I have searched the forums over and over and have found tons of testimonials of clutch chatter mixed with throw out bearing whine and even tranny replacements. To clear things up from the get go, throw out bearing whine can be determined by idling and pushing the clutch in and out and listening for a change. Easy diagnosis, cross that one off the list for those wondering about that sound. Tranny not going into gear can be a host of problems from snychros to gizmos so cross that one off. And as for tranny vibration through the shifter, it is a common behavior/problem (<---arguable and we know this so lets not talk about it) in our cars so accept it or sell it. There that should hopefully help this thread from inevitably being muddled down in other issues like so many of threads on this topic. Which brings me to the topic!

What is up with the clutch chatter? It seems a lot of people have the symptom, g35 and 350z. Nissan/Infiniti doesn't seem to be addressing a solution, but who can blame them when it seems that I and those with the symptom can't really narrow this issue down to the specific problem. So what do you guys think? Is the clutch mishapen? Were they just installed misaligned? My car has 2600 mi on it and the chatter is as strong as ever. Is this a possible sign of future tranny problems? Hell at least we don't have the tranny problems like the poor Acura TL guys, but someone has to know whats going on with our cars. Hopefully it can be solved with a simple clutch replacement and resurfacing the flywheel. So I humbly ask the experts on this specific topic, what is up with the clutch chatter?

 

Doubtful that it was misaligned when installed. The clutch alignment tool only makes it easier to get the input shaft so slide in properly. If the lucth was musaligned the input shaft would not go in all the way and the tranny could not be bolted up to the motor.

From my experience chatter on organic clutches are usually caused by poor break-in. You need to be easy on the clutch for about the 1st 500 miles. Clutches are not that disimilar from brakes in their operation, but you can not control a steady slip of clutch properly to bed it in as quickly as you can with brakes. Too harsh on the clutch early on and you get hot spots and the clutch disc will never bed properly or evenly. This ends up causing the chatter. And chatter is not caused by imminent tranny problems. Nor have I found that chatter causes tranny problems in the future.

 

you are right on with the chatter, hotspots on the the clutch will cause chatter. this can be caused by improper break in. i have both chatter and throwout bearing noise. sometimes the noises are louder than other days. seems to me like it is poor assembly from the plant.

04 DG/G/6MT/Premium/Nav/Clear Bra
Bone Stock...to be continued...
"You kill mah brodah, now I kill you!" - some old kung-fu flick

 

OK, so I am taking my car in this Friday for the "clutch chatter" . Only happens when taking off from 1st gear when not giving that much gas. I thought I was easy on the clutch, I have 1000 miles now and I have driven many manual trans in the past. So, do you think this will be covered under warranty? It better, I hope.

 

DJM you have the exact same symptoms I have. I mentioned it to the dealer about the chatter but at that point the car only had 300ish miles on it. I figured I would let the clutch fully bed and cure. The symptoms are still there so I am trying to figure out how to approach this. Let us know how the dealer visit goes!

 

Clutch chatter is generally felt more than heard, if at all. The engagement of the clutch will not be smooth and feel like the clutch pedal is being pressed and released very quickly.

Noises that go on and off with clutch pedal engagement are usually the throw-out bearing or input shaft bearing. They will sound like running water.

If you are hearing gears clatter and such, I think that is normal. I speculate it has to do with the tolerance they designed into the dog gears. A bit looser is noisier, but it would allow for smaller syncros. This makes room for thicker gears, which makes for a much stronger tranny. I hear similar noises from my tranny as I do from TT Supra 6 speeds. Those things are bulletproof. Some racing trannies are designed with no syncros and very loose dog gear engagement. Noisy and it requires a very hard deliberate movement into each gear, but very strong. Of course, this is only speculation...

 

i noticed it also on my car. it will chatter pretty loud and everytime i have someone in my car they ask what that noise is. the car should be quiet and smooth. it shouldnt be making all this noise when its a brand new car...04 7k miles

 

I will find out what it is on friday hopefully. But, I did not pay close to 40 g's to have an embarrassing clatter coming from the car. My girlfriend has a crappy Chevy Cavalier with 90k miles and it does not make any noises. If Chevy can do it, anybody can. Not to bash Chevy in any way....sorry guys.

 

Exactly! Don't get me wrong a am happy with the G but some things are not normal wether it be a 40g or 9g car. It should function correctly. It is embarassing having such a nice car yet sounds like its chewing gears from a stop. Hopefully we can figure this out.

 

Well, if it is indeed the dog gears you have little to worry about in terms of wear. Unlike the actual meshed gears the dog gears contact each other at several points of the gear. Mesh gears on the other hand make contact at one relatively small point.

But seriously, I think it's normal. The Supra makes the EXACT same noise. And 2 of my closest friends have owned 3 between them. None of them had tranny troubles. Both the Supra and the Z and G have dual mass flywheels. According to various sources the dual mass flywheels reduce noise. Gotta wonder how much noise there would be without it.

 

Whatever the explaination is, I find it embarrassing to pull out of a parking lot. People look over as if my tranny is about to fall out. (Talking about the cluttering noise when the clutch is engaging)


CPV35 G35C Maliblue

 

IMO, I think this clutch chatter cause by more than just being poorly broken in. I got my G with 3 miles on it, and broke it in properly. It had clutch chatter right from the beginning. I've also been driving manual transmissions since I started driving at 16.(I've never owned an automatic). When this clutch goes out, I will definetly replace it with an aftermarket clutch/flywheel..hopefully it will help. In fact, more specifically, I'll get a 'clutchmaster....stage III".....I've had good experience with this clutch on another car.

http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrow...elected=551133

 

Oh by the way, adjusting the clutch pedal helps eliminate quite a bit of the chatter. When I first got the car, I couldn't believe how long it took for the clutch to engage. My knee was pratically hitting my chin before it engaged...lol...kidding, but yes adjusting the pedal helped a lot.

http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrow...elected=551133

 

6MT has a dual-mass flywheel (high performance)... that said read information below (This applied to gear noise (rattle at idle):

The original dual-mass flywheel does one thing very well - exhibits inertia. It is more difficult to change the speed of the dual-mass flywheel, whether accelerating it or slowing it down... that means besides inhibiting engine acceleration to some degree, it also inhibits the deceleration that occurs between every power pulse. The power pulse transition is smoother, therefore no rattle.

A single-mass flywheel is the same sort of design as a solid aluminum lightweight flywheel: a rigid disk of metal, either aluminum or steel. In the OE applications, these flywheels are equipped with a sprung-hub clutch. The sprung-hub clutch "splits thte difference" between the these situations. The friction material (the disk itself) is not "hard coupled" to the hub, but has a springy nature to the assembly. It has a suspension, the springs you see around the hub. What this accomplishes is letting the power pulse couple the transmission's internal parts softly, and then de-couple softly. ("Softly" being a relative term here, it is just a few millimeters of travel, nothing that can be felt.) The net result is the difference between banging two pieces together and gently placing them together.

This clutch design has a center section that is separate from the outer friction area, with a flexible coupling mechanism that uses springs to cushion the power pulse variations. Sounds very similar to the dual-mass flywheel mechanism discussed earlier for a very good reason; the idea is exactly the same, but moves the power pulse variation absorption mechanism to the clutch disk itself.

The issue with gear rattle is that conventional lightweight flywheels retain the car's original solid-hub clutch disk. First, the lightened flywheel has less mass to damp the power pulse variations. Second, there is no mechanism within the solid-hub clutch disk to absorb the power pulse variations. The result is that a conventional lightweight flywheel with solid-hub clutch may create a noticeable amount of rattle. There is simply no cushioning action at all. Note that this gear rattle only occurs at idle, in neutral, with the clutch let out. It is not heard at any other time. Above idle (even just a couple hundred rpm) and the increased frequency of power pulses outpaces the speed at which the components couple/de-couple, therefore no rattle whatsoever.