Mild transmission clunk when shifting?
 

Guys, I noticed that my transmission/clutch (not sure which) makes a mild clunk sound regularly, but not every time, when shifting gears. I'm not being really jerky (but I'm not perfect either). I don't remember this happening before, but perhaps I was oblivious. I've not had this in other manual cars before. Anybody else have this?

I've been auto crossing the car, and was a bit hard on the tranny at times (my heel and toe isn't the best), so I'm a little concerned - hopefully for nothing.

Thanks,

Mal.

My transmission is also pretty noisy, and I've seen other threads saying it was "normal".

Ya my tranny does this too. I think its normal if u dont hit the shift perfectly but I might be wrong lol

I'm in the same boat with the noisy trans when shifting sometimes. If you shift in the higher rpm's i notice it less or not at all

mine does it to, its normal, does anyone know where u add tranny fluid on this thing? i want to put something in that im hoping will take away the noise, but if it doesnt it will still protect my tranny from wear better.

Shifting in this car is retarded compared to almost any other stick I've driven but I'm used to it now. The noise sounds and feels like the clutch slapping against the flywheel or something happening with the shift cables where they connect at the tranny but I'm just guessing.

If you shift just right it won't make the noise and I've gotten good at it but the way you have to shift to not get the noise feels wrong compared to any other stick I've driven. It's not bad, just kind of awkward until you get used to it.

I've noticed it does that a lot to me when I put it in first.

If you lift your car and attempt to rotate the front drive wheels you'll find out where that clunking is coming from :) I did this when I rotated the tires.

yea its another "normal" that shouldnt be normal

on the side of the trans underneath it has a plus that has a square fot a socket to go into. It looks and sounds alittle wierd, i didnt believe it at first.

Its like listening to a train just starting to leave the station when its clamps and connectors start locking. "Clunk clunk clunk"

That noise you here is the coupler to the drive wheel from the drive shaft. It has a little room to play, so the clunk is when the coupler locks into place.

Yeah, I've got the same noise. I mostly notice it going from neutral to 1st from a stop.

i get it really bad going into reverse

i have it in mine to mostly noitce it going from 1st to n

mines first to second

edit: just noticed the section.. i get it in my ss sc

You can hear a whining noise from the tranny when you let off the gas in gear too. Clunky and whiny...

wow can u explain that a little better. i have no idea what u wrote

Mine too!

Okay, good to know now it isn't just me.

The only time I clunk is when shifting at low RPM. The higher gears are the worst. If I shift around 4-5K RPM, there's not clunk.

Good, Yeah the whining I have as well, while the car is slowing while it's still in gear. Dealer told me it was normal, just the trans slowing down.
Sounded weird, because I've driven plenty of vehicles that this didn't happen.
Gotta love these cobalts.

My SS has the noisiest drivetrain I've ever had in a car. I've driven beat-up-old clunkers that had less clunks and whines. After 20,000 pretty hard miles, though, it's still going strong and I've kind of grown fond of all the sounds - it gives the car character :cool:

yea i get this sound too

Really? I hate the sounds. Everyone looks, like WTF? what a POS.

Thanks guys. I feel a little better knowing it's "normal" for these cars, and that I'm not about to blow something up in the tranny.

Mine does all of the above as well.

You're just not driving aggressively enough - more revs and throttle means that nobody can hear the clunks over the engine and exhaust :guns:

I think it sounds like a dog toothed race trasmission, I love the look people give me, lol. :)

Oh and mine whines on deceleration especially in first gear.

its normal for this tranny something to do with the fact that its a high performance tranny.. apprently other high performance trannys do this as well.. or so I have been told.. shift at 3k you won't notice it anymore, or as much.

i get it real bad lol, stage 4 clutch grabs up pretty hard!!!!! big clunks lol.... aint nothin to hurt it though, i mean, what can i do, a stage 4 clutch is just gonna hit hard... its also very noisy at idle... makes a lot of clickity clackity noise... really fast... when i push the clutch in, it stops lol.. people always ask me what that noise is, and i tell them, and they're like, oh, yeah, that will do it...

absolutely, thats why I stated what I did. This is a performance transmission. If any of your ever heard what one sounds like, they whine reall nice and loud!!!

play some forza 2 and install the race transmission for an almost identicle sound to what your car makes :)

Sure is loud and un-nerving but I figure it kinda sounds like the constantly adjustable pressure plate on the clutch. Our cars have the plate that adjust to how thick the clutch is, so as the clutch wears over time the distance is always the same hence the adjustment, meaning always the same grip.

Mines been doing it since day one.....moving sound are normal.....

At the track, when I shift into second and let it go, it clunks real bad, all that damn torque I think....

My 2 cents? TURN THE RADIO UP!!!

No really. The guys talking about the trans making noises because it's a performance trans are probably close. But I believe the noise is actually caused by the differential and especially if you have LS. The Limited Slip unit is an all gear unit which is a very high performance piece. I't's an all gear (no clutch packs) and, I suspect, it uses some straight cut gears which because of the required clearances make more slapping noises than the normal helical cut gears which are normally used in the grocery getter differentials simply because they are quieter. The TC uses a Quaife all gear unit. The design is used in some of the worlds highest performing cars up to and including F1.

Of course this is only my opinion based on online references like the following;

http://www.autotech.com/quaife/differentials/diffs.htm
http://www.autotech.com/quaife/diffe.../diff_apps.htm

all above sounds about normal with mine as well.


feel comforted by words like performance and F1 lol

If you lift the car, on the tranny there will be a drain plug low, and identical to it theres a fill plug up higher. Crack the fill plug and add the additive. just realized as im typing this its from like 2009 haha but if you still want to add some thing its right there :cssNET::)

Normal on these cars, I was wondering as well when I bought the car. However a great mod to improve shifting drastically is the Powell Front Transmission Mount. No more wheel hop, shifter is more precise and everything feels more firm. You won't regret it and it's not expensive (110$)

Noob question, which one is the front and which is the rear trans mount?

Attachment 5540

Holy old thread! :lol: I even posted in this in 2009....

But the front mount is the one on the RIGHT.

^This

Transmission Clunk Not "Normal"
 

See if we can get this old thread going again.:lol:
Even though many said the tranny clunk is normal, I don't think it is. I have a 2009 SS with 244,000 Kms that doesn't make any clunk sound at all. Just bought a 2010 SS with 108,000 Kms yesterday and it has a clunk when making a normal 1st to 2nd shift. Almost seems like something loose in the front end or a mount issue.
Any other experiences or advice on this topic ??
Thanks