2nd,4th,6th gear noise
 

I am looking at picking up an 04 6 speed manual. The one thing i noticed is when the car is in any of the even gears there is a whine noise. the noise is there until the clutch is in or in any of the odd number gears. I wanted to see if anyone would have an idea as to what would cause this. any nhelp is appreciated. I am getting the car at a great price and am trying to measure how much i would need to put into it. Thanks for any help

doe it make the noise in neutral by only pressing or releasing the clutch?

bad syncros, bad pressure plate, bad clutch disc, bad clutch bearing... could be any of these parts, the truth is if you take it to the dealer you'll end up paying close to $1500 even more... just get a good low mile tranny and slap on a good clutch kit ( ACT ) ( BHR ) etc... good luck .... should not cost you more than $1000 tranny, clutch kit + labor I know that cause I went thru the drama myself....

Ohh BTW and if the engine goes bad you still have the engine warranty .. hope this helps

Thanks for the input. I figured it would be hard to narrow down till i would open it. I am going to pick it up and take it from there. I appreciate the help

anytime sports !!!!!

I know I'm digging up an old thread here, but I was hoping maybe someone could elaborate a bit more on this. After a month or so of research and searching, I finally bought my RX-8 today. Unfortunately I didn't notice this sound until I was driving it home, having already signed everything. It's just as bluestreak describes, in 2nd 4th and 6th there is a pretty constant whirring sort of noise. The car is an '07 with 30k miles on it, does this problem fall under the 5year/60k limited powertrain warranty? The bumper to bumper warranty expired in February.

May or may not depending on what it is but your cances are good. You need to call a dealer with your VIN to check the status....

Do you mean to check the status of the warranty?

Yes, I don't know the ins and outs of the limited power train coverage. Also, I have a friend with an 8 and he just found out a couple weeks ago that his car has the extended warranty from a simple call to them! It is also worth a shot that they may be able to tell you what is going on. Not that they can diagnose over the phone but maybe they can give some pointers.... My service manager knows the 8s and when I have an issue, if he doesn't know, he calls the tech help line and generally has a call back to me in short order with an "I think" type answer.

Good news for anyone else that experiences this problem:

I took my car to a Mazda dealer today and they took a look at it. After inspecting the transmission and clutch components and finding nothing, they discovered that the problem is a tear in the rubber skirt that goes around the shifter (below the leather skirt). The tear was located at the "top" of the shifter, towards the front of the car. This meant that in odd gears, the tear is in a fold and so the noise from the transmission didn't seep through. In even gears the tear is exposed and stretched, allowing sound from the transmission to seep into the cabin. I just need to find a replacement rubber skirt and it looks like it's something I'll be able to install myself, and it'll be good as new.

Any recommendations on places to buy parts? I could've gotten it from the dealer, but I wanted to shop around a bit first.

2nd,4th,6th gear noise follow up
 

Hi All,

Just wondering on the resolution of 2nd,4th,6th gear noise and wether replacing the rubber skirt eliminated the noise.

I have put a deposit down on an Rx8 and have a similar grinding noise in 2,4,6 and neutral. 1st 3rd and 5th are practically silent. I don’t agree that the car should have that sound especially as its not in the other gears.

Any comments on past experience especially fixing the problem would be greatly appreciated.

Yeah, replacing the rubber boot fixed the problem for me. It might be wise to inspect the boot before buying the car to make sure it's the same problem (and not something more serious), but I would guess that it is.

I found a guy on this forum that was parting out his 8 after it was totaled and he sold me the rubber boot for $30 or something like that. I think the Mazda dealer I was at wanted $90.

If you have access to http://www.mazdamotorsports.com/ it's part # is: F157-64-490A and they sell it for $47.48.

Edit: It's part 64-492 in this diagram

After picking up an 2007 6 speed I also noticed the grinding noise in 2nd and 4th and also in neutral. Took it to the local Mazda dealer who said it would need the box stripping down or replacing. Turns out it was a split upper shift boot. Thanks to reading this post I saved myself hundreds of pounds and taught Mazda something they didn't know in the process. Couldn't find an after market boot so cost me £80 direct from Mazda. Fitted it myself in 10 minutes.
Thank you RX8 club

Fingers crossed this is whats wrong with mine although mine makes a loud rubbing noise in 4th and 6th, not so much second but as it only happened 2 days ago maybe the tear is small.....

I have exact same noise
 

Will be super nice if the fix is that easy :)
Will post back later to confirm.

the rubber boot works, it tears on one corner, so when the shifter is one way, it opens, and the other way it closes, its why the noise is only in even or odd gears.

the transmission is really loud in these cars (agricultural?), and the boot is the only thing keeping the noise out.

Just found a tear in the boot! Ordering one now, thanks :)

Reviving an old thread but here it goes...

When i try to change gears up-shifting ( 2,3,4 or 5), ( Its 5 speed Manual BTW) the moment i press the clutch to change it, i hear a sound for a sec and it disappears.. same goes for downshifting. The sound is like a little "Chussss" or you can say A empty hollow sound for a moment.. is it normal?

It only happens during shifting so its not whining.. I really don't know how to describe it but i feel it in every gear shift.. i can BEST Describe is, it is a sound like a steel chain moves for a sec and makes that Chussss noise in total Empty hallow background.


Clutch is fine, Transmission oil changed