soundboy4

Hi guys. After going to the drag strip two weeks ago i think i threw something off on my transmission. When the car is coasting and i put it in neutral i kind of hear a constant clunking sound coming from under the car. The mechanic tells me it's the tranny and the figure is waaay over my budget at the moment. do you guys have any suggestions as to any more options i could have? or where i can get a new transmission for cheaper?

The_Phantom

Has the clutch been replaced in your car yet?

When I needed a new clutch a few years ago, the mechanic initially thought the transmission was damaged because it was making a clunking sound. It turned out that the transmission was fine and I needed a new clutch. The clunking sound ended up being cause by a disk that had broken in half which I guess is a somewhat rare thing to happen.

Good luck

Rock

No! NO NO NO NO! This happened to me last week. The ring and pinon are gone. You have to either rebuild the tranny or get a new one. I already got a new one.

Listen, the the problem will only get worse trust me. I tried driving the car and now the gearbox is totally gone. The car wont even move now. It sucks to have this happen but try and find a used or rebuilt tranny.

On my car, it was from Drag racing, and burning out that caused this. My best wishes man

Predator

Has it been making this sound for two weeks, or just started? Put the car on jackstands and isolate the noise. Could be clutch, $$$$, Tranny, $$$$, CV joints $$$, Torque Tube $$$$. If you've been drag racing, could be all of the above!

Rock

Dont listen to your mechanic. Look for help around rennlist. I got a near perfect tranny for 100 dollars thanks to some fellow rennlisters.

tifosiman

Rock, slow down a bit there.

Soundboy, did the mechanic look at it you was this a "phone diagnosis"? If he hasn't looked at it yet, it could be any of the things that Predator mentioned above.

Does the "clunking" happen on accelleration and decelleration as well? It may be something as simple as CV joints. Give us some more info, or have your mechanic look at it if he hasn't already. Best of luck!

theedge

Is it a dull thudding or a sharp tocking?

soundboy4

yea i really think my track days are over, as a broke college kid it's getting a little hard to replace all the things that i'm breaking. the clutch actually DID get replaced about two months ago, which i coincidentally broke at the track as well so i don't think it's that. honestly if it wasn't for the noise i wouldn't be able to tell anything had happened.

the only time i hear it is if i put it in neutral and coast, and sometimes when i'm cruisin at a constant speed downhill, where i'm barely hitting the gas but going fast. i have definitely not heard it on acceleration, but it's not too loud of a noise and it is probably hard to listen for over my exhaust.

it WAS an over the phone diagnosis, i just wanted him to listen to it and let me know what he thought, he asked if he wanted me to get him to take the transmission off and pinpoint the problem but said that he's confident i'll need a new transmission or a transmission rebuild. the figures he's throwing at me are WAY over my budget right now so i told him to hold off on it. like i said the car is still very drivable, but like 'Rock' up there said i'm worried that the problem will get worse and cause more problems.

in the case that is the transmission, anyone know where i can get one cheaper? or a good new one?

Rock

Oh wait i should slow down. it is probally something cheaper.

You said its only in neautral when you coast. Thats not what happend to me. Mine only happened in gear when I um, drove. You tranny is probally good because you said you can still go FAST. A broken ring and pinon allowed me to not go very fast...

tifosiman

OK, well, here's what I think.

Scenarios:

1. Take it to your mechanic and have him check it out if you aren't super mechanically adept. It could be any of the things mentioned above. Could be cheap, could be pricey. Depends on what is really broken and how honest your mechanic is.

2. If you are mechanically inclined, then pull the CV joints, regrease them, and swap them so they are on opposite loads. If the noise continues, buy some replacement joints from your local Pep Boys for under $100. If that doesn't cure it, then see#1 above. Maybe at this point you could just pay the mech to diagnose it and then get back with us. You could replace the tranny yourself maybe, and the torque tube is a possibility as well. It sounds like your clutch may not be the culprit if it is new and done correctly.

Good luck!

tifosiman

Right on Rock. I also am an educated member of the broken pinion bearing club. Became a member about 2 years ago. The previous owner of my car broke the pinion bearing at 70K miles, then had a used S2 transmission installed. Then I bought the car, and that transmission blew within 5K miles. (me thinks that one was on it's last legs as well, there was no drag racing or clutch dumps done by me). So, at 75K the car had it's 3rd trans in it (a nice rebuilt unit). Let's hope I don't have to pay any more dues to the club...............

rihaa

Heh, chalk up another to the pinion bearing club. Mine is still doing OK, but definately on its way out. I'm going to be undertaking a tranny rebuild project in the next week or two before driving my car out to cleveland for school.

The_Phantom

soundboy4,

What 's the latest with your car?

pearldrum944

You were dragging a 944?

Swagger93

Have a friend drive the car while you pull the carpet up in back and listen very carefully in the spare tire well (make sure the tire is removed before all this). The tranny, gearbox in particular, is right up against that well and you'll know it if its the tranny. This is really fun since you get to look out backwards and bash your head up against the hatch. I've actually hung out my rear hatch at high speed to isolate a sound already.

BTW-- I don't get it with the trannies in these cars, they just don't seem like they are built of the toughest stuff. I was unbelievably hard on my Saab's FWD 5 speed and it was just starting to show bearing wear (not even gear/syncro) right before the computer gave out. 207k!