6society

06 Z Enthusiast here. Have noticed a very high pitch noise from my manual transmission. Only happens when the car is cold. Only happens when the car is in gear, if i clutch it or coast in neutral, the noise stops. It goes away after about 3-4 minutes of driving.
Idiots at the dealership told me "not to worry about it, it will go away". But it hasn't. Anyone else have this problem?
Car only has 3400 miles on it. Any similar experiences? Thanks

Jcolman

My 03 does the same thing when the temp drops below 40 degrees. I wish I knew exactly what's causing it but I'm not too worried as it doesn't seem to affect the performance in any way.

ZPatrick

+1

06r33z

iTrader: (2)

it might be the pilot bushing

dbpoet

+1

svangogh

I also hear a high pitched noise when it is cold out. Usually lasts only 5-10 minutes until things get warmed up but the noise in my car is directly related to the speed of the car. Pushing in the clutch, shifting or engine RPM makes no difference. The noise starts around 25 mph and gets higher pitched the faster I go. The sound reminds me of a high pitched wind noise, an unlubricated bushing/bearing or even like an old dried out speedometer cable whining in its casing.

The sound I hear is not constant either it will dropout and change pitch even at a constant speed as if it is has some lubrication but not enough to keep it quiet.

Combine that with the fact that it is almost impossible to shift into second when it is cold (at least since I had the MT lube changed) and I'm just about ready to park it until it warms up. (I never had these problems when I lived in Pensacola)

702Fairlady

iTrader: (5)

I have the whine also. Hella annoying when your driving down the road for the 1st 10 or so mnutes

bjr

My rear whines when I leave the parking lot at work and it is cold in the winter. Five minutes down the road and it stops. Probably pretty normal. I recently changed the diff fluid and went with Amsoil. Can't say if it changed anything because it is so mild here. We should have about 2 foot of snow this month by now and it is currently raining sideways like it is March! Sorry I can't be much help but if they told you it is normal that is what your warranty is for. Get them to go for a ride with you and hear it themselves if you can? then stop worrying about it
p.s. I think they are half right "don't worry about it" - yes "it will go away" - no it won't, but that's OK

Bevo

bjr, I was wondering which Amsoil differential fluid did you use?

Thanks

Lsmith9523

+1 on the wind type noise and very hard shift to second when cold. 06 here and I didnt know what that noise was when I first heard it..Sounded like some kind of weird blowdryer,,then while you are listening to that noise, trying to figure it out,,,,you cant get the car into second and traffic is behind you blinking their lights and blowing their horn...cause you have lost your speed trying to shift to second,, "oh, what a nightmare"....I need tylonol,,,,its new years morning...LOL

bjr

Amsoil Synthetic Gear Lube SAE75W-90
Stock# FGR-QT is 1 quart
You will need to buy 2 quarts, the diff takes about 1.5qt if I remember correctly.
Do yourself a favor and get Stock#G-2039 hand pump kit. With that I did the whole thing in 30 minutes - assuming you are small enough to climb under the rear of the car. I just checked how level my garage floor was and determined I needed to back the rear tires onto 2 sheets of plywood I had lying around and that was it. The hand pump easily pumps the new fluid in with no trouble. Check the diff/tranny fluid changing post for more info.

NOT saying this will cure your "problem" as I already said it has not been cold enough here to notice. But if you are due for a diff change already anyway go for it, you have nothing to loose.

Kevins350z

iTrader: (36)

i am experiencing the same thing as you guys described above: high pitched nosie from the rear+hard to shift into 2nd when the car is cold. these symptoms just started right after i changed my transmittion+differential fluid to royal purple. btw, i have 06 6MT.

zpeed350

Ditto on the on the whining noise when cold. Once the temp dips below 40* the car whines until about 35-40 mph and then goes away. After 10 minutes of warming up the sound is goine completely. This is on my 03 Z.

bjr

whining noise is better with Amsoil but not gone. Oh well, I wasn't trying to cure it anyway. At about 40,000miles I switched to Amsoil in the diff. What I noticed in the last 2 weeks since it is getting colder finally is that:
1) in somewhat cold weather (30's) there is no whine with Amsoil- I think with the stock gear oil there was at that temp.
2) not having any problems with cold temps and shifting with stock or Amsoil.
3) yesterday we got 10" of snow and it was 22-26deg all day long. When I went home at the end of the day it whined a little in the parking lot and down the first 1/2 mile of road and then quit.

m3ster

My 03 whines, too. It has been anywhere from 4-15 degrees here in Utah this last week. I have 44,000 miles and I need to change my tranny and diff fluid, hopefully that will help some.

halfass872

iTrader: (35)

Just did a post about this, getting a new tranny again because of that noise!

https://my350z.com/forum/engine-and-drivetrain/244756-second-transmission-can-i-get-a-warranty.html

pln2311

iTrader: (2)

Its cold here, but I couldn't tell you if my tranny makes any noise because I can't get my car out of my apartment complex. Who makes snow chains for Z's?

bjr

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/4452/hpim0923er0.jpg
Try these. I've never used mine yet but they fit good. Plus the advertising got me convinced to get them.
http://www.scc-chain.com/Traction%20...ac_ZChain.html

Have to believe what you read a little bit becuase you won't find much advice on stuff like this but since you asked, there you go!

I think I got mine at Vulcantire.com for $62. Worth the price of one tow. Plus for me, my street does not get plowed so as long as I can make it down the block I can almost gurantee to get everywhere else without chains as long as the plows have been by once during a snow blast (like 8" or more). They make me feel better to have them in the glove box.
EDIT: I switched my pic insert to a link when I realized it was a full size shot for you modem users!

bjr

I clicked over to your link. Let me get this straight. You got all of that replaced just becuase of a noise? Was there any real problem with anything or just a noise? Each time I read the other post it seems way over reacting but maybe you didn't tell us the whole story...
Like what was the original tranny replacement due to ?

cubu

iTrader: (21)

my transmission is just plain noisy, but it works perfectly other than hard shifting when cold, it makes a rattling noise of sorts when the clutch isn't in and when i turn off the engine without clutching, i thought this was normal for a sports tranny cause my buddies' m3 sounds the same... should i take it in?