pymlang

Today I noticed my '86 944 N/A making a sharp knocking sound coming from the passenger side. Not positive if it's from the front or rear, but I think it's from the rear.

It only happens when I engage the clutch, and under load, (mostly noticeable when accelerating or driving up a hill. It starts out slow, but speeds up when I drive faster. When I disengage the clutch and coast, it goes away.

Also, when I'm just starting to accelerate, if I feather the clutch, it doesn't knock.

Any ideas? Is this going to break the bank???$$$ Could it be something simple like I'm low on some fluid somewhere?

Please help!
-P.L.
'86 944 N/A

PaulStewart

It's probably time to service your CV joints.

pymlang

Wow! Thanks for the speedy reply!

Do you think it would only make this sound with the clutch engaged under load if it were a CV joint?

If it is the CV joints, is this an expensive proposition? Or is it a weekend job?

-P.L.
'86 944 N/A

ERAU-944

yeah, i was gonna say, sounds like cv joints. that's my vote!

hosrom_951

CV joints.

Make sure they are packed with LOTS of grease and inspect them while your at it, one or more could be in need of replacement (they are ~$80 each and you have 4 of them )

nine-44

One more vote for a CV joint.

hoffman912

does it sound like youre on a roller coaster going up the first big hill? if so.. CV joints. especially if its comming from the rear.

hosrom_951

BTW, try turning and accelerating, if it knocks more/louder then CV is shot.......

marky522

Something you can do to try and get some more life out of them is to take them apart and clean them real good (its actually pretty easy, if you need help shoot me an e-mail i jsut did it) then turn them around so the side that used to attach to the trans now attaches to the stub shaft. This could buy you a few thousand miles and only cost you a couple bucks in grease and maybe new boots. Oh yeah if you need new boots search ebay for dunebuggy IRS boots, there the same but only $8 a boot as opposed to the $24 that autozone will charge.

Mark

Mark

Mongo

I had a knocking CV joint on the driverside of my '86 that was cured by squirting a generous amount of CV grease between the boot and the axle shaft itself with a compressed air grease gun, following a grease fight with my mechanic afterwards and a smell that stuck to me for a week

Andy

pymlang

Hmmm... now that I think of it, the sound does seem to appear when turning and accelerating at the same time, (especially when turning left). And it does sort of sound like a rollercoaster when going up hill. It looks like I'll be taking apart my CV joints this week.

Is the procedure covered in the Haynes manual fairly complete? I've never done one before, however it looks pretty straight forward. I may try marky522's suggestion about flipping them around to try it out, while I assess the damage and possibly await parts.

Thank you all who have replied. I am very impressed with the quick responses and knowledge I'm receiving from this forum.

I was worried that it might be my clutch or something worse.

I will try the Hayne's procedure as soon as I get some cleaner and CV boot grease!!!

-P.L.
'86 944 N/A

marky522

dont be afraid to shoot me an e-mail or IM me on YIM, i broke my ankle so i am basically stuck in bed for about 6 weeks, so if i can be any help just let me know, i am infront of the computer 20 hours + a day (its next to my bed) so i'll get back to you quick.

Mark

josephsc

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but if you get to the point where if you need to replace the CV joints, aren't you better off just buying replacement axle assemblies for not much more money -- but saves you the trouble of packing the darn things.

marky522

if so and they dont requirethe old ones for a core i would be interested in getting the old ones off ya.

Mark

Yabo

your just goign to need an 8mm tripple square wrench i believe.