[Kaz]

Check down a couple days' posts, and you'll find my writeup on my UUC SSK install. Now that I've had it for a couple of days, I gotta say I'm getting used to the bit of extra effort, and I'm starting to like it.

Anyhow, a couple of noises have developed, and I'm wondering if they're normal or what. Searching on Fanatics doesn't show anyone having a noise problem, so I dunno.

From pretty much the beginning, there would be a faint whooshing noise when the shifter was about the engage 2nd or 3rd, and I didn't think too much of it. On my way home from work just now, that whooshing got a lot louder and of a longer duration than before, accompanied with a clinking when the shifter ends its travel into 2nd or 4th.

I'm gonna do some more investigating later, but I'm suspecting that the insulating material between the shaft of the shifter and the top piece (that the knob attaches to) has shifted around somehow and when force is applied, there is metal-to-metal contact, doing 2 things: transmitting noise and vibration from the bottom of the car into the knob mount (whoosh), and allowing a sharp metal-on-metal contact when its pulled all the way back (clink). I'm not rough on the shifter by any means, but I don't think this is normal. UUC doesn't do tech support via e-mail so I'll call em in the AM as well.

I just hope its not something underneath.

 

[The HACK]

Whoosh?

Have you tried doing it while engine is not running? Does it make that sound as well? There are two things I can think of, one, double check the "clip." I am almost 100% certain that it's seated properly...But it LOOKS from the outside to be slightly tilted up. However, the OEM clip also looks like it's slightly tilted up, and the way the UUC clip is shaped it should catch onto the groove that's on the inside. The second thing I can think of is that the rubber boot may not have been properly seated. It looks to me like it was from the bottom of the car, but UUC DID recommend that we assemble the boot and the linkage arm first before installing it onto the car. It's possible that the boot may have either slipped off the shifter rod or the fulcrum of the shifter rod, causing it to make more sound than normal.

Let me know if you need a hand...Is it getting louder and louder?

 

[bol]

Phone Rob @ UUC. He's a good guy and will help you out.

 

[Kaz]

OK, did a little checking.

I pulled the boot up to look inside from the top before I peek underneath, and my suspicions seem to hold up.

The wooshing noise is only there when the vehicle is in motion. Engine off, its silent, and engine running but no movement its also silent. The clink is there all the time.

The clink appears to be coming from inside the knob mount. It seems the top of the shaft is hitting the inside of the mount. If I peel back the rubber inner boot, the top part does seem to jiggle a bit compared to the shaft.

This means that the whoosh is drivetrain (tranny) vibration coming up through the shaft and transmitting to the knob mount when there is contact.

 

[Kaz]

Yep, that's definitely it.

First, I discovered that the height adjuster nut was a bit loose, so I tightened it a bit, but it didn't help.

If I keep pressure on the knob (especially in 3rd), the shifter acts sorta like an engine stethoscope, transmitting engine-RPM-dependent sounds (like the natural engine sound but at a higher pitch) through the knob. No question its from metal-to-metal contact between the shaft and top piece. I'll call UUC and find out if its safe to undo that nut and fix this myself or if I need a new unit.

 

[PA330i]

You might want to check this link out, if you haven't seen it. It's from My330i.com. There is a writeup about the SSK...the guy apparently had similar noise issues. Maybe it will be of some help.

http://www.my330i.com/mod11.php

 

[Kaz]

You might want to check this link out, if you haven't seen it. It's from My330i.com. There is a writeup about the SSK...the guy apparently had similar noise issues. Maybe it will be of some help.

http://www.my330i.com/mod11.php

Thanks for the link. I don't have the ERK, but I think the noise is the same.