6 Speed trans whine and replacement MASTER thread

[Eric Smit]

I have noticed that I have to take shifts slowly, especially first to second, because of waiting for the revolutions to drop on the engine. If not, the car lurches a little. It's something that I've been learning to deal with.

A lightweight flywheel seems like a difficult part to replace. Are there even options available out there for the Sonic?

yes, there is an 11lb flywheel available, although you can have it in different weights, I believe all the way down to 9.

 

[Preloader]

I hate the throttle flair. It feels identical to an intake leak. Hopefully it lessens when my aluminum flywheel gets here/installed.opcorn:

 

[cndctrdj]

In my other car I just ported the exhaust side of the head and it reduced the rpm hang to absolutely nothing. And the car revved so much faster

 

[Fry]

yes, there is an 11lb flywheel available, although you can have it in different weights, I believe all the way down to 9.

From what I gather through my searches, that would be through Clutch Masters? Their website isn't exactly user friendly, though I'm not the most skilled user in looking for car parts.

I'm not in a rush to replace it, but just trying to learn about my options in the future.

Edit: Ah, found TTR has an aluminum flywheel on their website. (from Clutch Masters) Good to know.

 

[Eric Smit]

From what I gather through my searches, that would be through Clutch Masters? Their website isn't exactly user friendly, though I'm not the most skilled user in looking for car parts.

I'm not in a rush to replace it, but just trying to learn about my options in the future.

Edit: Ah, found TTR has an aluminum flywheel on their website. (from Clutch Masters) Good to know.

you can call clutchmasters too.

 

[Leverus]

I started noticing a whining noise in the transmission in 5th and 6th gear on my 2012 1.4 Manual tranny Sonic Hatchback.

How loud was the whine? I noticed that in 5th if I'm going about 40-45 and step on the gas I can hear an almost inaudible whine as long as everything around me is quiet but I've never thought anything of it.

I didn't mean to make it sound like you were picking on GM. I was having dual mass flywheel flashbacks on my VW. A few times I on my commute going down the highway I could smell clutch material. This was 20 plus miles on the highway with zero shifting. There are many theories about that, but VW played dumb.

Hm, I've had a few times on the highway that I thought I got a quick faint whiff of clutch but I dismissed it as some lingering exhaust from a truck or my heater warming up (I first noticed it when it got cooler) since I hadn't shifted for some time by that point. This thread is starting to make me worried.

 

[Leverus]

To make modern manuals easier/smoother to drive for the unwashed masses, the OEMs have done some things to make it so the RPMs don't drop very quickly between shifts. The first is a big ass flywheel that likes to keep spinning. The second is actually in the ECM programming. The engineering slang is throttle flair. When you let off the gas during a shift the DBW doesn't necessarily close the throttle right away and the revs hang for a second.

As one of those unwashed masses whose first manual car is this one, how the hell does that supposedly make it easier to drive? I wish my RPM would drop much faster than it does.

 

[B-radly81]

I started noticing a whining noise in the transmission in 5th and 6th gear on my 2012 1.4 Manual tranny Sonic Hatchback. I took it into the dealer and drove with the tech to show him. They kept it and looked into it. They called me the next morning and said they were going to replace it and had one on order. It is at least covered under warranty, but pretty early for a tranny to go out. So if you notice a whining in 5th and 6th gear when you give it gas, take it into the dealer.

mine has a high pitch whinning in every gear

 

[sx sonic]

mine has a high pitch whinning in every gear

It wouldn't happen to be most noticable at low RPMs when first rolling on the throttle, would it?

Because turbo.

 

[B-radly81]

no its not the turbo I only hear it with the windows up and the radio down I can hear it really good in 4th gear around 35 to 40 mph

 

[GeneralZod]

I wouldn't worry too much. This wasn't a whiff that I was getting. It was full on clutch material. The heater when new did throw off an odd mechanical scent for me in the Sonic.

A whine at 35-40 is common in most manual cars. Most of my manuals did that too.

I think this needs to be said, drive more worry less. And, if you are worried about your gears, a top shelf synthetic oil will cut down some noise and make you feel better.

 

[sx sonic]

no its not the turbo I only hear it with the windows up and the radio down I can hear it really good in 4th gear around 35 to 40 mph

Hmm that's a bummer. I saw the catless DP and custom exhaust in your sig and figured you made a turbo joke.

 

[B-radly81]

I wouldn't worry too much. This wasn't a whiff that I was getting. It was full on clutch material. The heater when new did throw off an odd mechanical scent for me in the Sonic.

A whine at 35-40 is common in most manual cars. Most of my manuals did that too.

I think this needs to be said, drive more worry less. And, if you are worried about your gears, a top shelf synthetic oil will cut down some noise and make you feel better.

ya I have redline mt 90 in it this nois developed over the cold winter months

 

[Leverus]

I wouldn't worry too much. This wasn't a whiff that I was getting. It was full on clutch material. The heater when new did throw off an odd mechanical scent for me in the Sonic.

A whine at 35-40 is common in most manual cars. Most of my manuals did that too.

I think this needs to be said, drive more worry less. And, if you are worried about your gears, a top shelf synthetic oil will cut down some noise and make you feel better.

Makes me feel better, thanks.

 

[turbotimmy]

I'm glad the Sonic comes with a 5yr-100,000 mile powertrain warranty. Gives alittle more time to find out where the bugs still exist.

 

[GeneralZod]

I'm glad the Sonic comes with a 5yr-100,000 mile powertrain warranty. Gives alittle more time to find out where the bugs still exist.

I don't think there will be too many surprises. This car was used outside of the US.

Most of the issues, will be the typical nagging ones that most platforms deal with. The only real area of engineering boo boos will come from early production. As the factory gets quality and standards up to speed. However, that didn't even seem to be a big factor. Just some without brake pads and a few other things. While it might seem huge, the number of units this happened to was low.

Also, don't forget the Sonic was a rather fast transition into production for GM.

 

[SPOTWORK]

my tranny just got replaced at 40,000kms same problem with 5 and 6 gear, heard it start making noise at 25000k took it to the dealer then but they told me they were noisy trannys and it was ''a normal charictoristic of this transmission"... for the course of the following 12000km the noise got worse, and i took it in periodicly, eventually they let in and said they would change the tranny.... i got ot back 2 days later with fresh fluid, i was told there was no contaminates in the fluid and everything was normal.... they must have been talking about someone elses car because mine was as noisy as ever... i was finally fed up with my nebourhood dealer so i took it to another dealer, sure enough i dropped the car off and 2 weeks later i had a nice shiny new transmission and it was even quiet... to be honest i almost forgot ho nice it was not to hear a grenading transmission benieth my feet

 

[boydnhere]

UPDATE on New transmission

The dealer ordered the transmission on a Tuesday, and had it complete and ready to pick up on Friday. They had given me a loaner car to use so it was not any real inconvenience. It was a nice new Malibu LTZ. When I first started the car I noticed an immediate difference in the clutch pedal. It was about half the force it was on the original clutch pedal to push it in. Once I started driving it I could tell a big difference in the shifting. The new transmission was just overall smoother when shifting gear to gear. I like the shifting a lot better with the new transmission. Overall the car is even better now. Even though it was annoying to have to have this on a new car, the dealer covered everything and was very helpful.

 

[rondoman]

Good to hear then when/if issues do arise that the work is getting done in mostly a timely manner and no major inconveniences are present. Pays to have that warranty.

 

[Chevrolet Customer Care]

my tranny just got replaced at 40,000kms same problem with 5 and 6 gear, heard it start making noise at 25000k took it to the dealer then but they told me they were noisy trannys and it was ''a normal charictoristic of this transmission"... for the course of the following 12000km the noise got worse, and i took it in periodicly, eventually they let in and said they would change the tranny.... i got ot back 2 days later with fresh fluid, i was told there was no contaminates in the fluid and everything was normal.... they must have been talking about someone elses car because mine was as noisy as ever... i was finally fed up with my nebourhood dealer so i took it to another dealer, sure enough i dropped the car off and 2 weeks later i had a nice shiny new transmission and it was even quiet... to be honest i almost forgot ho nice it was not to hear a grenading transmission benieth my feet

I am glad to hear that your concern has been resolved. Feel free to contact us if you need anything in the future.

Tricia, Chevrolet Customer Service (Assisting Vanessa).