00Pontiac

Had this noise under the car for about a year now. I've searched and found several things to check. Driveline, heat sheild, o2 sheild, exhaust, u-joints, etc... all have been checked and now and I just now had my u-joints replaced. It was not the u-joints either me and my mechanic stood around for an hour along with the tranny guy from next door, we all took turn under the car while one of us was up on the rack making the sound. To make the sound we just have to throw it into gear, to put a load on the driveline - TINK - or when driving and giving it a little juice you can hear it load up - TINK tink tink tink - we're fairly sre it's the driveline now. We can hold the driveline while it makes this sound and it deadens it somewhat.

So... probly the driveline.... but we haven't a clue why, my mechanic is calling the driveline specialists he works with tmrw and asking them.

If anyone has a clue or any info I would really appreciate it.

HavATampa

iTrader: (49)

Do a search for "tink' and check out the hits. It seems you automatic guys have this noise. I don't think it's anything to worry about until it becomes a "clunk". It has to do with the aluminum driveshaft more than anything it seems. Put the parking brake on and put the tranny in neutral and grab the driveshaft and rotate it back and forth. Watch how much slop the rearend has. That slack has to be taken up everytime you switch gears or the transmission shifts.

00Pontiac

I've searched this forum countless times and have completely read every thread that has any of these keywords.

Thanks for trying to help tho.

It's not a noise I can live with, ignoring it just isn't an option.

A friend of mine who owns a GN says he had something similar to this, it ended up being a loose bolt from the flexplate to the converter.

With all the people that have this noise there has to be *someone* who's fixed it?

00Pontiac

no one?

DrkPhx

iTrader: (15)

I (along with countless others) have had the A4 "tink" for years now with zero problems. When LS1 F-bodies first came out and were still in production this was a common complaint. Some had dealers install steel driveshafts to eliminate the noise. I don't hear much of this complaint any more.

FWIW - I had 130 plus track runs and 65K miles on mine with zero problems.

00Pontiac

well damn, I've had the car for about a year now and the problem is getting much worse.

a driveshaft is just a piece of metal, so it really can't make the noise on it's own (unless it's cracked and getting worse). something must be causing the noise, and the shaft is amplifing it.

the noise is not subtle, it's getting pretty damn loud.

some of the other possible cause I've heard are a cracked flexplate, a loose bolt on the flexplate to converter and a cracked driveshaft.

all problems have a cause, I'm just trying to get to the bottom of it without having to just blindly replace parts.

when I find out what is doing it I will post up. but in the meantime it's hard to belive I'm the only f-body owner that doesn't want to just live with it?

DrkPhx, how loud is yours? mine is so loud that it can be heard clearly in traffic, by people in other cars...

mrr23

iTrader: (3)

whe you put the car into gear, you twist the driveshaft. this twist, flexes the aluminum driveshaft. the aluminum is what's making the tink noise. steel driveshafts don't flex near as much. that's why you don't hear it with a steel driveshaft. and i live with it on both of my cars. it's by product of aluminum.

now, the reason why GM went with aluminum driveshafts dates back to the 82-92 f-bodies. at 80-90 mph, there was a body vibration that just would not go away. they finally figured out it was the harmonics due to the heavy weight of the steel driveshaft. the solution was a lighter weight driveshaft. even having the steel driveshafts balanced didn't solve it.

another thing is steel driveshafts have more resistance to torsional stress (twisting). from a drag racing perspective, it's better to have a steel version. in road racing, you want the aluminum to get rid of vibrational issues at higher speeds. usually over 135 mph. TPIS explains this on their site.

i've seen pictures from a guy with a 1989 turbo TA. he twisted 3 aluminum driveshafts from launching with so much torque. went steel and problem solved. he was putting huge torsional stress on the aluminum driveshafts.

so you have to live with one or the other

steel driveshaft = vibrations in the 80-90 mph range
aluminum driveshaft = that little annoying 'tink' noise that gets louder as the years go by.

up to you.

00Pontiac

Thanks for the clear answer. You're kidding tho, ALL of us auto guys have this?

I'm really concerned tho as it seems to be getting worse... is your sound as loud as I described mine to be, audible in traffic?

I wonder about filling the shaft with some sort of sound deadening material, maybe foam, or even wrapping the outside of the shaft with some sort of covering...

punisher

I too have this tink prob with my 98 z28(a4) and have also changed the u joints was about to start checking the rear end but guess I don't have to now.hmmm so it's the drive shaft .....thanks

00Pontiac

I did some searching in google last nite, I found all kinds of makes and manufacturers with this problem. a lot of them had them replaced with steel...

it just seems to me my sound is getting louder, maybe I'm just so tuned into it now I can't put it out of my mind? I dunno...

has anyone ever tried to deaden the noise? by wrapping the shaft, or filling it with something?

I was thinking about having the shaft sprayed with Rhino Lining, but I don't want to unbalance it either.

PrototypE

00Pontiac, I have the same problem with my cherry '99 t/a. Being an employee of General Motors, I called Detroit, and discussed this problem with the Powertrain division of GM's technical hotline. (available to GM techs only, passcodes are involved) I was told, that this is a 'normal' condition on f-cars and may be more pronounced on vehicles equipped with an A4 and 3.23 gears, as mine is. I was also told this is the result of the aluminum alloy driveshaft flexing under normal operating conditions, and that no fix is available at this time.

I'm just a part of the corporate machine, like many of you when you go to work everyday, and I want answers when the quality of my vehicle is called into question, just like everybody else.

After I hung up the phone, I found it interesting that this particular noise is considered 'normal' for an f-car, yet, if you own a late model Trailblazer, there's a technical bulletin out for this EXACT concern, that recommends replacing the driveshaft on affected vehicles.

If this is of any interest to you, I can post all relative document numbers...

00Pontiac

thanks PrototypE, yeah, I have 3.23 gears too... I'd be interested in reading all I can on the problem

so is wrapping the driveline a stupid idea or what? if the problem can't be fixed maybe it can be helped. when I was under the car and we had our hands on it the noise was considerably lessened, I'd be happy with that.

I've seen all kinds of waterproof tape, it seems to me if you started the wrap at the top of the shaft and ended it at the top of the shaft the balance would not be thrown off...

thoughts?

dlandsvZ28

Back in 98 and 99 there were tons of posts about the 'tink' you mention. GM replaced many driveshafts only to have it re-appear. Back then the standard reply from the Chevy dealers was 'they all do it' and sent many back out the door without a fix.

In my particular case, 3 Chevy dealers told me it was normal and not to worry. The fourth dealer pulled the driveshaft and discovered a broken weld.

The driveshaft was replaced and now 6 years later and 73,000 miles later, still no tink. I have a 98 A4 with 3.23 gears, BTW.

The same goes for the clunk in the rearend...and same answer. However after replacing the pinion bearings at 35,500 miles while under warranty, the clunk went away too.

In short, if the car is under warranty they may or may not fix it. It depends on the dealer. IMO they don't care too much about us Camaro guys

For peace of mind, I would pull the driveshaft and examine it yourself to be make sure all of the welds are OK. The problem, however, is the weld might look ok on top but be cracked underneath where you can't see it (penetration issues).

What is bizarre, however, is that a new driveshaft would temporarily fix the problem in most cases, but then reappear (back in 98-2000 years). In my case it fixed it permanently.

Seach engine probably doesn't go back a far as 99-2000. Most posts about this issue back then were over on LS1.com.

bass656

Hi Guys,
I am new here, just browsing for info about rear ends for my SSR. I noticed this thread and thought I would mention the same issue exists on the SSR's besides your F bodies. GM has provided 3 revisions to the driveshaft to try and cure this issue, but with mixed success. You can find some info about this on SSR Fanatic

00Pontiac

thanks for the links

zapp168

iTrader: (7)

Don't want to beat a dead horse, I just read your post. I have a 98 and on LS1.com back in the day the noise you were talking about was posted everyday, complaint after complaint. Many people replaced their shafts and solved the problem, some had it replaced a few times, but many were eventually solved, at least for a while.

bigman

iTrader: (1)

i have it. So does a few of my auto f bod buddies.