have developed a new noise in 5 spd. shifter--any ideas?

I have an 2010 I4 5 speed with only about 18,000 miles. It only seems to be buzzing (chattering) in 5th gear. I know its coming from the shifter, if I move it a little up or to the side it either stops or gets worse. I guess I'll have the dealer look at it at the 20k service interval, I just wish I knew a little more about the possible prob. before they feed me a line that it's normal. Anybody else have this, and what did you find out? My search of threads didn't really ID anything.

 

Lot of play in the shifter?

 

Not really sure what a normal amount of "play" is. I've had several manuals over the years, but I'm gonna say possibly unusual play while in gear.

 

I'm 99% certain that your problem is just the noise coming from the shifter BOOT. The boot is vinyl, and makes ticking/chattering noise when its folded in a way where it can rub against itself. As an experiment, wad up some toilet paper and jam it into the shifter boot (just on the top) to prevent it from touching itself. Bet the noise goes away.

Good luck.

 

There is a plastic bushing in the trans end of the shifter but there is no reason it should be bad or missing with only18K that will cause a pretty good rattle. If they have done a clutch recall they may have knocked it off putting it back in but you should have noticed it right away. Try the boot thing that maybe your answer.