Slop in Wevo coupler

[dipso]

I have had the Wevo coupler for a few years now. Recently I have been hearing a little noise. It's a vibration noise.
I removed the tunnel cover and have been driving around like that. When I hear the vibration I just reach back and touch the shifter rod and it stops. Kind of troubleshooting.
I also noticed I don't have a rear boot. I'll bet it gets a lot quieter inside when I replace that.

There is no for and aft play in the rod. I have replaced all the tunnel bushings within 10,000 miles. I thought the vibration was coming from the transmission and the rod that exits the tunnel to the transmission might be getting loose.
I was about to look into that when I discovered the culprit.
I think it's the Wevo PSJ.

I looked and can't find any pictures of the PSJ without the rubber cover. Pictures with the rubber cover won't do me any good. But, if I pull back the cover and jiggle the Wevo it has a little slop.
The part that is connected to the transmission rod is pretty firm.
The part that is connected to the shift rod has a little up and down play.

I can move my shift rod up and down about 1/32". The Wevo moves too, half of it.
Where it is connected to both rods is tight. It is the area where the 2 join that has a little play.


Here's a universal joint. Similar to the Wevo.


The piece on the right is the one that goes to the stick. It seems to be moving up and down on the other and causing a rattle/vibration noise.
Is that normal? I never noticed it before.

[sc_rufctr]

That doesn't sound normal. The whole idea of using a coupler like this is to remove any play.

Does the car shift OK? If it does I wouldn't worry about it.

[dipso]

Shifts fine. It's just the noise that is bugging me.
I have the Wevo motor and tranny mounts and just removed my soundpad.
Maybe it's the combination of everything that I'm noticing.
No soundpad, firmer mounts and missing boot. But that still wouldn't explain the rattle.

[MichiganMat]

I would contact Wevo directly Dipso, they have a reputation for quality customer support.

[dipso]

Just received a reply from Hayden at Wevo. He said the movement is most likely in tolerance and said in ten years they have never seen one fail. There is supposed to be a slight amount of movement.

His suggestion was to slide back the rubber sleeve and work a heavy grease into the joint. That should stop the chatter.
That sounds like a good idea and I will do it. From what I can see that should solve the noise issue.

Just posting this solution for future searchers.

[MarkM911]

dipso, thanks for posting this....I've been living with the chatter for some time now, thinking it was just the price you pay for adding "race" goodies to your daily driver. It only happens when in 3rd or 4th gear. I have the same setup: no sound pad, Wevo engine+tranny mounts and missing boot. I'm going to try the grease suggestion and replace the original rubber boot while I'm in there.

Thanks again...

[dipso]

Mark,
I just greased mine up. I didn't have any heavy grease, so I used wheel bearing grease. I really filled that sucker up. Chattering stopped. It did make a difference. If I ever come across some heavy grease I will put that in.
The big difference was in installing the two boots, yes two. I only thought there was one too.
I can't hear anything now. I must of been getting so much road, transmission and engine noise in the car from that area.
It sounds like a new car.
Here is a picture of both. Both available from Pelican.



The one that is shaped like a pyramid goes on first, the small end points out the rear of the tunnel around the transmission shift rod. You'll have to remove your coupler. It doesn't really go out of the car but collapses on itself around the rod. The larger end of the boot slips around a lip in the tunnel designed to hold it in place.

The other boot that looks like the michelin man goes on the rod after the pyramid boot. Both of these are before the coupler. The second boot has one large end that fits over the large end on the first boot and a smaller end that fits over the transmission rod. The whole thing collapses down to about an inch and is sandwiched between the first boot and coupler. It is completely sealed with both of these.

Man what a difference. I did this while having a few beers in the garage yesterday, so I didn't really test drive it very far until today.
Sounds great.
Make sure you get both boots, big difference.

Lance