# Noisy Mazda Miata Transmission **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** noises, transmissions, mazda, miata\ **Created:** [September 24, 2010, 8:01pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/noisy-mazda-miata-transmission/55535 "2010-09-24T20:01:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rogerbohl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cdc98d/32.png) [@rogerbohl](https://community.cartalk.com/u/rogerbohl)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 8:01pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/noisy-mazda-miata-transmission/55535/1 "2010-09-24T20:01:20Z")
I have a 2009 Mazda Miata w 6-sp manual transmission and 3000 miles. After the tranmission oil gets hot – about 20 fwy miles – the car develops a gear lash noise when accelerating in any gear from 2000-3000 rpm – like wooden balls in a barrel. Noise has been reported on Mazda web sites. Is this acceptable, or should I insist on transmission replacement? ---
**Author:** ![Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/joseph_e_meehan/32/21_2.png) [@Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Joseph_E_Meehan)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/noisy-mazda-miata-transmission/55535/2 "2010-09-24T20:06:29Z")
``` How much warranty does it have remaining? Have you had it to the dealer? If so what did they say? Have you checked the transmission fluid? ``` ---
**Author:** ![rogerbohl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cdc98d/32.png) [@rogerbohl](https://community.cartalk.com/u/rogerbohl)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 3:14pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/noisy-mazda-miata-transmission/55535/3 "2010-09-25T15:14:40Z")
Car now has 4000 miles; power train warranty runs to 60,000/6 years, extended warranty to 100,000/10 years. 4 visits to dealers. First dealer finally declared, “Normal.” Second dealer declared, “Abnormal”; Mazda District Service Manager said to change transmission oil, which they did (2 full changes in one day). Last e-mail from Mazda USA said “normal,” but I’ve never had a car (out of 25, mostly manual sports cars) exhibit such a noise. When I first heard it, I thought the noise was pre-ignition, so bad, that I was reluctant to drive the car at all. I’m building a case for CA lemon law, but I don’t know yet if the noise is a precursor to a serious problem. Roger Bohl Quotes from the Internet (see, especially, the last!): 7/27/08 That’s the same sound I was complaining about, after some reading on this forum I have given up complaining about it as it seems “normal” for the 6MT. My '99 had some weird noises and it never broke so I guess this is the same deal. 7/26/08: OK, I read the “I bought a Diesel” thread but there seems to be several noises described there that occur under different circumstances. Here’s what I’ve got: New 08 PRHT, 600 miles, 6M, Susp… Pkg. No strange noise when motor is cold. When warmed up, I get a rattling noise (like marbles in a plastic bottle) from under the car from the vicinity of the transmission when accelerating from low speed in 2nd gear. I hear the noise when the car is warm whether the AC is on or not. I don’t notice it in neutral or any other time for that matter. Does this sound like Gear Rollover noise? From what I could gather from the other thread there is no fix for this. Is that true? 7/26/08: That’s the noise that everyone’s been talking about in the “diesel” thread. I’ve got it too - very annoying, I must say. 7/26/08: According to Mazda customer representative that came out to look at our car with the same sound, they said it was “normal”. I told them it was only “normal” if it was a design flaw. Normal manual speed transmissions do not make this sound. I also don’t remember the sales person talking about this sound during the sales pitch. ---
**Author:** ![mcparadise](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mcparadise/32/32_2.png) [@mcparadise](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mcparadise)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 3:49pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/noisy-mazda-miata-transmission/55535/4 "2010-09-25T15:49:47Z")
“Is this acceptable?” NO. Transmissions, manual or automatic, should not make strange noises. Keep complaining.