Noticed last night on my way home (on the freeway, scary) that my car has developed an intermittent clunk. i got home, checked the lug bolts; they were tight as can be. there's no play or sound if i try to wiggle the rear wheel on the driver's side, where the noise seems to be coming from. it seems to trigger when i first start off, change gears, or make a turn. i'm boggled as to what it could be. rear end going out? i'm mighty confused on this one. i'm at work until 5 and dont get home until 6, so i won't really be able to try anything right away. i'd greatly appreciate if anyone can shed some light on this.

 

Sounds like it could be the driveshaft u-joints. They will make a clunk noise under the conditions you described. Block the front tires, put the rear end up on stands, disengage the parking brake, put the trans in neutral, and try spinning the driveshaft my hand back and forth.

Many people will tell you that the u-joints can not be replaced, they can.

 

You might want to check the transmission mount. your cars old enough for that to be worn out. I had a similiar clunking noise especially when turning. Then the u-joint failed. Then another u joint fail. Finally realize the problem was the trans mount

 

Could also be a broken trailing arm mount. It happened to me, and went undiagnosed for a while cos i couldnt see anything till i jacked it up and took the wheels off. The bracket broke off the diff housing at the welds in such a way that it looked ok but was completely sheared.

 

This happened on my parts car, looked like it sucked.

But the U joints and the trans mount are both my first thoughts as well. With an almost 30 year old car you sure gotta think that the rubber in the trans mount and the metal in the U joints would be starting to fail.

 

looked like it sucked? Yeah its pretty embarrassing, but i wasnt driving it much at the time, and having a quik look under the car, nothing was out of place because the broken-off bracket fitted perfectly into its broken weld and was hidden by the brake disk shield, shocker, ect. It was an upper mount. It drove ok except I thought the "axle tramp" was getting worse so i babied it for the few times i drove it like that untill i had the time and space to give it some attention.

 

Mine had a clunk, I had to lift up the front end and find this.

 

@Nicholas P. - My idler arm bushing has disappeared again, as i had that same issue before. however it sounds to me as if the knock is coming from the back of the car. i'll be ordering the moog unit after i get paid friday...

@Fewgitive and KC REPU, I plan on checking the driveshaft u-joints tonight, but how would i go about checking the transmission mounts?

@nikko13b were there any noticable changes in handling after that happened?

 

Not really, just the clunking noises, and pretty bed chatter under hard acceleration. edit; I didnt even know when it happened.

 

well i will be leaving it home with my grandfather tomorrow, and he's gonna look over it for me while i'm at work. i would normally do it myself but its hard when your 18 and working full time/going to school. i've passed on your suggestions, and i'll report back when we find something.

 

mine does this. my axle is slightly bent and throws the caliper back and forth

 

i wonder if this could be the case, since i just evel knievel'd my car onto a center median by way of the back left wheel smashing the curb.

couldn't be the case though, since i have rear drums, or could the drum be moving back and forth?

 

Get under the car, stick it in neutral. See how much travel is on the drive shaft. Just go back and forth. This will tell me if your ring and pinion has to much clearance.

 

what would be the normal amount of clearance?

 

Bad pinion bearing check (Crush bearing).


Worn gears causing to much clearance.


If you have a half inch of play thats fine, I will try to make a video for you too look at.

 

Update: got the car back today, grandfather said he tightened up a bunch of stuff underneath from when i had my little... accident. i asked him and he said there was no noticeable play in the driveshaft. thats all i know, as i only spoke to him briefly before heading to work. clunk is gone for now, will see what happens.

 

Knowing that you had a little "accident" would have been nice information to have when helping diagnos this problem.

 

i know... i figured it had something to do with that. just forgot to mention it. sorry about that.

 

i have come to the conclusion that it is either something inside the brake drum, or the rear drivers side wheel itself. checking the drum tonight, either way i will be looking into a new set of wheels.

 

Did you try swapping the wheel front to back? While the wheel is off the back, check the brakes.

 

no but i have run the spare in place of the wheel. when the spare was on, i didnt hear the noise at all. i plan on checking the insides of the drum, i know the shoes will be fine as i just did them, maybe there is something loose inside moving around