lshu

Like many others, I was annoyed with the extra transmission noise that followed the installation of Richard Paul's short shifter (which is excellent BTW). I haven't seen any real fixes on this forum to remedy the noise besides removing the green fuzzy thing, so I decided to take it a little further and dynamat the shifter area. Using about 1.5 sq ft of Dynamat Xtreme, this was the result:



I made sure that operation of the shifter did not chafe rubber or dynamat against each other. I didn't measure the decibel levels before and after, but my ear dyno says there's a definite difference, with the noise being anywhere between 50% to 100% quieter. I listened with my ear right above the shifter and also during daily driving. The noise is not only quieter but the tone of the noise is now more muffled and slightly lower pitched, not as grainy and trebley as it was before, if that's a good way to describe it. All I know is that the noise bothered me before, but now it's to the point where I don't pay attention to it anymore. The 3-4 layers of dynamat I attached to the rubber boot/shifter also noticeably reduces vibration (and hopefully noise too) about the same 50% to 100%. So now I have the same slick precise operation that RP's shifter is known for, with a lot less of the drawbacks! A worthwhile DIY for those who feel the green fuzzy thing removal is not enough.

Note: I did not try removing the green fuzzy thing first and testing it, so I don't know the difference between that and my method.

MazdaManiac

iTrader: (3)

The noise is actually coming from the stick itself, not the surrounding area.
This is the consequence of making it out of a solid piece of metal rather than the rubber-suspended construction of the OE shifter.
By DynoMatting the inner boot, you just changed the resonant frequency of the shifter, but you didn't block anything.

The best way to make the shifter quiet is to not rest your hand on it while you drive.

laythor

^+1 When I'm in someone's car and watch them rest their hand on the shifter it makes me cringe.

staticlag

^+2 driving newbs

lshu

I don't really rest my hand on the shifter much when I drive, but if I do I always try not to put much weight on it to cause more noise. For me, I found that gears 2, 4, and 6 were significantly louder than 1, 3, and 5, hand resting or no hand resting.

Richard Paul

iTrader: (5)

MM you just ruined my day/night, where the hell is your avitar.
It used to bring a little light into my life, now things are darker.
Poor me!!!

MazdaManiac

iTrader: (3)

What do you mean? I can see it. Hit F5.

AJ's Shinka

What noise? I don't hear anything and I rest my hand on the shifter when at a stop.

Richard Paul

iTrader: (5)

What is this, the kings new clothes?
I hit F5 and get nothing.
I don't care anymore, go away.

Astral

You need to use sound absorption foam, like Ensolite, not Dynamat.