Vibration In 4Th And 5Th Gears

[Fosgate]

Hi Everyone,

New to the forum and new to the skylines.

I was hoping you guys could help us to diagnose an issue with R34 GTT which we bought this morning.

The car is in excellent condition and goes quite well, however we have this issue with what it feels like a high frequency vibration and really loud droning noise. This only happens in the 5th gear under acceleration under load at above 1500RPMs the noise goes away in the higher RPM . The noise is also present in the 4th gear however not as loud and at above 2500RPM and again under accelerating under load. After driving for around 30-40mins the vibration/drone reduces and pretty much non-existent in the 4th and not as loud in 5th and goes away in 5th at above 2000RPMs.

Its really hard to describe this noise/vibration. It does very much sound line an exhaust drone however it is accompanied with high frequency vibrations which feels throughout the whole car.

The seller told us its due to Nismo clutch which apparently have the solid rods in place of the springs but we are not quite sure if this is the case and if the clutch can cause such issues. Also to note there is a slight thrust bearing noise.

So we were hoping to check if anyone had similar issues especially after installing the Nismo clutch... or if anyone has any ideas what can cause such vibration/noise in higher gears at certain RPM range.

Thanks

[fusion07]

I have exactly the same problem as you described, including bearing noise. Can not cruise in 5th gear under 70km/h !!! It just so happens that my car came with several NISMO goodies (indicators, intercooler, LED tail lights etc.) so I was wondering if the clutch was NISMO as well because surely not all R34s have this vibration problem so I figured the clutch is different...and from what you've said it's the only common thing I can find between us, so this would suggest A) I probably do have a NISMO clutch (yay) and B) it probably is the clutch causing the vibrations...

[MickEdge]

Hi Everyone,

New to the forum and new to the skylines.

I was hoping you guys could help us to diagnose an issue with R34 GTT which we bought this morning.

The car is in excellent condition and goes quite well, however we have this issue with what it feels like a high frequency vibration and really loud droning noise. This only happens in the 5th gear under acceleration under load at above 1500RPMs the noise goes away in the higher RPM . The noise is also present in the 4th gear however not as loud and at above 2500RPM and again under accelerating under load. After driving for around 30-40mins the vibration/drone reduces and pretty much non-existent in the 4th and not as loud in 5th and goes away in 5th at above 2000RPMs.

Its really hard to describe this noise/vibration. It does very much sound line an exhaust drone however it is accompanied with high frequency vibrations which feels throughout the whole car.

The seller told us its due to Nismo clutch which apparently have the solid rods in place of the springs but we are not quite sure if this is the case and if the clutch can cause such issues. Also to note there is a slight thrust bearing noise.

So we were hoping to check if anyone had similar issues especially after installing the Nismo clutch... or if anyone has any ideas what can cause such vibration/noise in higher gears at certain RPM range.

Thanks

Funnily enough ive found this seemingly exact the same thing with my Gt-t, the drone happens low revs ever so slightly in third (between 1500-2500)

quite loudly in 4th (1000-3000)

followed by 5th in the same range

i couldnt really put an ear to what it was. im not too sure how the clutch would be interacting with this to make the noise at all, whether i have a nismo clutch or not id be happy to find out. if so i will repost it back here.

hopefully this thread has some life or someone can share some know how as id really like to know,

the car i bought was inspected by two separate mechanics none of them which picked up on the noise. hopefully its nothing, a few people has said to me it could be just me "slaving" the gearbox and engine or being in too high of a gear for the speed im doing being that the noise goes away with an increase in revs. Eh anyway enough blabbing. Someone come up with something! cheers

[GTSBoy]

It's not normal. I can drive my (25Neo) R32 at 50km/h in 5th without anything sounding wrong. It will pull away from that (fairly slowly of course). As you'd expect.

[89CAL]

I get a little bit of a noise in 5th if I accelerate from about 1000rpm but it doesn't last long. I think I have a problem somewhere in mine but. Get alot of slop when on and off throttle in 5th especially. Not there in 4th which makes me think it's a lay shaft but it'll be fine till it explodes. Already had one rebuild that didn't fix it wasn't bearings anyway

[MickEdge]

Took my car to a mechanic. Explained this same issue to him and presented them my car. They responded with it having to do with the clutch and light flywheel setup. How this makes that noise is beyond me

[Sm3g]

I am no expert but I was told once when I brought a different car that the tail shaft was imballanced and when it got upto around 70km's plus it would shake the whole car. Something to think about maybe?

[GTSBoy]

Was that an EL Falcon?

[MickEdge]

no no no this has nothing to do with the tailshaft haha. the noise happens regardless of speed!

good thought though thankyou.

i did however site the nismo clutch and flywheel gear website and vwallah, came across this

NISMO clutch discs and flywheels listed in this contents may generate resonant (rattling) noises from the transmission and bearings, compared to NISSAN genuine parts. Please note that this noise is not a quality or performance failure.

http://www.nismo.co.jp/en/products/competition/clutch/

so yeah well. something else to add to the list of thoughts. i spose the only real way to find out is to drop the gearbox and look but shit thats a venture just for some peace of mind haha

[Sm3g]

Was that an EL Falcon?

Na it was a wb ute with a t400 and 350chev. I still havnt fixed it yet due to blowing diff.

OP: What damage, if any, will this cause to your gearbox/drive line?

[MickEdge]

bump

[SargeRX8]

Happened in my car. 5th gear in low rpm would cause vibration to travel through the whole car. The rear view mirror was useless. After I changed my clutch, the issue went away. It was interesting. I had a stock replacement clutch and stock flywheel. Now I use a carbotic button clutch on a stock flywheel and it seems fine.

If I put the rpm low enough though, the car really doesn't want to go. Kind of seems dumb and pointless to ever need to use 5th gear at 50km/h. My car is very comfortable at 70km/h in 5th but I still drop to 4th or 3rd when I need to move.

Take it as you may but I also put solid subframe locks at the same time I did my clutch.

[GTR_JOEY]

Can also be a broken engine mount.. Will be the passenger side if any

[XGTRX]

Can also be a broken engine mount.. Will be the passenger side if any

can you explain this?

[GTSBoy]

Mounts tend to break under tension, not compression. So they break on one side of the engine, not the other. Whichever side is the tension side when the engine moves under torque loading.

[GTR_JOEY]

can you explain this?

Mounts tend to break under tension, not compression. So they break on one side of the engine, not the other. Whichever side is the tension side when the engine moves under torque loading.

Does that answer your question?? Or are you asking about the vibration?

[XGTRX]

Thanks mate, so could this lead to potential slop in the drive train the reason is I find a bit of back lash on occasions but not all the time. Was trying to work out why it was intermittent because uni joint, diff, and transmission issues would cause it to be there all the time I assume.

[GTR_JOEY]

You will find that during high load situations you will get a small unusual vibration.

Eg acceleration in 5th from 70-100kmh where the engine makes no torque

[XGTRX]

Thanks. I will check them then. It has happened since the engine went back in so might be the problem. Thanks again

[SargeRX8]

Is your engine square with the chassis? I made a huge f**king mistake when removing my gearbox. I loosened both engine mounts to tilt the engine back. Took some f**king around to ensure it was sitting in the right spot.

That's the unfortunate thing about driving high power vehicles with very old rubbing throughout. I'm doing a rear end bush and rubber swap out. The subframe bushes still look rock solid but the diff bushes all cracked. Chances are my gearbox rubbers will be cracked. When I checked the engine mounts they were fine. My old car had a cracked passenger side mount but gave 0 vibration/noise under high load.