something weird happened today. Luckily i was only 2 minutes from home so could get the car back. It started making a clunking noise. Sounded like when the driveshaft center is hitting the tunnel or something. Thing is, I have a one-piece driveshaft installed, so it cant be hitting the tunnel. I experimented to see when it happens. Ressults making me think its gearbox related? -Does it while rolling, faster you roll, more frequent the clunk. -If youre on the throttle at all, even a bit, it doesnt do it, drives fine. -As soon as you close the throttle it starts clunking. -Does it whatever gear youre in (tested 1 and 2 and R. - Clutch in or out doesnt make a difference. Moving with no throttle it does it. -Sitting still and revving doesnt do it. Revs up fine. Does anybody have a clue what it could be?? Hopefully the info ive supplied is enough of a hint to someone who knows about the drivetrain. Its a big clunk, not really driveable. I got home driving in first gear hazards on, very low revs making sure i had part throttle all the way so it wouldnt do it. But as soon as i had to stop throttling to pull over, it started clunking again. If anyone has any clues please spread the love. I dont think i can drive the car in this state. Hope to hear some advice or ideas on what to check to narrow down the culprit. Thanks, Attila.
I believe you will find it to be driveshaft related, probably play in one of the universals, that play is taken up when car under load (throttle). The only way to find out is to get under the car and look. Exhaust centre piece off, heat shield off. Maybe have to take the driveshaft out, make sure you mark its position so it can be refitted in the same position.
hmm. thanks for that. So what am i looking for? Just making sure all the driveshaft bolts are done up tightly? Play in the universal you said, how do i check for this? Just give it a wobble while its all tightened up and see if it does anything that doesnt seem right? Just want to know what im looking for before i get under there.
i had some time to get under the car today. Exhaust off, driveshaft looked ok. So i removed it and had a good look at the universal on each end. They looked fine, almost new. No visible damage, and i couldnt move it in any way that its not supposed to. The yoke also looked clean. Peeked into the rear of the gearbox. Also looked clean, and the visible bearing still there. Nothing to see at the diff end of the shaft. dont know where to go now. Since it happened only when the car is moving, i figured its rear of the gearbox. Could it have anything to do with the diff? Or any ideas what else i could have a look at?
How much free play have you got in your diff? FSM should have tolerances listed. Mine has too much backlash and makes a loud clunking noise if you don't change gears in just a certain way so will be dropping it fairly soon. May or may not be related to your problem though...
free play as in how far can i turn the driveshaft by hand while cars still? About 30degrees is my guesstimate?
With the car in neutral, the amount of rotation of the driveshaft is what you're looking for. FSM says you shouldn't be able to move it round more than .6 of an inch? Although I'm just stabbing in the dark there and can't check for you sorry as I don't have adobe installed at the moment.
yeh man - thats a lot of free play and is where your problem is thats why when you back off it in gear the free play starts making the noise I can only think of a bearing going in the box or the universals badly worn (common)as being the only way you could get that much play doesnt sound good - cannot be stripped splines or cogs quickly disconnect tailshaft to see if all that free play is in the diff or the gearbox or uni joints narrow it down more Cheers
That amount of free play can only come from a diff issue. Here is a good tip which you have been told before MrTwinTurbo, instead of posting incorrect or uninformed info in every thread you come accross, sit back and do some reading on the forum first. You might even learn something.
dont be such a bitter unhappy person dude - chill out He might have slack in both unis and a little free play elsewhere in diff/ gearbox which could give the sort of freeplay hes talking about yeh diff is suspect but it could be anything dude including the box As I stated narrow it down - disconnect uni to find out! Then theres no argument over what part Here is a good tip dude, instead of critiquing snarling bitter twisted mean nasty condescending and belittling posts at every bit of help posted in every thread you come across thats trying to help, sit back and do some reading on the forum first. You might even learn something dude:rofl: Chill out - laugh post your own 2c worth without being condescending or belittling to others - it really shows your arrogant in the eyes of all to see - save yourself some embarrasement and respect dude[TIS]
You have to be joking, but then again if you sat back and did a bit of reading you might learn a thing or 2 about other members here. Several people have told you the same thing in the very short week you have been here.
ok thanks guys. Getting somewhere Next day i have off when its not raining, ill put the yoke in and check for play, then see if theres play in the diff end. One thing to add, it did happen suddenly, had a noisy driveline for a month or two since i installed the one-piece tailshaft (i figure it amplified a previous issue or worn out part). But This heavy clunking happened all of a sudden while driving along. Thanks for the info guys. Feels good to learn how to troubleshoot things even if theyre not the problem. Ill test where the plays coming from, see how bad it is, and get back to you all. P.S. say it was the diff. How much of a DIY fix Can it be? Is it relatively easy to drop the diff, open it up and have a poke around swap a bearing or whatever?
if you want another diff msg chilledpain he has a few there. postage might be a killer though. you dont want to know what the prices for bearing in these are.
Also going to add its a TT swap beefed up a little bit, with an NA rear end. So there definately has been more stress on the diff than intended.
A TT diff will be really cheap. You can't sell em, cause everyone wants the NA diff. Shouldn't be too hard to pick one up - just don't go to a wrecker.
Jesus mrtwinturbo I have to agree with eric here please just shut up and learn some stuff before posting incorrect information. Why doesn he need to drop the prop shaft exactly? To test the gearbox simply place car in gears and try to spin prop shaft, to test the diff place car in neutral and try to spin prop shaft. Just saved hours of work removing exhaust and driveshaft. @ op. I'm guessing that if it happened almost instantaneously something has given up inside the diff. Not particularly hard to drop, chrispy's thread in the tech section should be fairly handy, all you should need is a trolley jack and a flat surface to do it on.
hahahaha just re-read your post, you're seriously telling Eric, one of the top Zed mechanics in qld to sit back and read the forums some more so he might learn something? I got a good laugh out of that one I think they have a saying for that don't they, something about the pot calling the kettle black?
if im correct, swapping to TT diff isnt that simple for me? As the TT diff has a 5-bolt flange, and NA has a 4-bolt one? So my custom NA tailshaft wont work with a TT diff? Unless i can swap the diff and keep the flange thingy as 4-bolt?
