Drive line Clunk

[Xyloft]

a few 1,000 miles ago it started making a clunk. at first i thought it was between engine braking and heavy acceleration. (drive line shifting back and forth).

but now it seems to make the noise when i engage the clutch (not all the time). especially when going from 1 to R or R to 1. it also makes it when I downshift to slow down for a red light, but the light turns green before i stop, (so a rolling shift into 2). seems to only be noticeable in R, 1, 2.

in typical mechanic fashion, when I brought the car in for the safety recall i could not get the car to make the noise. the dealer treated me top notch and charged me $0 for the loaner car and the troubleshooting they did. dealer said they re-torqued all the bolts in the rear end and checked the U joints, but nothing seemed amiss

no sooner than I left the lot, it made the noise again.

car is a 6 spd manual, and has 87,000 miles on it.

anyone have any ideas? I'd like to either fix myself now that i have another car or at least go into the dealer with a few more ideas of things to check.

[shah269]

I hear it as well....for me it turned out to be that one of the hangers holding up the exhaust was not bolted in place in Germany....found it while i was having new tires installed.
Go look at your pipes...if they are leaning then well that could be it.
Best of luck.

[Xyloft]

exhaust seems tight. but i did notice this, which doesnt look right.

is this bolt supposed to be backed off? I couldn't move it with my fingers.


a little bit further back to see location. front wheels on the right of picture.


it looks like a mount of some kind, but looking at the exhaust diagram here, it looks like the silencer?

[Xyloft]

also. drives side rear differential.

should there be a nut holding this mount on? there is on the other side.



none of the rear suspension or rear end diagrams i have seen show that bolt and bushing.

[Stohlen]

Originally Posted by Xyloft

should there be a nut holding this mount on? there is on the other side.

No there should not be.

[Xyloft]

Originally Posted by Stohlen

No there should not be.

thanks for the quick reply.

this clunk noise is driving me crazy, but I can't seem to find anything under there out of place.

[Xyloft]

update:

no play in the half shafts. but if i grab the drive shaft right behind the transmission i can move it just a little. car was in gear, and rear tires on the ground. its barely any play at all, but has some.

normal or no?

there are like eleventy thousand bolts to take the plastics off, but i think that's the next step. exhaust mounts seem okay. nothing i can grab makes a noise. *edit* or moves.