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Hey guys, I'm having a similar problem to what gargantula99 was having with chattering when pulling out it first gear only a little different.  I first noticed it when I let some girl with an STI drive my car(assuming she knew how to drive a clutch).  She was rough getting use to the clutch and bucked a lot and one time, pulling out at really low RPM's you could feel something chattering in the suspension or clutch, feeling it both in the clutch pedal and gas.  I can recreate it any time I want by pulling out slowly at low rpms.  I'm not sure if it could be one of the engine mounts because I detail the engine bay regularly and am under the car often and there are no signs of leaks anywhere on the vehicle.  Any idea of where to look?  I'm only worried because it gives me the feeling that something snapped in the suspension or something and I want to fix it before anything gets worse.

By the way, if you drive it like race car off the line, you'd never know.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Steve

Try jacking your engine, and seeing if any of the mounts seperate.

I still get this occasionally.  Can't really recreate it, it just happens.  It's weird.  Good luck with finding the answer and keep me posted. 

I really didn't buy excuse that it's my shitty driving skills. 

Does your hole dash board shake when it happens?  I don't think it's the engine mounts on mine because the engine is pretty solid at idle. 

That's a good idea about jacking up on the motor.  I'll have to check each of the mounts before  and after lifting from the motor after work tomorrow. 

And no, I don't remember noticing that the entire dash rattles during this.  I only notice it in the pedals.  I can recreate it and make sure but I feel like that should be avoided.  Maybe you should try pulling out at very low rpms and see if it's the same situation for you.

I was talking to my dad about this and he brought up that it could be the throw out bearing going bad.  That could explain why I've read about a lot of people replacing their clutch and the problem stopping.  I don't know much about the mechanics of the clutch and throw out bearing so I can't rule in favor or against the throw out bearing.  I will say that car only has 60k miles on it and would think it's a bit early for anything like that to be going bad.

Thanks for the quick comments guys.

The motor would be solid at idle. It's at rest with the weight holding it down.

It could be the throw out bearing, but I would verify the motor mounts like Mike said and also check out your suspension (control arms, upper tie bars, etc) first. When youre driving slow in first gear, do you hear a whinning noise along with the chattering?. Throw bearings general whins. There's also the bearing in the flywheel that could be defective resulting in the flywheel having too much play on the pinion shaft. GW, keep us updated.

Oh, I guess I should clarify.  It's not chattering at low speeds in first gear, only when releasing the clutch.  As soon as it is fully released it stops.  The only other strange/abnormal thing with my car that I noticed is, since day one of owning it, after being parked overnight, I'd back out of my driveway and as I pull out turning the wheel in the oppisite direction now I'd feel a thud in the pedals and steering wheel.  It only ever happens on the first turn of the wheel moving forward.  I'm not sure if the two problems would be related in anyway.  But other than that, there is no whines or anything else with the car, well besides the lack of some serious engine mods.

And I'll have to apologize.  I just went down there and checked out the motor mounts.  The one under the throttle body looks to have a trapezoidish cut out in the top piece which, as far as I know, is supposed to be there but whatever is underneith of it (looking through the cutout) looks all frayed.  I did not try taking the stress off of the mounts yet with the jack but I did try replicating the chattering for my dad, which for the life of me I could not reproduce. As of now I can't do it again.  I hate those problems that only show themselves when no one else is around and make you look stupid when trying to show someone...

All of the mounts seemed to hold pretty solid with just hard shots of gas.  Each one had a very slight rock to them.  Maybe I'll have to wait this one out and see if anymore symtoms arise.

Ok now that you've cleared that up, I would take the throw out bearing out of the equation (highly unlikely). Now you just have to jack up the engine close to each mount and check them. If those look good, then I believe it might be the flywheel bearing. I had to replace mine when I had my clutch replaced last year.

This is happening to me again.  It's really fucking annoying.

Since we last talked about this, it has only happened twice...I'm not sure if this coincides but it seems like it happens often after someone new has driven the carand then tapers off .  Like when someone bucked real bad and then I get in and can make it do the same thing every time.  Eventually it happens less and less.  I'm not really sure if there is such a thing as a temporary problem but that is what it seems like to me.  Could the same situation apply to you, gargantula? And does this sound possible to anyone out there who knows the drivetrain better?

I don't chatter when I pull out. Just sayin'.
On a serious note, I've never experienced this but then again, no one drives my car. The only time I get any kind of noise is if I don't give enough gas, like almost stalling type noise. Weird you guys have this issue.

I literally have the same thing going on, Mr. Quick kick.   

So after talking to Tim about it today, he said it could be what Rich said, but it could also be an axle or a bushing.  We came to the conclusion that it's probably best for me to take it to the dealership and have them diagnose it.  I have to do a transmission fluid change anyways, so I'll schedule something for January.  I can't be bothered with that right now.  It's really annoying though. 

I have seen this a couple times on the V6 side, it usually turns out to be eaither a slightly warped friction disc or a worn bushing in the flywheel if it is not the mounts. Axels do not cause a chatter only when starting out.

Thank you Paul

With how rare I have this happen anymore, I'd assume it's not worth addressing the problem till it comes time to replace the clutch? Or is a warped disc or worn bushing something that needs addressed to prevent farther issues?


Haha, I considered going there but wasn't sure how well recieved it would be....giggity

Its always funny. I can never resist going there.

It drives me nuts because it happens for like 3 days straight till it goes away.

Does anyone besides you drive your car? Paul, is probably right on the money but the cost of dropping the tranny is up there and to only drop it for that is nuts.

That's why I'm looking to replace the clutch too since I'm at 61,000 miles.  I'm the only one who drives the car.  It started on Saturday after being stuck in two and a half hours of stop and go traffic in the city. It was fine Friday night when Tim was in my car.