73, Dark Blue 454

I have a Tremec TKO-600 that I purchased from Keisler (who's now out of business) a year ago and installed her in a 69 Camaro a month ago. The tranny is great except for an annoying 'buzz" or rattle from the shifter. I have the aluminum colored shifter tower. I checked the bolts/fasteners and everything is good and tight.

1) Has anybody overcome this buzz before? If so how?

2) I have a poly-urethane tranny mount,..would changing to a stock rubber mount calm down the noise?

3) Is it possible I failed to insert a bushing of some kind in the shifter unit that prevents this buzz?

4) Would switching to this shifter solve my problem (or only liberate me from my cash)?:

http://www.hurst-drivelines.com/?page_id=25

I would call Shafi Keisler but nobody is answering the phone at KE. So any ideas you might have are most welcome. Thanks!

Shark Racer

A rubber trans mount could help. Is the buzz RPM dependent?

What kind of shift handle is it? Try removing the shift ball and see if it goes away?

MotorHead

I had the buzz and they sent me a blue shifter and the buzz went away

gkull

My shift had a buzz and it was mph related. It actually would increase with speed like from 70 - 100 mph then go quiet for anything over 100. I thought that maybe my drive shaft was out of balance. Then there was a discussion here on the forum about drive shaft output and input into the rear diff angles.

So I spaced the rear tail shaft upwards another 1/2 inch and the buzz went down to nearly non exsistant.

73, Dark Blue 454

The shifter handle is a chrome Hurst piece with a black ball. It's good and tight.

73, Dark Blue 454

MotorHead,..describe further. What is a "Blue Shifter" and where might I find one?

Thanks!

Super6

The Hurst shifter you linked to is not a replacement for the Keisler one where the shifter is offset toward the driver. Not on the centerline like the Hurst unit. See the Blue Box below.

zuendler

Hurst has the "Sidewinder II" side mounted shifter for this.
But i doubt it will fit right on the modification that Keisler made to the tailhousing of the TKO. In the worst case you have to replace the tailhousing including the shift rail in the gearbox. But its possible.

7T1vette

The shifter is making the noise, but it is not the cause. There is some excessive amount of vibration coming from the drivetrain system which is causing the shifter to rattle. It could be driveline alignment, driveshaft balance, sticky U-joint....don't really know. But, if you reduce the noise energy being supplied, the volume will greatly reduce.

You can do stuff to snug up the rattling components, but the vibration will still be there.

SLVRSHRK

I agree. My Super T-10 shifter used to buzz as well. Turned out to be a driveline angle issue. Search the forums, there is planty of information on getting this right.

MotorHead

This is the one they sent me and buzz went away, Keisler was aware of this problem as it was discussed years ago and they sent me the blue shifter.

You will have to look around for one as Shafi is out of business with a big fat wallet

hugie82

If your buzzing matches the speed of the car, I would be looking at driveshaft u joint angles. The rear pinion bushing is very touchy on angle before it starts buzzing. Years ago, I watched an old timer wrap his shifter with an old bicycle inner tube to keep his shifter from bouncing around. I guess anything that can absorb vibration will help.

Barry's70LT1

I had some shifter buzz prior to installing a TKO-600. It was getting worse every year. It was very much rpm related, and only under power.
Started around 1,800 rpm. When stopped and just rev, no buzz. When driving normal, no buzz.

After the TKO-600 install, the buzz was much worse. I also upgraded to the "blue" shifter and this helped a lot, however it was still there.

I then balanced the flywheel/pressure plate and replaced motor mounts. Nothing helped.

After much reading about vibrations etc, there was an interesting article on the function of the Harmonic Balancer about damping vibrations.

I replaced my harmonic balancer and the "Buzz" was 100% eliminated.

73, Dark Blue 454

I can make the shifter stick buzz sittin' in the driveway in neutral by bringing her up to 2500~ RPM. The engine is pretty smooth but it's a big 540. And I'm happy with the balancing,..she can buzz to 5500 pretty smoothly. I have poly engine mounts and on the tranny.

So, it's clear that nothing behind the tranny is causing problems (driveshaft, u-joints, angles, etc).

I'll try that blue shifter but I have no idea where to look. Can somebody steer me in the right direction? I'm sure Keisler sourced this part from somewhere.

Thanks for all the responses,..big help!

Super6

The TKO600 in the photo I posted was purchased new in July of 2008 from Keisler and it had the blue shifter on it when delivered. In the time I've had the car, I've only had problems with the dreaded 2-3 shift 3 times and that was mostly from over-thinking it after I read about the problem. Anyway, I contacted Keisler in 2013 to see if there was an upgraded shifter available to address the 2-3 shift problem. They sent me a new "natural" aluminum colored shifter. It has a much stronger set of springs in it and pops into the 2-3 gate with more force. As far as I know, this is the latest shifter for the TKO600. No buzzing with my 540 either, at least in the 500 miles I've put on it.

Barry's70LT1

I purchased my TKO600 in 2006 from Keisler and it was supplied with the "natural" finish shifter.
That shifter really was a piece of crap, the pivot points were poorly machined plus other poorly fitting pieces.

The point is, this shifter was not spring loaded, the second generation, the blue one, was spring loaded, and was a major improvement.

If the OP's shifter is "natural" finish, and is spring loaded, then it is likely a third generation shifter, which should be fine.

If it's not spring loaded, then it's the first generation, (not so good) shifter.

73, Dark Blue 454

Any ideas on which shifter I have? Here's more info after reviewing the receipt:

1) Date of purchase 3/27/12

2) It's not likely this tranny was sittin' on shelf at Keisler. Shafi was out of this tranny with the .082 final drive and he ordered it.

3) The shifter tower is indeed natural aluminum colored

4) The notes regarding the shifter on the receipt says: ""Low profile internal offset shifter, Keisler mini-billet shift tower & special lever stub".

Lastly, the car does have a factory-type rubber tranny mount; not a poly-urethane as I said in an earlier post. This mount came in the kit from Keisler

Does the info above help?

Super6

This is the new upgraded shifter I bought from Keisler around May 2013. You can see one of the springs in the housing in this shot.

73, Dark Blue 454

Thanks Super,..I'll check for the spring,..make sure I have the upgraded shifter tower.

If I do, any idea what to look for next? Could a broken or missing bushing be the problem,..though I don't remember installing any.

MotorHead

What is your tranny to driveshaft angle ? Get an cheap angle finder and tell us the results/ I know what it should be and if higher there's an easy fix with washers to bring the tail shaft of the tranny higher