Backlash in the Transaxle?

[DoctorDex]

Yours sounds a bit like mine. I will get a bit of clunking and jerking while trying to cruise at really low throttle levels, but it is nothing compared to the clunk I get when I go from decel to hard accel. I always chalked up the low throttle clunking and jerking to be related to compressor surge and/or misfires in closed loop (I'm pretty sure I have an exhaust leak on the front bank causing this misfire problem).

[keithmac]

When you`re cruising the car`s going from slight accel to slight engine breaking (unless you`re on an incline) so this would show up any slack in the drivetrain, from engine breaking to hard acceleration is probably the worste case for any play in the drivetrain. I`m baybying mine until I find out what it is, gently taking acceleration up after engine breaking/ from a stop start does the trick, when its rolling you can give it some grief!.

[MiVR4TT]

I have been having the same problem and I really really hate it. Mine is the worse in 1-2 and gets alittle better from 2-3 and is pretty much gone in 3-4 and never clunks 4-5. Mine comes from the rear end. It is pretty obvious. However it does not clunk going from engine breaking to accelleration which everyone here is saying theirs does. Mine exhibits all other characteristics except that one. I did find that the only way to get it to go away is if you perfectly engage/slip the clutch or you pop the throttle alittle between gears. Anyone else experince this? Is there something we are overlooking? JeffWvr4 replaced freaking EVERYTHING and its still there. Are we over looking something. Could this really be rear end bushings? No one has replaced those yet and if the rear end moved arould alittle could it cause these problems? As you guys know its very fustrating. I would love my car a 100 time more if it didn't do this.

[keithmac]

You really need to get hold of the CD manual, it has a section on stripping, inspecting, setting up the the rear diff. From what I¬ve seen you pull the driveshafts and oil seals, take out a circlip on eack side and then wind one side in/ wind one side out to set the clearance between the gears.

There`s a post on here about it too, sure I`ve read a diy tutorial.

For mine, I`ve not noticed my clunk as much after I fixed my ecu (caused the car to buck slightly at part throttle), either that or I`ve learnt how to drive around the problem?

I`m going to check my free play again when it`s on the ramp for engine and tranny oil change, but won`t get time to pull it apart this year.

[JeffWVR4]

Originally Posted by JeffWVR4

I've had the same problem for years. I've tried and adjusted 2 rear diffs, adjusted shims in the transfer case, replaced the VCU, installed 3 different output shafts, replaced the transfer case input spool, and had the transmission rebuilt and checked for slack. I also installed a 2 pc aluminum driveshaft and a new carrier bearing, and new front halfshafts. Each time I did one of the above, the clunking improved for a few weeks or months, but eventually came back. The biggest improvement was when I replaced the VCU. But now it's worse than ever, so I've resigned to the fact that it's just terminal at this point and have gotten used to it.

I found something new this weekend that I thought it was worth reviving this thread over. My clunking had gotten even worse, and I had noticed before that one of the half-shaft seals in the rear diff was beginning to leak slowly, even though it was replaced a year ago. And the drivetrain was starting to get noisy too, like it would sound if the gears weren't mating properly. So I crawled under the car to check the fluid level in the diff. While loosening the fill plug, I noticed that the differential was moving around. Then I found that 4 of the 6 bolts that attach the two mounting brackets to the front of the diff were missing! And the other two were loose! Both half-shaft seals were leaking as well, but the diff still had a good bit of fluid in it, fortunately. So I replaced the bolts, drained and refilled the fluid, and most of the clunk is gone now. There is still a little more slop than I'd like in the drivetrain, but it's much improved now that the diff isn't moving around. (After all, the car does have over 196K miles on it.) But I guess sometimes it's easy to overlook the obvious. Glad I found it, as this had potential for diaster.

[DoctorDex]

I'll have to check those. Do you have a diagram/pic handy to show me exactly where to look?

[JeffWVR4]

Here's some pics. (from JRC's site. Hope you don't mind John.)

The first one shows the 2 brackets near the bottom of the pic.

The 2nd one shows the brackets near the top of the pic.

The 3rd pic shows the brackets laid out next to the diff.

[keithmac]

Just an update for my clunk problems, had the car on a lift to do the clutch and checked the prop shaft carrier bearings, loads of play in them so I believe this is my problem (going to strap them with jubilee clips for the time being). Would have sorted it there and then but it was 3.30am before we got the car finished, started it after a full days work so I`d lost the will to live at that point..

[DoctorDex]

Is there a specific procedure for checking carrier bearings? How exactly did you check yours?

[keithmac]

I grabbed hold of the prop shaft and pulled it up and down near the carriers, there`s a little play even in new bearings but not an inch worth!. I think the rubber mount around the bearing has broken down with old age/ abuse..