gets louder. This persisted with every gear except 5th and 6th. I then went back and told my installer what had happened, and he said, "that's weird".

So we went back, raised the car back up and tried to diagnose the problem. He said he put more than enough grease, and that there's really no way to install the shifter wrong. He did say that he would adjust the shifter and look for any problems. So he took apart the shifter and boot, removed everything to where you were just looking at the shifter and the pivot ball. He then got under the car while I was inside the car and loosened the bolt on the tranny. He came back up to the passenger side and played with the shifter a little and re-adjusted the shifter to give it a little more free play. He this would fix it for sure, got back under the car and started to tighten the bolt. He tightened it slowly and asked me to put it through the gears until I liked it "stiffness". When I liked it, he tightened the bolt just a little more and then used the nut Dweeb supplied as a precautionary procedure. Then he came back up, fixed up the inside and I was off again. The same exact thing happened, but this time he was riding with me and he felt the base of the shifter and said that he could feel the tranny. He said the vibration was normal as this shifter is directly bolted onto the tranny with no rubber to absorp the shock and stuff. But he did say that as the engine revs increased he could feel the gears, and that was possibly where the sound was coming from.

At that point, he said that I could drive like this until tomorrow as nothing really could be damaged. He said to ask the guy who made the shifter and others would have installed it.

So do you guys that have installed the shifter get this same noise? Was there anything special that you guys did? I mean, we followed the instructions exact, and my installer was definitely more than qualified so I know it wasn't him.

I hope you guys can shed some light on this cause I'm going back tomorrow morning and he's going to take out the whole shifter and re-do it from start to finish (although he said this most likely won't change anything).


Thanks in advance for your help guys.

NiQk

NiQk,

Thanks for the post. I have one other person who noticed this today. As I mentioned, there will be a bit more noise “transmitting” from this shifter as it eliminates the rubber bushings in the shifter. And like you/your installer said, it is mounted directly on the tranny. However, I am going to check into this. I had the same problem once on my car, but found it was only a loose bottom screw, once tightened, it went away. I will work on the potential problem. However I just left town, and will not be back until Wednesday morning.
So.... I ask you and anyone else with the “vibration/excessive” noise problem, please send me an email about it, end try to tell me where the noise is coming from exactly.
Please be patient for a few days till I get back. It will be my first priority to figure out this issue.

Thank you ….

Dweeb

I have also noticed a rattle in certain gears. I believe it is the spacer on top of the shifter where the knob screws on to. I have tighten it each time I have driven .....only been twice though. I have not tighten it all down ...... I don't think. I will check it in the morning.

It may be the shifter knob.
It seems like the knob is made up of a few parts and they tend to rattle quite a bit.
I had the same problem you are having and trust me... it's not your gears making the noise. At least from the shifter mod.
I had to REALLY tighten the shifter knob to get it to stop rattling. I had to use a wrench to tighten the knob because it fits so tight and ended up scuffing the leather a little bit in the process... I'm a little bummed about that. Anyways, have your guy crank that knob down to maximum depth and you should be good, or at least much better. At the base of the threads in the shifter knob is a rubber gasket that seats on the metal washer that seats on the bevel at the base of the shifter threads. I tightened the knob until I could tell the gasket was compressed.
Mine still has a very faint rattle at top rpm but I can live with it.
When aftermarket knobs that look good come available I will probably look into those.
As you mentioned, the new shifter does pick up on vibration a lot more than stock since it's solid. I like the feel though.

NiQk, & all

I have been up all night trying to figure out why the excessive noise/vibration on certain peoples shifters. I don’t have much more noise than the stock shifter. So…. While I was racking my brain till about 5 am, and watching “Army of Darkness” ( a classic :D ;) :D ) I just could come up with anything. BUT, when I woke up, EUREKA!!! I remembered a little modification during the development. When I was designing the shifter, taking it apart, and putting it back together about million times, I lost one of the “white” hard bushings that goes on the bottom of the shifter. So I just made a couple of new ones, from a softer and different material. That maybe it !! I also don’t have that plastic “RING” on the top of the shifter boot. I removed it when I was testing different “shift knobs”.
Try to remove the plastic “RING” from the top of the shift boot, see if that helps.
I will order the original plastic inserts when I get back home, and will see if that is the cause of your noise.

I am trying :icon4: :icon4:

Dweeb

Ring on boot
 

Here is a quick test to see if it is the ring on the boot rattling against the shaft. (I think that is Dweebs thought). While it is rattling just press the boot ring against the shaft. If it stops, that is the problem.

Since the titanium is lighter it wouldn;t suprise me if it shook a tad more.

I am sure dweeb will figure it out. Just trying to help.

Wel I've got it too, big time. I have the SS q-shifter. Everything went great... having the instructions already printed saved some time and ink :). The instructions made the install a snap except for the "gentle" hit in step 8... It might be gentle with a 10 lb hammer ;-).

After the 1st test drive and a little thought about the noise I came in to post the question and found this thread, what luck... I think. I figure I was gonna have to snug up the connection at the linkage but what I read here made me hopeful I wouldn't have to drive up on the 2X4's, jack, stands, etc, and then that "rubber boot" Not sure how I got that back on last time. So I spent the past hour driving around playing with the boot and knob.

I could reduce the sound to almost nothing by messing with it, even had my neighbor ride with me and hold the whole console/boot while I drove with no knob/boot/or anything. I think the noise is still there but you almost cant hear it. I think the vibration is just amplified, well not amplified, but exposed, as each piece is added back on. I'll be back under the car, after this TV dinner to snug up the linkage and see what can be done to not transfer the reamining vibration to the console, 'cause it has lots of noise potential.

Thanks for trying to help guys...


Well, we attacked the problem first thing in the morning again today for about 2 hours. Took apart the whole inside, tried to scientifically decipher what's actually making the noise, but in the end didn't find any one concrete thing. We thought it was the adjustable plate since that's the only thing that can be a true variable between different installs. The rest of the install is simple, and can only be done one way. We also noticed that the white socket supporter on the base of the shifter has some free play, and could also possibly be it. We greased around it but the noise still persists.

After playing with it for an hour, we put it back together to see if we solved the problem, nopes, the noise actually got louder. So I know its coming from somewhere and can definitely be fixed, we just can't figure out where. So we took it apart again, looked at it for another 30 mins, talked about what can even possibly make the noise, since it's much more than a simple vibration that you would expect from a 1 piece shifter directly bolted on the tranny...

In the end, we put it back together again, just to see how the noise would go, and it got a little quieter, lol.

Now, the noise is the same whining/grinding noise that seems too mimic the gears, I'm going to see check it out again, maybe I'll get lucky.

This is a great shifter guys, the throws are nice and defined, just this noise is driving me crazy! I can even hear it with the windows down and radio slightly on.

Hope we will find the problem soon, thanks for the suggestion again Dweeb, I'm going to test it out now. Are you talking about the silver ring the circles the base of the boot?


Well, back to trying to figure out the problem, hope someone figures it out soon!

Niqk

Yeah, I thought of the same thing and drove without the center console piece, the 2 rubber boots, and even without a shift knob. I mean, I was able to look at the floor while I was starring at the shifter trying to figure it out. But the noise was so loud, that I can't even begin to diagnose anything. So that test didn't work out too well and I just had to go back once again and put the rubber things and stuff back on, obviously those helped dampen the noise a little, but it's still easily noticeable.


Niqk

Guys,
Sorry for this unfortunate experience, I promise that I will fix it. What bugs me even more is, none of the tester vehicles have this problem !!! As I said above, I think it is the different plastic/rubber bushing on the bottom of my shifter that is helping to eliminate the noise. It’s the one that is attached to the tranny linkage, that is the only thing that I can think about right now that is different. I have a bit more noise than stock shifter, but nothing like what you guys are describing.
Please be patient, as I can not do anything till I get back to town on Wednesday.

Dweeb

SOlved! Just leave the shift knob off! No, but I'm done for the day, time for some beer. I do have a few facts though. The sound is eminating from the shift knob, but it's just acting as a speaker (there is nothing that can rattle there). I lifted the car and tightened the linkage bolt and lock nut. I must have had that too loose, because this time I tried to go too tight, or at least to where I thought it would be too tight... but it wasn't, i.e., still not hard to shift. So, I then put the shift knob back on, also very tight, one more turn than I had been, to the point where it's hard to not get the boot twisted. The result of those two changes was the volume was decreased, maybe halfway. I then drove a few miles at 4 grand, poking and proding, pushing this way and that. The bottom line is there may be more vibration but I don't think so and doubt there's any reason there would be, though the angle on the trans linkage u-joint has changed a little. But while I was playing/thinking I noticed that when I moved my hand around the shifter the sounds would change. With a little practice you can get a cool wah wah wah wah wah... by opening and closing your hand :D . Then I took the knob off and the sound completely went away, so tightening the linkage had eliminated one noise. Drove another 3 or 4 miles, puttin it thru the gears, cruising at 3 or 4 grand. Everything is fine. The next fact takes a little deduction, the knob can't make noise, therefore; when the knob is tightened onto the plastic ring, it, or somethin else in that vacinity, is making noise which gets broadcast beautifully out the top of the knob.

It's time to chill, I have to go the "Hooter's bike wash" in the morning but I think with a litlle more work I'll have my buzz fixed tomorrow afternoon.

Wags
I have an idea, so, can someone try this. This “noise broadcast amplification thing” gave me an idea. Take the shifter knob off, put a bit of foam/paper/rubber or anything in the hole where the thread is in the shifter knob, and press it in (but make sure you can get it out later if it doesn’t work). Put the shifter back on,,,, see if that helps (kind of sound insulation/barrier ). Dam it, I wish I was at home.!!!

Dweeb

Hi dweeb, I tried 3 different shifters(all Momos) and 2 out of the 3 are round knobs. The round knobs rattles the least. The factory knob rattles the most. The factory knob is slightly off balanced with the round part more to the front of the car. Yes, I did tried with no knob and the noise is totally gone. I believe the shifter's weight magnifies the noice and vibration. I also noticed that the q shifter is slightly looser in the socket than the stock shifter. I ordered a new socket holder from Nissan but won't get it til Thursday. I like your idea about using a softer plastic at the bottom replacing the factory white plastic. I remember installing a SS for an Integra and B& M provided O rings for spacer. What do you thing about that idea?

This has always been a problem in solid mount shifters. You can't just solid mount it like a race car and expect it to not rattle. You can try some super heavy grease, but that's about it. The stock rubber mounted one already rattled.

danstam & all.

Please give me till Wednesday night to figure it out. I WILL get it resolved. I just need to get home.

Dweeb

Thanks. With any luck I'll figure mine out tomorrow. I'll try a little sound damper in the knob and I have get the metal washer off the original shifter, all I had on was the rubber washer...

Hi dweeb, I tried 3 different shifters(all Momos) and 2 out of the 3 are round knobs. The round knobs rattles the least. The factory knob rattles the most. The factory knob is slightly off balanced with the round part more to the front of the car. Yes, I did tried with no knob and the noise is totally gone. I believe the shifter's weight magnifies the noice and vibration. I also noticed that the q shifter is slightly looser in the socket than the stock shifter. I ordered a new socket holder from Nissan but won't get it til Thursday. I like your idea about using a softer plastic at the bottom replacing the factory white plastic. I remember installing a SS for an Integra and B& M provided O rings for spacer. What do you thing about that idea?

O-ring where? By the link to the transmission? We have already have the two plastice bushings with an o-ring cushoin between them...

WAGS, putting rubber O rings on each side of the metal tube replacing the 2 white plastic ring-inserts and also putting smaller rubber O rings inside the link just like the one inside it now. This will provide softer cushion for the shifter. I don't know if it would work, but I do think this would absorb some of the harsh vibration transmitting directly from the transmission. I would do mine as soon as I have the socket support replaced as I see some damage in mine which could also cause the noise.

Dampening Material for Shifter Knob
 

Some thoughts / suggestions.....

Could you reuse or fashion some bushings like the rubber on the stock shifter?

Also, to build on the suggestion to put some insulating material in the sifter knob before scewing it into the shifter......you know what audiophiles use to tame high frequency vibrations.....

Blue funtak! You know, the sreusable ticky putty for sticking notes to your fridge an stuff - it has excellent vibration insulating properties. Could be messy though the next time you take off the knob.