The culprit was my WSP y-pipe. No, the y-pipe wasn't hitting the body, cross member, etc. The problem resides in the fact that WSP doesn't use the factory hanger that connects the front downpipe on the engine block near the oil pan. Without utilizing this mount/hanger, the WSP y-pipe or any aftermarket y-pipe is left to be suspended except for where the factory hanger is used by the cat converter flange. What ends up happening is the y-pipe vibrates slightly. If you have a y-pipe, you can look underneath the car while it's running and you'll see the y-pipe vibrating especially near the flex section. This vibrating caused my whole exhaust system to vibrate slightly. While driving and shifting, I could feel an annoying grainy vibration thru my clutch and gas pedal plus my shifter which I have realized was the y-pipe causing the exhaust to vibrate. The vibrations weren't horrible and couldn't be noticed by passengers, but to someone picky like me that's wants to keep VQ's ultra smoothness, this problem had annoyed me for over two years.

The fix was simple. I simply drilled a 1/2" hole in the black metal shield that connects to the factory hanger point on the engine block. Then I took large hose clamp (the kind you use on the intake pipes) and I wrapped it around the pipe and thru the drilled hole and tightened the clamp. I'm happy to report nearly the grainy vibration is gone.


Dave

 

you are the ABSOLUTE man, i was just about to get rid of my ypipe because of this vibration, i know what you mean man, ive been driving only 2 months, and i cant stand that "grainy" vibration you describe, its like a resonance fromt he pipe, im going to try what you said and report back,

 

Why are you posting his whole thread in the reply if you're the first person? Think about it.

I was lucky enough to have the y-pipe fitted with a custom rod that uses the stock hanger. Glad you got the problem fixed.

 

YOu have a point about the first post, but why do you hate on everyone?

That is very interesting, Dave B. I need to try this.
Mine gets the vibration as well, but I know that it is not from the crossmember.
I have long wondered why it was suspended like it was, but too lazy to get under there and do anything about it.
I appreciate you taking the time to do this and then inform us all of what is causing it. I know that others will appreciate it as well, because there are a lot of us with WSP y-pipes.
Thanks,

 

Post pics?

 

Thanks Dave B. I know exactly what you are describing. I know what is on my to do list for next weekend now.

 

OMG! THis noise has been driving me up the wall. Mine started out as just an anoying sound that was barely noticeable but it got louder. I'm going under the car today it must be fixed.

 

Tips like this is what makes this forum awesome.

 

when shifting i hear this vibratrion in my exhaust as well, or when i hit a heavy bump....but i dont feel it on the pedals, just hear it, sounds like its hitting the car or something....

 

Dave, do you mind if you take a pic of this? I want to see exactly where you made the hole in the sheet metal

Edit- OK I just finnished the "DaveB ypipe mod" I guess Ill call it that. Anyways I used a dremel and cut a slot into the black bracket and used the hose clamp. I havent turned on the car yet but Im going to in a few min.

 

I just got done driving after the fix and it works as promised. Everyone with a aftermarket Y needs to do this

 

need pics please!! this is driving me nuts!!

 

I believe this is what Dave B means...if I am wrong please let me know. I noticed when I first drove the car there was lots of squeeling from this clamp, though it subsided a lot after a few minutes.

 

yes thats exactly what I did. I didnt have any noise from it maybe because my ypipe is wrapped in header wrap so that stopped metal to metal contact.

 

Yeah I was thinking about ripping a small piece cloth to place in between the clamp and the pipe to prevent the metal contact, that is if the noise doesnt go away.

 

cloth might catch on fire maybe? You can try a sheet of fiberglass fleece if you cant get header wrap but from the looks of your pic, it doesnt look like the clamp is tight enough so try tighten it a lot more and see if that works first.

 

That's exactly how I fixed most of the vibration. Pretty ghetto isn't it? I have header wrap so I don't get any rattles from the clamp.

Eventually I plan on having an exhaust shop just weld in a piece of metal that can bolt into the OEM location.


Dave

 

Great tip! Bravo!

 

Hmmm...very interesting....

How tight do you tighten the clamp > ??

-matt

 

fiber glass does not catch on fire? i mgiht try that i need this crap to stop. i have a projet for tomarrow. awsome.

 

Damn, I just threw that metal bracket away yesterday. Gotta pick it up if it is not too late...

 

use header wrap...

 

hey it works! from now on i agree with nismo, lets call is the dave b y-pipe mod. Thanks so much you for findings!

 

Dave I want to say thanks for your post.

I did this last week and the smoothness that my car use to have is back. I thought that the slight roughness was due to the car being older, but that was not the case. I actually ran the hose clamp under and around the bracket and then around the y-pipe. One other thing I noticed was that the last bit of my bees in the can noise is gone. I had wrapped my y-pipe and it helped a lot, but there was still a small hint of the bee noise. My car is as quiet as as my sister's stock Max now .

 

Glad I could help

 

Or you could just buy a Budget Y....

Great idea for Warpspeed Y owners, though.

 

so the budget y actually connects??

 

my budget rattles when idling and in 1st at low rmp, very annoying. I think that it is comming from the support bracket on the b pipe though.
The stock cat support doesnt fit on this pipe, as far as i can tell (rusted out pretty bad).
Kudos daveB.

 

Bump because I think this may be the answer to my odd, hard to pin down vibration that is coming through my shifter and gas pedal. But just to be sure, I want to post a pic of my shift linkage. I think during on of my stock->B&M->stock transitions I may have not reinstalled a bracket the attaches part of the assembly to the car.
The gray stuff above all the linkage is sound/heat deadening material installed from inside the car. Is there supposed to be another bracket in there somewhere?

 

do you think that an old y-pipe that's falling apart can cause the same thing?

 

I don't know, but I have a five year old WSP y pipe...and we all know what that means...

 

How did everybody keep the y-pipe from vibrating against the hanger? It seems like that would lead to more vibrations unless you wrapped the y-pipe.
I spoke to Dallas at WSP and he said they updated their hanger design about four years ago, likely after I purchased my y pipe. He says they can send me a new hanger/u bolt for about $10. I can't decide if I should do that, Dave B's mod, or both.
Any thoughts?

 

My y-pipe was wrapped, but I used the hanger without the wrap for a while as well. No unusual noises, except for the bees in the can type noise (reason I wrapped the pipe again).

 

Topspeed ss 2-peice y-pipe FTMFW, I got it on closeout for $120 and it has a bracket attached to bolt in place of the stock one, which for us NE guys likes to rot out.

 

Well I finally got around to trying to fix my vibration that comes through my shifter, and to a lesser extent my gas pedal. Here's what we did:







So far, it didn't cure my shifter vibration, and I can't tell if it fixed my gas pedal vibration. For all the time we put into the mod, I'm a little disappointed. At least it looks cool

Thoughts?

 

looks good.

I remember a thread where a member used (either or both) duck tape and zip ties on the shifter bushing (was a square like shape) then re-installed and it eliminated majority of the shifter vibration. which I still had the pics.

 

IIRC that was also Dave B. I have a TET poly shifter bushing. However, the vibration didn't start until at least a year after that was installed. My mechanic told me my shifter ball is worn out because of the play in it.