Clunking from Transmission?

billcu

billcu

Head Moderator
Staff member
My green Mark clunks when it shifts in or out of overdrive. I notice the clunk also at low speed when I tip in or out on the accelerator.

I jacked up the rear end and worked my way from the wheels to the differential, the U joints, then to the trans. Everything seems tight until I move the yoke on the trans. It seems to have play and it makes noise on the trans side.

I don't know much about transmissions. A friend of mine said it might be the Sprag?

Anyone have any idea what it might be? The trans works fine otherwise, and I just changed the fluid last year.
 
Drive it until it blows up.

Could be the one-way clutch (the sprag). Could be something else. Could be that you're just more perceptive of something that's always been there. Are you sure it's not just the torque converter locking up?

I still say just drive it until it blows up, then put a newer, low miles junkyard trans in. If you want to accelerate the process, there's always the "big smoky burnout" method. If you beat on it hard enough, the problem will diagnose itself.
 
Did you use any springs in the J Mod ? Did this noise just start ? I'm tend to think "U" joints (noise travels).
 
My drivetrain slop has typically been in the gears. How much can you rotate the pinion before it touches the gears in either direction?
 
Thanks guys. This is the original non J modded trans on my green Mark.

I've noticed this clunk and "slop" in the driveline for a while now, but it seems to be getting worse.

It's not the lock up, I'm used to that. And I checked the U joints and they are tight.

I want to drive it to Carlisle soon so, I might have to swap it out before I go.:(
 
95blklsc said:
My drivetrain slop has typically been in the gears. How much can you rotate the pinion before it touches the gears in either direction?
Click to expand...

Not much, I'll check it again tomorrow to make sure.

The trans yoke rotates a lot before it hits though.
 
Id say play it safe and spend the money for diagnostic ether at ford or a trans shop. $100 vs. getting stranded and the potently to brake something. It could be something as simple as a drive shaft but you don’t want that snapping on the HW. Id never just stick a junkyard trans in a car, you never know what you’re getting. I’ve never seen it to be worth going cheep.
 
billcu said:
Not much, I'll check it again tomorrow to make sure.

The trans yoke rotates a lot before it hits though.
Click to expand...

Bill...you can't really measure the slack at the trans without removing the driveshaft from the rear end. Its all connected, so when you're turning it back/forth, you're probably feeling the slack in the gears. On the other hand, the slack in the gears won't give you the noise/feel that you have while driving so you don't need to worry about looking there.

PS.....where are your PICS?!
 
Bill,

I had this issue in my '94 T-Bird and do now in my '97 MSC, though to a less degree.

I went through my whole drivetrain (on the Mark) when I was trying to diagnose some vibration issues, and the components which introduced the most slop in the driveline were the tranny output shaft, ring/pinion, and differential output shafts.

After 111,000 miles of mostly highway driving, I'm almost positive most of that slop is in the ring and pinion, with the second most likely contributor being the transmission output shaft (or possibly something else internal). IMHO it's not something that you should worry about just for the drive to Carlisle and back, but it wouldn't hurt to at least diagnose so you know what to keep an eye on.

In addition, make sure your engine, transmission, and differential mounts are all in good shape. Those can all introduce unneeded driveline slop.

-Dom
 
Thanks guys. I climbed under the car again. Both rear wheels off the ground, trans in neutral.

I was going to mark the diff yoke and case with a paint pen and take a photo of the slop there. The paint mark would have been too thick. I don't think it's the ring and pinion.

I forgot to check the spider gears.:frown:

I could barely feel a very small amount of play in the right half shaft.

Again I could feel and hear a lot of slop at the trans. I'm not sure if this is normal though.

The diff mounts were the first thing I checked, they look great, nice and tight. I will check the trans and engine mounts next though.

I'll recheck everything again this Saturday and check the spider gears too this time.

I think I'll jack up the red Mark to and try to compare the two (the red one has some slop but not like this).
 
Actually, I haven't done anything with that problem lately, I've been very busy.

I did pull the best one wheel peel that I ever did with that car last week though.:D

It didn't break then.:rolleyes:
 
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