Is this noise normal? For LS3 M6 owners only.

[CamaroSS_LS3]

That all I’m looking for is confirmation that I’m not the only one hearing this noise. If it seems to be a normal sound others are having then I can just move on and not worry about it. I am less worried about it now than I was. I have OCD and my ear tunes in to any and all little strange noises and I obsess over them.

[CevyIICamaroToo]

I've noticed the exact same sound at very similar times/situations coming from my LS3 M6 too CamaroSS_LS3. I actually jumped on the forum this morning to see if anyone else has reported hearing them. I think there are no less than 3 things going on at certain times and here's my $.02:

(1) The occasional "loping/lugging" sound we get (for example when skip-shift/1st-to-4th kicks in) is the result of the engine being underpowered at a bigger gear (I hate the skip-shift feature and will be opting for the part/fix noted on other threads). I've noticed that as I apply gas and gain RPM and MPH the car quickly hits a sweet spot and accelerates in a healthy way (nice and aggressive). Most of the time I just opt for not catching 4th and "resetting" the tranny in neutral followed by a quick shift to 2nd (I'm also thinking a short throw shifter will help get me past this annoyance and also help me keep the car in the correct gear-to-RPM-to-MPH window).

(2) I think we both agree the "clunking" sound (esp at low rpm when the clutch is engaged) is a pretty normal mechanical occurrence with manual trannys and drive train slop. I've had this occur in custom Chevy IIs that I've built and have also ridden in other muscle-era stick cars where this was a common occurrence. The thing I don't feel qualified to comment on is whether this should/would be the same for "modern muscle".

(3) The occasional rattling sound is the more troubling one to me. My IOM was one of the 0625D cars, so at first I was worried the new (rumored) batch of M6s might not have been mated up with the rest of the drive train properly. The fact that when I hit the RPM-MPH windows right the car runs great (admittedly only about 75% of the time right now -- my last few resto's have been auto trannys) leads me to believe that the occasional rattle is another variation of the drive train slop phenomenon. Like you, I knew I would feel a lot better if others were experiencing the same thing. Esp if their VIN numbers could help rule out a link to the bad batch of M6s. I'm hoping more people posting to this thread will help settle this one...

OBTW...
(4) Muffler chamber resonance when decelerating in the 'maro (with the car in gear) seems especially pronounced to me. I'm perusing the exhaust threads to try and find a more aggressive combo anyways, so this should become a moot point (and admittedly is a bit trivial in my mind). The worst part is occasionally I'll have the the clunking and the resonance bleed together... talk about wreaking havoc on my OCD!

I don't claim to be God's gift to hot rodding, but I think I've narrowed down the noisy "things that go bump in the night" in our cars to a few definable and hopefully common occurrences. Upshot --> These sounds are mostly the result of not being in the optimum gear-to-RPM-to-MPH window. Having said that, if more folks post to this thread with verified issues associated with these sounds I'll be looking to put my warranty to the test.

Originally Posted by CamaroSS_LS3

That all I’m looking for is confirmation that I’m not the only one hearing this noise. If it seems to be a normal sound others are having then I can just move on and not worry about it. I am less worried about it now than I was. I have OCD and my ear tunes in to any and all little strange noises and I obsess over them.

[Merica]

vin# 11510 here no noises on mine at all

[mseuro]

Its officail the vibration and rattle that comes up throught the shifter under load IS NOT NORMAL. My partner just got his new 6 speed today and it is smooth and quite. I will be taking mine to the dealer next week and keep everyone informed. I hate this noise it makes the car sound cheap.

Robert

[CamaroSS_LS3]

Let us know what they find. I never tought my sound was coming from the shifter area. Mine sounds like the back or rear top of motor.

[mseuro]

my mistake I thought you had the same problem as mine.

Robert

[Blood]

What exactly is the M6? LS3?

[CamaroSS_LS3]

Manual 6 speed LS3

[Blood]

Originally Posted by CamaroSS_LS3

Manual 6 speed LS3

All these things I know and people just have to use acronymns I dont know.. :|

[CamaroSS_LS3]

Sorry too lazy to spell out the word "Manual".

[hpressley]

I'm having the same problem as well..Camaro_LS3 you explained it exactly how I'm hearing it.. It's a slight thumping as I'm driving at a low rpm in first gear.. Also, I've notice it doesn't do it all the time.. I don't remember hearing it when the engine is cold. It's done it since day one.. I have about 900 miles now.

[hpressley]

Okay guys another update.. I just went out to try and recreate the noise. What I found is that it doesn't do it when the engine is cold, but i was able to get it to do it while driving in first gear and applying the brake to simulate resistance, similar to going up an incline while in first gear.

The thumping or knocking noise sounds more like it's coming from the top of the engine rather than the gear shifter

Anyone else able to recreate this or hear this sound while in first on an incline?

[WySS]

I think i have this issue, my car has done it since day 1 and i just thought it was the plastic of the 4 pack gauges rattling but i removed the four pack today and went for a drive and i heard the same vibration/noise. It happens under medium to heavy load for me, its especially noticeable in second gear right as its time to shift to third. It doesnt sound like metal on metal to me and this is my first manual transmission so im clueless as to what it could be but i cant imagine this is normal chatter. Am i hearing the same noice as the others in this thread?

[T_MECO]

I have noticed the same noise this week. The last 100 miles have seem allot noiser than when I first got the car. I only have 800 miles on it and I have noticed an increase in the noise from it. I also heare the rice-crispy sound from behind the pasenger-side dash. so I'm taking it in Thursday. Nioses like this annoy me and it should not be doing this. It was allot smoother during the first 700 miles.