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Driveshaft rattle??

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Old 10-20-03, 02:30 PM
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Driveshaft rattle??

I think my driveshaft is rattling, but i'm not just. It only happens when i snap the the gas pedel under load, but when i'm in nuetral, it doesn't rattle. But it might be something else. Anybody with a similar probelm??

Plz. help....
Old 10-20-03, 02:33 PM
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I've got a similar problem, just started noticing. When I am in the middle of letting the clutch out in first, there is a clanking noise, but I haven't had time to investigate.
Old 10-20-03, 04:57 PM
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when my driveshaft went bad, i had a "clank" or a "toonk" noise. sometimes very loud (able to feel on the shifter), sometimes not so loud...but definately an ugly sound.

mine would only make the sound coming of a stop and it seemed to not make the noise as much when i babied the clutch.

if your car starts vibrating like you're sitting on a backmassager, i'd put money on your driveshaft.

john
Old 10-20-03, 05:29 PM
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Originally posted by genII Drifter
I've got a similar problem, just started noticing. When I am in the middle of letting the clutch out in first, there is a clanking noise, but I haven't had time to investigate.
that would be a rubber mount in the rear end... not the driveshaft, the drive shaft will usually squeek a lot when the U-joints are going bad, which also causes vibration because its not moving in a perfect circle... however you really need to replace that rubber mount, if you dont and it happens to break, say bye bye to your rear end, because it will fall out of the car! it costs around $115 if i remember correctly... the cause of it is from dumping the clutch at high rpms (drag racing), the fc just isnt very tolerable to that kind of behavior, you have to slip the clutch...

oh and if any of you guys needed a driveshaft i have a brand new one for sale.

-chad

Last edited by deltr0n`; 10-20-03 at 05:31 PM.
Old 10-20-03, 05:49 PM
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say bye bye to your rear end, because it will fall out of the car!

What??? Are you smokeing pot and typeing at the same time? Your rear end won't fall out if the front diff mount breaks, it will just go "clunk" on the bottom side of the car. There are two other BIG mounts that hold it in, there isn't just one mount.


it costs around $115 if i remember correctly...

Or you could take it to a shop and have it welded solid (or do it your self it you have a welder like us ) and save your self that money, and also never have to worry about it again.


the cause of it is from dumping the clutch at high rpms (drag racing), the fc just isnt very tolerable to that kind of behavior, you have to slip the clutch...

The FS is suited just fine for drag raceing, that is just a part that is in a 17 or so year old car, and it is rubber (which dry rotts), is will break under high stess after repeated abuse. It has nothing to do with the car, it is just a part that is prone to wear out.
Old 10-20-03, 06:38 PM
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First off, broken front differential mounts slam into the body with a CLUNK/THUD.


NOT a rattle. I know. I've broken 2 of them.



Originally posted by Cory Simpson
it is just a part that is prone to wear out.

Not quite. The front diff mount is a **** design. Steel bonded to rubber and then offset from the axis of the drivetrain? How the **** is that supposed to hold up over time? Especially in a sports car that can expect to have the **** driven out of it?

Whoever designed the FC's front diff mount deserves to have his *** removed for all the headaches some of us have had repairing/replacing the ******* thing.



Anyway, I just wanted to chime in that from the descriptions, I really doubt that it's the front diff mount. The clunk/thud is distinctive (and annoying as hell.)
Old 10-20-03, 07:01 PM
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Whoever designed the FC's front diff mount deserves to have his *** removed for all the headaches some of us have had repairing/replacing the ******* thing.



Took me like 20 minutes with a saw-zaw and a welder.
Old 10-20-03, 08:10 PM
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cool thanx i'll check withing this week.
Old 10-20-03, 09:33 PM
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Originally posted by Cory Simpson
is will break under high stess after repeated abuse
in other words... drag racing!!!


ok, ok, it wont fall out i was thinking about the drive shaft, but it WILL cause damage, same ****... im just trying to get my point across that he should fix it.

do us all a favor and take the stick out of your *** ok?
Old 10-20-03, 11:39 PM
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deltron'

Where to get these "rubber mounts? Also, is there a more professional name for these?

Where on the rear end, the diff.?

Thanks for the help, it got a little worse today.
Old 10-20-03, 11:42 PM
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Originally posted by Cory Simpson

Or you could take it to a shop and have it welded solid (or do it your self it you have a welder like us ) and save your self that money, and also never have to worry about it again.
What are you welding?

Again thanks for the help.

buggy FC3S, keep us posted on the diff.
Old 10-21-03, 12:37 AM
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im not sure the exact name of it, ill find out for you, however mine had been ordered from rotary power here in gardena and it still hasnt came, and that was about 3 or 4 weeks ago! i think they are out of stock, so it has to come from some other mazda distributor...

to aviod it from getting much worse you can slip the clutch...
Old 10-21-03, 07:05 AM
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The RX-7 language:
Thunk (when starting out) - Front diff mount.
Tink (when starting out) - u-joints
Clunk or groan (with suspension movement) - old grommets.
Zoom zoom (short cycle) - vac leak
Zoom zoom (long cycle) - TPS or BAC or grounds
Crunch - high rev shift to 2nd
Beeeeeeee - over rev or low coolant or low oil.
RrRrRrRrR - starter gear sound (normal)
rrrrrrrrrrrr - starter gear sound (flooded)
RrRrRrrrRrrrR - starter gear sound (bad apex seal)
Old 10-21-03, 01:37 PM
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ok i'll keep you guys posted...

another thing i was listening to that clonk or rattling whatever....ummm i can here it coming from the front driver side, this might narrow out the problem...

but then i was thing it might be just reflecting the sound from the diff...don't know but i'll check it out as soon as i can

n plus i'm getting my EK this week so if anything at all i have another car to drive around with, that is until sumbody buys it from me.
Old 10-21-03, 03:40 PM
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I took mine to a axle shop, and the guy didn't know what was wrong. Anybody know what the nake of those rubber mounts would be, for a specific area of interest.
Old 10-21-03, 04:12 PM
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"front differential mount"
i think mazda calls it "rubber, mounting-differential"
part no. fc01-28-980
mazda quoted me $142
im welding mine.

but..that part produces a single solid clunk, not a rattle.

also anything with the driveshaft will produce vibration as well as rattle.
Old 10-21-03, 04:25 PM
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If the universal joints are going out of your drive shaft, it will just make a ping noise. And it won't hurt it to run it until it breaks, because you have to buy a new drive shaft anyways. Due to the fact that mazda was so nice as to make the universal joints non replacable.

Although running it till it breaks will probably damage something else
Old 10-21-03, 11:26 PM
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I'm in the process of replacing my exhaust, that may be the problem.

If it was the driveshaft u-joints, would a place like midas be able to tell me. I have a 400 mile round trip planned in two days.
Old 10-22-03, 09:13 AM
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You can inspect the driveshaft u-joints yourself.

Get under the car, and push the driveshaft up and down. If there is a decent amount of play, the u-joints have worn.

There should be little to no play (assuming your driveshaft bolts are torqued).

Another sign of u-joint failure is vibration at certain highway speeds. Bad u-joints aren't going to hurt the car if you drive them like that for a short amount of time, it hurts the seals on the tranny yoke or diff input. If you go for a while, they will probably start leaking. It's in your best interest to change them right away.

In other words, yes you can drive to school or work, but hopefully your only driving down to a shop to have the u-joints or driveshaft repaired.

Last edited by Black13B; 10-22-03 at 09:16 AM.
Old 10-22-03, 10:49 AM
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if you do this test, make sure that the ends of the driveshaft arent moving. for example, if the rear tranny bushing is gone, then the shaft will wiggle, but if the u joints are gone, only the middle section of it will move.

a better way is to grasp the front of the driveshaft and the center section on either side of the u joint and twist in opposite directions. if there is play then you haev bad u joints. in which case you need a new driveshaft.
Old 10-22-03, 12:35 PM
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-correction- its not a FRONT differential mount... we arent talking about no honda here guys... its called the rear differential mount, it wont fall out, but each time you hear that clunking noise its hurting your car more and more in that area, because its slamming against the bottom...
Old 10-22-03, 02:45 PM
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vibration with rattle...is that true??

So for a fact check...if there is somethin wrong or worn with the driveshaft it will produce vibration, along with the annoying noise rite??

if that's true i'm relieve, because i don't feel any vibration just a rattling noise that really annoying that sh*t out of me.

I'm gonna check it out this friday after work. I should find the problem, maybe it's just a headshield...cuz my friend has the same problem with his AE86, and this was just the heat shield for his headers.

Thanx for the help...i'll check again later after class for my question above....
Old 10-22-03, 02:54 PM
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oh so its like a high pitched rattle? then it is probably a heat shield. heat shield rattle sounds very different from drivetrain rattle...and yeah..in my experience, i have never seen a bad driveshaft that didnt vibrate.

oh yeah and front mount of the rear diff, not front differential..nobody(not even me) is that dumb.
Old 10-22-03, 03:08 PM
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-correction- its not a FRONT differential mount... we arent talking about no honda here guys... its called the rear differential mount, it wont fall out, but each time you hear that clunking noise its hurting your car more and more in that area, because its slamming against the bottom...


No..... It is refered to as teh front diff munt, because there atr 3 differential mounts, 2 on the back that are the same, and the one on the front. Which is called the front differintial mount.


Also, honda's don't have differintial's. They have transmissions, and transfercases.
Old 10-22-03, 04:01 PM
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Originally posted by Cory Simpson
No..... It is refered to as teh front diff munt, because there atr 3 differential mounts, 2 on the back that are the same, and the one on the front. Which is called the front differintial mount.


Also, honda's don't have differintial's. They have transmissions, and transfercases.

sorry mr i know it all... but in a car that DOES has a diff, and fwd its called a front differential mount, who cares if its the front of the rear diff... its a rear diff mount!


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