Camaro_freak

iTrader: (1)

My friend has a '97 V6 automatic Camaro with about 120k miles on it, and today it started making a strange clicking or snapping sound from somewhere in the back of the car. When he was driving slowly, you could hear the click much more often than a tire revolution, so I'm wondering if he has a problem with the differential, pinion gear, or something else entirely? It made the sound when going in a straight line, so I question whether the differential is the problem. He said he can hear the sound through the armrest/console too. Any ideas what could cause this?

Superjoe

iTrader: (2)

first and easiest two things to do should be:

pull the fill plug bolt off of the differential cover. stick your finger in the hole and straight down to see how high the level is. should be pretty close to the hole. if you can't feel anything, don't drive it until you can flush and fill it.

and

pull the drive shaft out (it's only 4 bolts, very easy) and take the u-joints apart (should just be slip rings, you'll just need a pair of slip ring pliers and safety glasses). once the joints are apart you should be able to replace the roller bearings inside should be a total of eight. in fact, at 120k miles, just plan on replacing them no matter what they look like.

do those two things and let us know. neither should take more than an hour.

Camaro_freak

iTrader: (1)

He took the car to a mechanic and the problem is the driveshaft. I guess it's a 2 piece driveshaft and the bearing is bad. Will the 1 piece driveshaft on LT1 and LS1 fbody's fit as a replacement? I figure he could get his hands on a used one pretty easily and inexpensively. He was quoted like $400 for a new one.