hello..

My wagon has this clunk that feels rear-endish.. it'll usually do it's thing when i accellerate after shifting up. If I accellerate gently, it won't. I can put the clutch in and not shift, and reproduce it by letting the clutch up quickly enough.. it sounds like something in the drivetrain is catching up some slack somewhere? U-joints maybe?

do you have a rear sway bar? Sometimes they can come loose and produce a clunking noise which can be mistaken for U-joints or a bad rear end. Check it first and if its not that (or you don't have one) it could possibly be your U-joints. If you can replace them without replacing the driveshaft (Hondasucks's driveshaft would have to be replaced cause the rear U-joints are staked into place:( ) its an easy fix and its relativly cheap too. It never hurts to put new ones in anyways. One less thing to go wrong when you're driving along.....

It sounds alot like CV joint in the driveline to me.

I would crwl under neath and try turning the driveaxle , if there is any slack in the twist @ the CV joint more than not that CV is bad.There should be no p[lay in the joint when twisting it .

cool, thanks. i'll report back when i check it soon.

Motor or trany mounts can also do that.

I had a rear end clunk/knock like that in my 84 wagon, it turned out to be crappy strut mounts (imagine that)!!

OMG ANDY DID U CHEK ZE LUGNUZ LOLOLROOFLESHAHAHAHA!!!1121!!21!!!1!!!!!``!!~!!@!~`1@1~!!

 

Inside joke, sorry guys.

yes, first thing i looked at

Could be the rear diff, too. Sounds like it...

 

They have a tendency to clunk under hard shifting. Solution is to either shift nicely all the time, or get a differential locking kit from Whiteline.

 

-S2-

Andy, for the clunk to occur due to a drivetrain related entity

(i.e. U joint, rear CV rear DOJ, diff, mustache bar bushing, et al)

There would have to be power delivered to the rear wheels, is this not correct?

You make no mention of having it in 4 wd when this happens and 86 wagons did not have FTAWD.

 

So either it's coming from the front and being transmitted to the body making it feel "rear endish" or....... a consequence of having the rear suspension compressed as the car accelerates.

I just want to bark up the correct conifer thats all.

Sorry for the intrusion.

*drops a pine cone on skip*

Hi Skip.. this car has the RX full time 4WD D/R tranny so no 2WD.. thanks though..

I'm going to check it out this weekend and I'll probably be back in here with an update or more questions

Wow, went to start a new thread checking for fix for klunk w/I saw this.

I have '88 turbo s/w f/t 4wd. Klunk from rear on hard accell. after driveline unloaded. Replaced axles. u-joints good. Diff mount appears ok as well as "moustache" bracket bushings. Removed arms-all bushings still good thoughthey show rust from rubbing!?

Feels like excessive differential slop as alluded to in last post. Would hate to think only cure is replacement but...

Still looking at answers, will post as I try different things. Local Subaru shop says they have never been able to fix one yet!? : (

Thanks for a great site! JEFF

well, after long last i jacked up the car and crawled underneath.

sway bars are tight.

shocks/struts and springs didn't have any wiggle.

wiggled the tires and got some. seems that the wiggle includes the rotors and hubs too.. wheel bearings all round? aargh.

driveshaft had a 1/4 inch play when turning it back and forth before the rear wheels responded. sounded kind of clunky.

so should i just replace all wheel bearings and suspension bushings and u-joints? chase it away by throwing parts and money at it? hehe

if i'm going to convert to 5 bolt, this be a good time for it, me thinks.

opinions?

I don't think worn bearings would produce the clunk you describe. Worn bearings rumble or growl continously or at certain speeds.

1/4" play from driveshaft to wheel turn isn't bad.

Did you check the trany mounts?

uhm, i think there's a growl starting in the front

 

tranny mounts have over 200k on them. I haven't checked them or the motor mounts.. how does one check those anyway? i don't think i could wiggle the engine/tranny without shaking the whole car with them ..just jack up the trans a little and remove the crossmember, eyeball the mounts? i can do that.

 

anyplace make poly motor/trans mounts for EA82?

Put the rear of the car *securely* on jack stands, get under it on your back so you can see the trany mount and grab the driveshaft at the same time. Shake vigorously. Some play is ok, but you should be able to tell if it's torn or broke just eyeballing it.

The motor mounts are harder to tell, but if they're real bad you can grab the motor and shake or move it by hand.

My trany mount was so bad that the trany would hop around under a hard corner. Moved so much that it broke the 4wd sensor and started to leak gear oil!

yikes, no thanks. and thanks

My apologies. In my fix suggestion, I didn't realize what car he was driving. I know nothing of GLs, so I'm not sure what the problem may be.

 

Thanks for your Emails, though. Definitely try Brian at Subaruwrxparts.com ... He definitely may be of help!

 

-S2-