something happened about 1/2 mile from home this morning, immediately after a 'gentle' u-turn. Now there's a 'clattering' noise - seems kinda rhythmic  as I went home at slow speed in 2nd gear.and related to road speed, not rpm  No overheat, I don't 'think' there's loss of power....

 

too dark to look at anything yet. Hoping for axle problem, fearing transmission or, ....engine. The rhythmic part gets me - concerned it's valve train related.

Edited October 4, 20169 yr by 1 Lucky Texan

If it's related to wheel speed then it's going to be in the drivetrain. CV axle or a bad u-joint on the rear driveshaft.

 

A bad cv joint that clicks all the time will likely make noise at full extension with the car up on 4 jack stands and the wheels turning.

I like what you're saying, but this is a bad noise. Concerned it sounds worse under load and that's why it's loud when rolling.

 

Getting light now, time to check fluids and look around for something obvious with axles. It's parked in my stupid sloping driveway - wish I had thought to pull my wife's car outta the garage and park it in there....sigh ...not thinking well after it happened I guess. Not gonna move it till I check some stuff.

Edited September 29, 20169 yr by 1 Lucky Texan

I do see a lot of grease at the LS axle's inner joint. I was excited, at first. Checked engine oil, not empty and no odd particles. acc belts look good. Decide to idle it as I'm thinking I will probably need to get it in my garage. Starts fine, no sound. Start removing foot from clutch pedal - rattling. Confirmed, in neutral, rattling when clutch engaged, stops when pedal depressed. It's on-off right at the clutch 'engagement point'.

 

so, I'm thinking a clutch disc issue or input shaft bearing???? it doesn't whine, it clatters/rattles. Should I look for chunks on the trans magnet next?

 

I have no experience wrenching into the whole engine/clutch/trans area - could this be one of those clutch springs inside there?

 

car has 63K miles. It gets 95% surface road use so, clutch is probably close to 'done' anyway (though I havn't had any noticeable slipping.)

 

sounds bad when I'm driving - dunno if I could/should drive it to a shop.

the noise would be identical to this guy's noise I think (I assume the car is idling in neutral);

 

Edited September 29, 20169 yr by 1 Lucky Texan

gonna try to get the car in the garage - if the trans is toast, another 30 feet of damage won't matter since I already drove it 1/2 mile. - need to get it level so I can jack it.

 

pulling trans oil plug next I think.

 

If the input shaft bearing grenades - do pieces go into the trans?

maybe inconclusive?

 

I will try to get pics but, not seeing anything on the magnet bigger than an eyelash in total mass? long/skinny copper-ish peices?

 

going to scrape it off on some paper - maybe pics later.

 

dang - I thought I'd find chunks.

 

regardless - now looks like a tow somewhere, not sure where? I have no indie soob shop very close.....

felt around iside the drain, didn't feel like I touched or moved any pieces, fingers cam out oily....

 

stuck a neodymium magnet on some pliers, ran it around the bottom of the drain pan. Got one more 'eyelaslh' piece. Honestly, they look like they could have been part of the plating on the drainplug threads. Very little 'sludge' on the magnet and just 4-5 *tiny* slivers.

Release bearing might have gone bad, or the clips that hold it on the release fork may have broken, allowing it to rattle around until you put pressure on it.

Could also be an broken hub spring in the clutch disc.

 

Does the inner cv joint turn with it running in neutral? There's enough friction that even with the trans in neutral the axles can still be driven when the trans is cold. If the joint has fresh grease all around it focus on that.

I was wondering about that...was afraid to ask if that's possible in N.

 

hmmm, I only have 2 jack stands - think it would be safe to idle the car front up, rear down to look at the axle? (in Neutral of course)

 

I 'could' use the floor jack to lift the rear - rather not.

Edited September 29, 20169 yr by 1 Lucky Texan

I did spin the wheel, the other side spun - no noise, but I didn't look underneath or try hard to juke it CW/CCW/CW , etc.

 

gonna go try that now I think

Should be able to see the axle from above I think.

Worst case, chock the rear wheels and set the parking brake hard and it will be fine to poke under with the front wheels off the ground. If it makes the noise when the front wheels are not moving it would be better to have the front wheels on the ground so they don't spin.

I can turn on front wheel about an inch at the thread before all the slack is taken up. not sure, but that 'seems' a little excessive.

 

I can grab the inner joint and juke it back and forth and up and down and, actually, the side (right) with the intact boot seems loose, looser than the side (L) with the torn boot. The R side axle was installed by a collision center so, not sure what brand it is. inner cup not green - looks bead-blasted, but it has those - 'scallops or troughs' and the boot on it has those extra semicircular rubber 'lobes' to 'reach in' and seal those troughs.

yeah, I got it chocked so, I think I'll go try it with F wheels up

The inner on the right side is a tripod joint. Those are only supposed to be used on automatics. Not likely to be the source of your noise, but it could create some play in the drivetrain and cause some jerky-loose feel when transitioning on-off the throttle.

doesn't seem axle related at all, they aren't moving - even at the inner 'cups' and putting pressure on them /rolling wheels forward or back does not th cahnge the noise.

 

at idle, there's a coupla clunks every 7-8 seconds or so - I can count 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10,clunk,clunk repeat.

 

very much rear of the engine bay, no sound clutch pedal depressed.

 

considering flat bed tow up to AWD Tuning in Flower Mound.

got it to the shop, LOTS of soobs around!, nice guy Collin, we talked a little about my car . He said there's a divot inside where chunks of 3rd gear might collect without necessarily making it down to the magnet. called an hour after I got home, had a chance just to test drive the car, said it could be some odd clutch problem so, maybe tomorrow or saturday I'll no more. Talked about 2-3 other things while the car's there, but, need to focus on this clattering problem.

Edited September 30, 20169 yr by 1 Lucky Texan

clutch all looks OK, they can feel a problem when the they spin the trans shaft - they are gonna open it up as it's 'possible' a repair could be cheaper than a full trans replacement.

 

great

Maybe a piece of your clutch let go and is rattling around inside. Or a throwout bearing?

 

 I am curious to hear what it could be. 

not clutch, internal

 

I expect to know more today. I wasn't a 'scheduled' customer and they work a short-shift on Saturday - they only confirmed it isn't a problem in the clutch area - kinda sounding like a gear or synchronizer? - maybe 3rd gear????

 

anyway, I don't like not being involved in the repair - but I'm beginning to be even more glad I didn't try working on this on my own - needs someone with experience that's beyond me.

 

I have a feeling I'm about to spend every penny I saved doing my own maintenance and repairs......

not clutch, internal

 

I expect to know more today. I wasn't a 'scheduled' customer and they work a short-shift on Saturday - they only confirmed it isn't a problem in the clutch area - kinda sounding like a gear or synchronizer? - maybe 3rd gear????

 

anyway, I don't like not being involved in the repair - but I'm beginning to be even more glad I didn't try working on this on my own - needs someone with experience that's beyond me.

 

I have a feeling I'm about to spend every penny I saved doing my own maintenance and repairs......

STi 6-speed swap! :-)

 

But you may want to look into getting an '04-'05 WRX trans - if yours is the '02-'03. Finding one that hasn't been 'beat on' may be tougher than finding a EJ25D w/out HG issues. :-(

 

 

Td

Edited October 3, 20169 yr by wtdash

man - these guys at AWD Tuning have a lot of 'services' I'd like to take advantage of - but, I'm not really in a position to buy anything cool - just need to get the car back on the road.

 

(now, if some miracle occurs and they call with a not-too-bad number, a lightweight flywheel might find its way onto the car....

 

...but yeah, a TGV delete, aircut valve delete, silicone intake, up/down pipe....a TUNE, ..etc. - there's no end once you start wishing!)

2nd gear obliterated

 

est. = $2000

Gotta chill out on those power shifts man!

 

Jk, bad luck for sure! Did it chew up the needle bearing on the counter shaft, or did it shave the teeth off?

it's not like I'm putting 400hp down, I have NO power mods - wth!, stupid glass transmission

 

no pics, I could ask but, what if they charge me!

 

2nd gear is cut on the shaft so it's a pricey unit, driven gear trashed too of course.