there is a "clank" sound coming from the tranny area when i start from a stop in 1st gear. the clutch was replaced about 3 years ago with a mazda part. there is also some kind of metal popping/crunching sound when i am driving in any gear. that sound comes up more when i accelerate harder than normal. i put the rear of the car on jack stands and ran it to 50-60 mph and could not replicate this sound. this really annoying since this started to happen about 2 days ago and it seems to get worse by the day. any ideas of what it might be and how i can test it? any help is greatly appreciated.

 

when was the last time that the tranny lube was replaced, what did it look like and what did you put in to replace it?

 

i can't remember if the shop did replace the tranny fluid when they did the clutch job (3 years ago). i know that this is not standard sevice procedure, but the guy did extra things for me when worked on the car here and there.

 

my tranny makes the clank your talking about but thats all, and I only use sythetic lube and I have a new clutch, (Napa, Yeah I know) I think is has to do with all the mounts, motor mounts, tranny mounts, maybe diff mounts...that all I can think of

 

Tranny lube needs to be replaced every 30 months or 30K miles at a minimum.

I recommend every 15 K miles or 24 months (which ever comes first).

You may wish to try and replace the existing gear lube with Redline MT 90 gear oil, but it sounds like you have neglected the tranny and are in for a bill.

Note: Mobil One is not recommended for brass syncro ring trannies like found in the RX-7.

I also would check the mounts at the same time. That would be more consistent with your "up on jacks" lack of noise.