New car - Probably just paranoid. Convince me I am.

Synchros shot? Weird noises while shifting? Not sure what needs to be replaced?
Post Reply
coffeebeans
Junior Standardshifter
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2009 7:56 pm

New car - Probably just paranoid. Convince me I am.

Post by coffeebeans »

Hi guys, been awhile since I posted around here.

Recently bought a 2003 Ford Focus ZX5, standard (obviously). 99,000 on it, runs great.

Anyway, whenever I buy a new car I tend to be extremely paranoid towards any sorta noise that seems a bit out of place.

Here's whats up: when car is in neutral, clutch is out, every once and awhile I can hear a faint noise that sorta sounds like a Harley Davidson engine (if you can imagine that, lol), maybe like something flapping down there. It's not loud, but goes away when I put the clutch in. Now, I've read around different threads on throw-out bearings, etc. and looked up YouTube videos to compare the noise of that to what I've got, and it doesn't sound like that at all. Clutch doesn't slip, no weird noises when in gear and driving, just that weird little tick when I'm idling in neutral.

Does anyone have any ideas? It doesn't really sound like it's very serious and the car drives just fine, mechanic took a look at it before I bought it, never mentioned anything wrong with tranny or anything...
User avatar
AHTOXA
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 14693
Joined: Sun Dec 23, 2007 6:31 pm
Cars: '19 4RUNNER TRD ORP
Location: Irving, TX

Re: New car - Probably just paranoid. Convince me I am.

Post by AHTOXA »

Can you give us a few more details? Perhaps comparing it to a Harley isn't the best description as I would tell me that your trans is very loud till you press the clutch in.
'19 Toyota 4Runner TRD ORP
'12 Suzuki V-Strom 650
User avatar
theholycow
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 16021
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 1:36 pm
Cars: '80 Buick LeSabre 4.1 5MT
Location: Glocester, RI
Contact:

Re: New car - Probably just paranoid. Convince me I am.

Post by theholycow »

Is the car rolling or parked? If rolling, could be a wheel bearing.

I'd recommend searching some Focus forums; that sort of thing is likely to be commonly reported and easily diagnosed by people who discuss that model all the time.
1980 Buick LeSabre 4.1L 5MT

Put your car in your sig!

Learn to launch/FAQs/lugging/misused terms: meta-sig
watkins wrote:Humans have rear-biased AWD. Cows have 4WD
94Corolla5Speed
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 6927
Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 5:51 pm
Cars: 1994 Corolla, 1990 Miata
Location: Chicago, IL

Re: New car - Probably just paranoid. Convince me I am.

Post by 94Corolla5Speed »

Hmm...you say it isn't a throwout bearing...but the symptoms you are describing are exactly like a ToB. Not exactly sure now.
coffeebeans
Junior Standardshifter
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2009 7:56 pm

Re: New car - Probably just paranoid. Convince me I am.

Post by coffeebeans »

Thanks for the replies,

A bit more detail, remember when you were a kid and you put a baseball card on your bike wheel? Think of that sound but at a much shorter frequency (like you're riding your bike at a fairly slower pace) and very muffled. That's about the best I can describe it as :lol:. The car is always stopped.

I should also add that it comes and goes. For instance I may hear it at times but other times it won't be there even under the same circumstances (car stopped, in neutral, clutch out)

What I'm possibly thinking is that something in the vicinity of the tranny/clutch area might be loose (like a pipe?) that when the clutch is out for some reason it's causing it to rattle a little bit? I'm not exactly sure. I'm not an aggressive driver and don't slam through my gears.

Edit:

I checked out a Focus forum like previously suggested and I found that I'm not alone, apparently from what I've read this is due to a small gap between the pressure plate and the release bearing, and it's causing a slight rattle. For now I'm just going to monitor the sound and see what happens, in your guys opinion is having that slight gap going to cause me issues down the road or not? On the Focus forums it would seem quite a few people have that problem and seems that it's actually quite common.
Last edited by coffeebeans on Thu Jan 14, 2010 10:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
LHOswald
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 2787
Joined: Mon Apr 06, 2009 10:46 pm
Cars: '99 Civic Hatch w/B16a
Location: Enfield, Connecticut

Re: New car - Probably just paranoid. Convince me I am.

Post by LHOswald »

kinda like the sound of a twin disk clutch when the clutch is out in neutral? perhaps (as stupid as it would be) its a twin disk
Image
User avatar
theholycow
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 16021
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 1:36 pm
Cars: '80 Buick LeSabre 4.1 5MT
Location: Glocester, RI
Contact:

Re: New car - Probably just paranoid. Convince me I am.

Post by theholycow »

Well, my next guess was going to be catalytic converter heat shield rattling, but it sounds like you got it figured out.
1980 Buick LeSabre 4.1L 5MT

Put your car in your sig!

Learn to launch/FAQs/lugging/misused terms: meta-sig
watkins wrote:Humans have rear-biased AWD. Cows have 4WD
coffeebeans
Junior Standardshifter
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2009 7:56 pm

Re: New car - Probably just paranoid. Convince me I am.

Post by coffeebeans »

theholycow wrote:Well, my next guess was going to be catalytic converter heat shield rattling, but it sounds like you got it figured out.
Just for kicks I'll stick my head under there and see if anything is clearly loose or not, but yeah it would seem as though I've pinpointed the problem. Thanks for the help, guys!
User avatar
gizmo
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 1000
Joined: Sat Aug 02, 2008 1:22 am
Cars: tC

Re: New car - Probably just paranoid. Convince me I am.

Post by gizmo »

Let's not discount the possibility that there really is a Harley Davidson somewhere in your transmission
94Corolla5Speed
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 6927
Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 5:51 pm
Cars: 1994 Corolla, 1990 Miata
Location: Chicago, IL

Re: New car - Probably just paranoid. Convince me I am.

Post by 94Corolla5Speed »

gizmo wrote:Let's not discount the possibility that there really is a Harley Davidson somewhere in your transmission
ROFL
User avatar
theholycow
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 16021
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 1:36 pm
Cars: '80 Buick LeSabre 4.1 5MT
Location: Glocester, RI
Contact:

Re: New car - Probably just paranoid. Convince me I am.

Post by theholycow »

gizmo wrote:Let's not discount the possibility that there really is a Harley Davidson somewhere in your transmission
Image
1980 Buick LeSabre 4.1L 5MT

Put your car in your sig!

Learn to launch/FAQs/lugging/misused terms: meta-sig
watkins wrote:Humans have rear-biased AWD. Cows have 4WD
User avatar
fa22raptorf22
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 1282
Joined: Sat Nov 29, 2008 9:31 pm
Cars: 2004 SSM Acura RSX
Location: Norwalk, CT

Re: New car - Probably just paranoid. Convince me I am.

Post by fa22raptorf22 »

My rsx used to rattle when idling in neutral.

I believe this is caused by the pressure plate rattling around at low speeds. Sort of like a resonating frequency.
Post Reply