Loud rattle, lots of shaking from shifter...not the knob...its the trans linkage
 

So, here's the issue.

6mt, frs with 3k miles. Around town and normal driving, everything is perfect with the shifter, and all gears+reverse work great. The issue comes when trying to shift at high rpms. Around 5k rpms and up, the shifter will start to rattle. However, It is NOT the shift knob/shifter. The problem seems to be the transmission linkage itself. When in gear(car off) there is about an inch of play with the shifter itself(move shifter into say, 1st gear, and there is an inch total horizontal play). I removed the center console etc, to ensure that nothing was loose.

You can clearly see that even when in gear, there is a significant amount of horizontal play in the shifter(not the shifters fault, the linkage is what seems loose). Since there is play in the linkage, wiggling the shifter(horizontally) quickly in gear, with the car off simulates what is happening when the car is at high rpms-it makes a rattle sound, and shakes enough to make selecting the next gear difficult.

So, does anyone have any solutions to this issue? I can see where the transmission linkage connects to the shifter, and obviously it goes to the transmission, but is there any other connections in between? I am willing to bet this is the "rattle" sound that so many have issues with, and removing the shift knob doesn't fix it.

I will try and get a video posted up in the next few days, and when I'm on my computer ill try and include other members posts in this thread who seem to have similar issues. I know I've seen a video on here doing EXACTLY what I'm describing.

@fenrir

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kKXnJVGp7o"]YouTube[/ame]


Same issue as this basically. When I took everything off to inspect, it's the linkage itself. Even when in gear, I have horizontal movement.

@Fenrir @OrbitalEllipses @Hanzo

This likely won't help but mine seems similar in side-to-side travel but does not move nearly as easily as the one in the video. I have to push a bit to get it to move from side-to-side and I get almost no movement front to back. Easiest side-to-side movement is in 5th and 6th and that is still not as easy as it appears in the video.

I tend to drive with my hand on the shifter much of the time and don't notice any undue vibration. And no rattles at any time when my hand is off. IDK, I've been driving nothing but MTs for some 50 years and my FR-S feels more solid and precise than anything I've driven to date. And I have yet to miss a shift, even at high RPMs. It feels like it's part of my being and does exactly what I want every time. This was one of the reasons I bought the car in the first place.

Aren't there springs in the system to help control the movement? If so, maybe they have something to do with this issue?

I would suggest taking it to the dealer. I feel that this is excessive free play .

There is a TSB for this issue, see the dealer.

for reference:

S-SB-0014-13

My car is at the dealer for this issue. They called 10 minutes ago saying they're gonna order parts so I can bring it back to get fixed next weekend.

I have noticeable side to side play when in gear. I'd say not as bad as yours, but definitely noticeable if you try to wiggle the shifter.