Well, for the past few weeks I have noticed a little harsh shifting and a little "clinking" noise when I shift from park to reverse, etc, or when I was cruising and lightly pressing the gas. Thought it might be u-joints. wasn't too concernd becuase I was going to service that soon. Today, when ever I got in the car, put into reverse to get out of the driveway, it made a very loud "clinking" noise with a very harsh vibration. Still shifts fine even at WOT, but sitting there, when ever I shift it through the gears, it makes a horrible vibration, with a loud noise? Checked fluid, fine. Does this sound like a tranny going bad, or could it be something else. Would like to hear some opinions.

 

Get the car in the air and see where the noise is coming from when you put in gear. Sounds like a mount or an ujoint. get it fixed before you create other problems. Vince

 

Definately get it diagnosed and repaired before you go to WOT with this car.

Driveline vibrations, clunks and your driving it like that? .... are you nuts man?

Call me if you need some help figuring it out... but be safe.

g

 

Yeah, I drove at WOT just for a second to see if it was going to slip or shift fine. First thing is to check if there is a bad mount, then u-joints. I'll tell you what I find. Oh, BTW, I just did WOT once to see what was happening. I kind of panic'd when i thought the trans was going out. I don't want anybody thinking my foot is nailed to floor even when **** is breaking! This is the only car that I have at this time, so I have to drive it though it has a problem, but I am being very careful.

 

No worries, I have seen too many cars come apart at WOT when there are undiagnosed issues.

Good Luck with it.

g

 

I had my TQ arm slip out of it's mount on the trans tailshaft once and everytime the car shifted you could feel a nice thud on the trans tunnel... It's probably a destroyed stock trans mount(super easy 30 minute fix).

 

Was at work all day, buy I am getting old u-joints pressed out, and new ones pressed in tommorow. When I take the driveshaft out in the morning I will be sure to check the mount, Thanks for your input!

 

Took the driveshaft to get ujoints, and they told me the ujoints were fine. That was not what I wanted to here. I had them put new ones in just in case. I just got off work, so I am about to go put the drive shaft back in and see how it feels. What am I looking for at the tail shaft to torque arm? Metal to metal and no bushing? I'll go take a look.

 

Make sure the bushing is intact and not worn/cracked. Also inspect your trans mount for the same.

 

How would I check the trans mount(may be stupid question, sorry). Do I just pry on it to see if it moves?

 

Just take a look at it. Look for any abnormalities. If your unsure, remove it and inspect it. The whole process took me about 15-20 min to get it off while taking my time.

Just thought of something. This was exactly what happened to me when I first got the car. It sounded like a bad u-joint clinking when the drivetrain loaded and unloaded. Then one night I was racing a mach1 when I floored it from a light, and the normal clink turned into a god awful rubber tearing/rubbing noise, along with bang everytime I did that. It turns out the trans mount(stocker) had ripped completely in 1/2. Simple replacement and I was good to go.

A quick how to for taking the trans mount off.

Jack up the car and support it on jack stands on a level surface with all the proper safety stuff ect.

Use a floor jack and slightly jackup the trans to remove the weight on the mount.(make sure your not jacking to high as you will push the trans into the floorboards)

Unbolt and remove the mount to inspect/replace.

I have the haynes repair manual and it explained the process very well.

Good luck! Ask away if you have anymore question. Pleanty of people here who know their stuff!

 

3 in the morning update! Put drive shaft back in, no difference. Inspected torque arm mount on trans tail shaft, nothing wrong. Guess I'm going to check the trans mount, hoping to find something torn! Wish me luck!

 

Crossmember loose maybe? Happened to me before

 

Trans mount was bad, lol. Couldn't tell till I took it out. Thanks for everyones help!

 

Haha, yeah thats what I thought it would be!!!

Glad to see you got it figured out!

 

Well, time to open the the thread again!
After changing my trany mount from a stock worn out one to a ES poly mount, I thought the clinking, clunking noise had gone.
After driving a few days of driving, I had noticed that it had not gone, just got quieter...and with my new vibration from the stiffer mount, it was harder to spot.
Could this be motor mounts? I was told to start my car with the hood proped, and have a friend looking at it drooling... I mean observing. He told me to shift through the gears(A4 just in case someone was wondering) and if the motor jolted hard, the mounts were bad. Is this true? How hard is too hard?
I need to get this fixed!!!! I hope it is not my rear end...

 

Do a light brake torque in forward and reverse. You literally will see the motor lift up off the mount and hit the safety stops. If you suspect a rear end problem, take the cover down and do an inspection. Probably would not be a bad idea to do the trans as well. I'm just going to throw this out there. Have you looked at the flywheel for cracks or a loose bolt?

 

put a stock gm tranny mount in NOT a poly one!

 

I have not checked the flywheel for anything...I didn't think of that while I have been under there.
In the morning I will check the motor mounts, and then try to take a look at the flywheel if I have time before work. Speaking of work, I better get some sleep!

 

Just got to love chasing noises. Let us know what you find. Vince