When letting off the clutch quick, I hear a loud pop. Then, while clutch is fully engaged or disengaged, there seem to be a noise coming from some sort of play in the rear-end, around the differential. Something sounds loose. Is my differential going bad? U-joints? I know I could use some various bushings around the backend, but this is something different. There just doesn't seem to be a good solid grab of the rear wheels when I get on it. Or at lower speeds for that matter. Any ideas?

 

 

I had the same problem. Its most likely your differential bushings gone bad. An easy way to test this is to put a jack under your rear diff and start jackin. If your diff seems to move more than a centimeter or so first before the car lifts up, diff bushings are shot.

Email me if you need it.

 

Thanks DavidZ. I'll check it out tomorrow. Are they hard to install and/or expensive? Also, what are the signs of a bad rear-end and u-joints?

 

Never has a rear diff go bad, so not sure what to expect. As far as the U joint, gotta get under the car and check for play.

Money is on the diff bushings. Its a common problem for fd's. The are a bit of a pain to change out, but not impossible. Bolts are just in hard to reach, awkward places.

 

I've seen play in the differential. Jack up the car from the differential so both tires are off the ground. Move 1 rear wheel and see if it turns a little without the other wheel or the driveshaft moving. Also the rear links\rods are prone to make knocking noises when worn.

 

rotary-tt, if i do run into this, what is your advice? That is, differential wise. The noise I'm hearing and feeling seem to be some sort of play within clutch and drive train. Like if I lug it, it'll pop and feel like something is catching hard. I'm totally at a loss.????????? I'm going to check the bushiungs of course, like davidz said. Will go from there. Something is simply not catching right, within the rear-end somewhere. Thanks to all for the advice.

 

Check for cracks in the power plant frame around where it bolts to the trans and diff.

 

will do.

 

Not sure what to do if there is play in the differential. Ive never seen it discussed on this forum. I suppose you need to check the ring and pinion for wear accoring to the shop manual. I am not sure if this also points to wear in the torsen unit. I just know I have this problem. I cannot find any cracks in the PPF. If I do a drag racing shift I get a loud bang sometimes from the rear. I have significant play when getting off and on the gas. I know that the passenger side links need to be replaced (clunk at low speed when hitting the brake). Replacing a blown LR strut did not help. I've managed to get the tires hopping while drag racing. I wonder what damage this caused. I need to look into it further and check the differential bushings...

 

rotary-tt, dude, you hit the nail on the head. That sounds like exactly what I'm experiencing. I just came out from under my car, (brakes and oil), and didn't see any cracks in ppf either. I did see some slight play in the ring and pinion, plus a little grease/oil, so I think I may start there. PM me and lets keep in touch on this subject. Thanks

 

Man, this forum kicks ***. I was just logging in here to post the same question and it's already at the top of the list!

I have the same symptoms...play in drivetrain during off/on throttle transitions and sledgehammer when shifting to second at high rpm. The last owner told me he knew for a fact that the differential bushings were shot. So I just ordered some competition rubber ones from Mazda comp. They're a hair under $80 each, but they come with all the metal parts so you don't have to mess with finding a press to switch them over.

Now, my question is how do you install them? I checked all the major web sites and didn't see any mention of them. So then I looked at the shop manual and it seemed to indicate that you have to take your whole car apart and they'll be the last things you get to. I'm SERIOUSLY hoping that some how you can get to them without removing all the axles and exhaust, etc. Anybody done this before that can help us out, pleeeaaassseeee???? I REALLY need to try to get these things swapped before my track day in a couple of weeks...

I was also wondering if the fuel filter would be easier to get to once I remove the mounts. I have one on hand just in case....

Thanks!

 

Sounds stupid, but break out the lug wrench and give them all a good snug also just to be sure.

 

When my rear wheels are off the ground, I can turn one around completely without seeing the other one move. Is this normal?

 

yes, this is normal. I questioned that at first, myself.

 

The only way you can turn the wheel completely around is if you have the car in neutral (with the parking brake off). Put the car in gear and see how much slop there is before the driveshaft engages...

The big bang is not the rims loose - everything is tight.

Is this slop a indication of the torsen unit and\or ring and pinion being worn??