Know this tick/tink sound?
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Teching In
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Know this tick/tink sound? Hi guys, trying to search for this but when I search keywords, I just get "lifter tick" or rhythmic ticking of sorts.
2000 trans am a4. When I hold the brake and shift from neutral to drive, I hear a couple of slight tick sounds. Not clunks. The harder I push it, the more it makes until it has enough pressure that it's stopped. It almost sounds like a gear slips I couple thousandths and makes the tick sound.
It also happened on my 1998 camaro ss a4. I never had any problems besides the sound
Actually I just found a video of my camaro making the sound
Ideas?
2000 trans am a4. When I hold the brake and shift from neutral to drive, I hear a couple of slight tick sounds. Not clunks. The harder I push it, the more it makes until it has enough pressure that it's stopped. It almost sounds like a gear slips I couple thousandths and makes the tick sound.
It also happened on my 1998 camaro ss a4. I never had any problems besides the sound
Actually I just found a video of my camaro making the sound
Ideas?
Joined: Nov 2001
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From: Schiller Park, ILL Member: #317
Do you have an aluminum driveshaft in your '00 Trans Am? If the car was optioned with 3.23s (GU5) then it would have come stock with an aluminum shaft. Your '98 SS definitely came with an aluminum shaft as 3.23s were a required option for SS (WU8) with an A4 (MX0/M30) trans.
If so, then what you're probably hearing is a somewhat common occurrence, often referred to as "driveshaft tink". Some are worse than others, there were more reports of this when these cars were newer and still getting fixed under warranty. Some were so bad that they would make this noise even during a normal upshift at cruising speeds (my '99 was like this.) Others only do it when shifting into gear or sometimes when power braking. GM had a couple different stories for the source of the problem, but ultimately I think it had something to do with the welds on the DS ends. DS replacement was usually the only cure.
Steel driveshaft cars didn't have this problem, it was specific to the aluminum shaft. Interestingly, the M6 cars rarely had this issue even though they all came stock with an aluminum shaft.
If so, then what you're probably hearing is a somewhat common occurrence, often referred to as "driveshaft tink". Some are worse than others, there were more reports of this when these cars were newer and still getting fixed under warranty. Some were so bad that they would make this noise even during a normal upshift at cruising speeds (my '99 was like this.) Others only do it when shifting into gear or sometimes when power braking. GM had a couple different stories for the source of the problem, but ultimately I think it had something to do with the welds on the DS ends. DS replacement was usually the only cure.
Steel driveshaft cars didn't have this problem, it was specific to the aluminum shaft. Interestingly, the M6 cars rarely had this issue even though they all came stock with an aluminum shaft.
Thread Starter
Teching In
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Interesting. That's almost certainly what it is. I'll check the driveshaft but I'm pretty sure it's aluminum. Like you said, the ss did have aluminum. It does sound like a little ping on hollow aluminum.
Any idea if the driveshaft will actually break under normal conditions? Worst abuse I'll give it is a low speed/stopped powerbrake for some smokey fun from time to time
Any idea if the driveshaft will actually break under normal conditions? Worst abuse I'll give it is a low speed/stopped powerbrake for some smokey fun from time to time
Joined: Nov 2001
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From: Schiller Park, ILL Member: #317
Interesting. That's almost certainly what it is. I'll check the driveshaft but I'm pretty sure it's aluminum. Like you said, the ss did have aluminum. It does sound like a little ping on hollow aluminum.
Any idea if the driveshaft will actually break under normal conditions? Worst abuse I'll give it is a low speed/stopped powerbrake for some smokey fun from time to time
Any idea if the driveshaft will actually break under normal conditions? Worst abuse I'll give it is a low speed/stopped powerbrake for some smokey fun from time to time
FWIW, my '99 car did this horribly, the shaft had to be replaced under warranty but it never broke apart. My '00 car also had an A4/aluminum shaft, and it would only tink when shifting into gear or occasionally when loading the torque converter prior to a launch. Never enough to bother me, nowhere near as bad as the '99. I drove it like that for years, cut 1.6 60-foot times on sticky DRs and the noise never got any worse nor led to any additional problems or DS breakage.
I have no sound but if it is the sound I think you are explaining it's a very common thing for the 4th gens. A buddy of mines, 99 SS does it real bad. Ive read where some guys have replaced u-joints and it went away and some guys had to replace entire driveshafts to remove the noise. Could be your torque arm is loose too. just my 2 cents
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Teching In
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thanks for the tip. the more I research, the more it points to driveshaft tink that everybody's talking about. if I do a brake stand and slowly give it enough pressure to where it just barely starts to spin the back tires, within that 3-4 second window, it will tink 3-5 times or so. sometimes it will even tink when driving normally when it shifts from 1st to 2nd. I think I'll just leave it for now and keep an eye peeled for a good deal on a replacement shaft that I can test before committing to buy.
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From: Schiller Park, ILL Member: #317
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