need help ASAP
 

Grinding noise com,ing from....somewhere...only when im IN gear, moving, and NOT on the gas...barely touch the gas and it goes away..neutral not there...just started about an hour ago..im f-ing clueless..HELP

So it only happens when you're engine braking? Or also if you have the clutch in, coasting?

If only when engine braking, I had a similar problem with my downpipe hitting the crossmember under the tranny. The only way I could fix it, short of bending the pipe, was to put a hi-temp hose around the crossmember.

I have the same problem right now. Just did a clutch install so I'm guessing a loose pressure plate :O or something with the throwout...

definately a clutch...

it doesn't do it with clutch in...only in gear with NO gas....(only when im coasting in gear)

If i have the stock open diff...when i spin the rear wheel...which way should the other wheel spin? because when i spin the driver's wheel the pass side wheel stays still...spin the pass. wheel and the driver's wheel goes the opposite direction. noise coming from the rear end whel accelerating also.

anybody.....anyTHING? PLEASE!! LOL

Have you checked to see that your exhaust isn't touching or close to hitting anything? Like I said, that was my problem. It was very loud and vibrated when engine braking.

almost positive it's not, got it up on a lift at school now so i'll look again

went out and drove it again....definetely not exhaust...sounds like it's coming from the back which means rear-end...anybody that's had a 1.6 rear end go on em let me know what happened.....

If the car is in gear, open dif, spinning one wheel will always make the other go in the opposite direction. If out of gear, what you described could happen if the driveshaft had less resistance and it would turn instead.

if it's blown...how the hell do i find out for 100% sure?

if its blown...you don't move anywhere ;)

My '92 has that problem. I've replaced the clutch, the driveshaft, the diff and the axles, as well as the entire exhaust from head to tailpipe. It's definately the transmission. Like you said, only does it when coasting / decelerating in gear. Touch the gas, depress the clutch, or drop it into neutral and it goes away. Seems to be loudest in the 2,000 to 3,000 RPM range. Mobil 1 75w90 in the gearbox quieted it down a bit, but not much. Redline MT-90 didn't affect it at all.

It's been doing this for two years, and been turbo'ed for the past six months. It still makes the noise, and yet the tranny is still working fine. I intend to ignore it until the gearbox actually dies, at which point it's fairly cheap to just throw another one in.

My does this...and I'm getting ready to do the torsen, new clutch/flywheel...I was really looking forward to this buzzing going away. lol

can you feel it in your shifter when it happens? once the diff goes for sure you'll know....when your tires lock up from particles of the gears mashed together.

nope...cant feel anything, doesn't affect performance nothing....just a sound

thats a common miata tranny noise. almost every NA Ive been in with an OG un rebuilt tranny makes it.

Ive repaced my clutch, diff (upgraded to torsen) and basicly everything but the tranny, still makes it. it doesnt seem to make any trouble as Ivve done many events over the past few years and no trouble, no metal in the fluid when I change it.

what makes it quieter, high quiality fluid mobil1 or better basically. and shifter boots, new ones blocked a good 70% of it for me.

gluck.

oh and its for sure not the diff, that makes a whine, then a crunch, then a clang clang *LOCK* skid noise. I blew mine on the way to work one day. now I have a torsen.

If it's heard accelerating or decelerating between 2-3K RPM, I've always understood it to be a resonance in the exhaust at that rpm.

Mine suddenly appeared, actually not long after my LSD swap which totally freaked me out. It seems to come and go, and sometimes extremely annoying. You actually learn to drive around it reving faster through it, and downshifting to avoid that rpm range.

Funny thing is mine recently went away after changing spark plugs. I had put in colder plugs gapped to .030. Coincindence maybe.

The two sound very different.

I had the exhaust resonance of which you speak on my first attempt at a DIY spare-tire relocation. Boomy as hell, but, how do I say this, it was obviously a non-mechanical sound. Deeply resonant, but not harsh.

The tranny noise is different. It's more like a rattling or grinding, definately "metallic-sounding."

Boy, trying to describe a sound is like trying to describe a color to a blind man...

hheheh... mine is doing this at the moment... get a lot better once the exhaust is hot. I'm actually think'n about putting the stock downpipe/tranny brace back in to quiet it down. it sucks because we have a 5mph speed limit in the parking lot at work so the rattle in the exhaust set off car alarms and sounds like poo :(

I describe it as "hell". I'm hoping swapping out my lightened flywheel cures it...I can't stand it. Once warm it rattles at idle and on decels. The worst is driving with the top down and driving past curbs or buildings where the sounds bounce back and I can really hear it, louder than my freaking exhaust.

other names are gear-lash or chatter

it wont. sorry.

Exhaust rattle maybe?

well it never made a noise untill I swapped the clutch and flywheel. gotta try it to buy it.

OK, so the other night, on my way home (about a 1/2 mile from home) the sound started to happen ALL THE TIME, not just on decelleration anymore. Decided i'd drive my other car for a few days (240SX) until i could get under it and see what was going on. then a few seconds later it got MUCH louder and started to sound like my diff was going...then the vibration started....then i pulled in my driveway....it was DEFINETELY from the diff area so i'm assuming the diff's gone, (which is why i've been looking at diff options the past few days) but reading through an old post made me start to think that the diff might not be completely gone, maybe i can replace just the stubshafts for now, and upgrade to a 1.8 in a few months when i have cash.......any input is appreciated.

Thanks,
Brian

Sounds like a diff problem to me.

It's DEFINETELY a diff problem, but my question is that since the car never actually locked up on me (even after i drove a good 1/2 mile after the BANG) is the entire diff gone or could it possibly be something MUCH easier/cheaper to fix?

I have never had to pull mine apart, so i'm not sure exctly what could be causing it, but have you pulled the diff off? If you have I would open it up and check the ring gear, see if the coast side is chewed up, check for preload and endplay. Sounds just like a misadjusted ring & pinion but I doubt it would just get whacked like that out of no where.. One downside to having a 7" is I never get to play with it because it never breaks. :(

still on the car....not sure when i'll get it off.....you buy the parts and come to VA and u can play with my rear diff/miata all you want, LOL

Hah sounds like a plan!

Wait you said it only makes noise when its IN gear coasting? Didn't catch that part. Are you sure it isn't a transmission issue?

mine made it before and after I swapped out the stock clutch and flywheel for my xtd/fidanza setup.

the noise was exactly the same... I hope it works for you, but didnt for me. lol

it WAS only when i was coasting....then i heard the bang, and now it's whenever the car's moving...neutral..in gear...whatever...if i drove it for another 1/2 mile i have a feeling i'd hear the bigger bang and she'd lock up on me....definetely NOT a clutch/tranny problem. if i'm going real slow i can hear/feel where i think the tooth broke off the ring and...yea...it's in the diff.

but is there a way to crack open the diff and replace just the ring gears for cheap to last me a few months? or is it just as expensive to rebuild it as it is to replace it?

Replacing just the ring gear (if that's indeed what broke, and not the pinion) requires basically the same exactly amount of work as replacing all the innards because you have to re-set your backlash and pre-load after R&R'ing the ring gear/LSD assembly. Either way the diff. has to come out of the car.

Access to a lift. Upgrade it.