clank goes the backlash

[jetute]

Well guys, my car with 76km in my driveway has SHUNT.

Thanks Ford, $65k car and it sounds like a 1970's datsun.

I took the car for a good testdrive and no shunt. After 40km I thought I heard it and by 60km my wife even heard it each time.

I am not pi$$ed as I was sorta expecting it, but that does not mean I am going to accept it.

I met the service manager for my dealership and he is a mate of my best friend, so I am going to see if I get the no BS view and see if we can get it pushed up the list of priorities.

I will let you know how it goes next week

sorry to hear that zapxr6t.... I first took mine in at 900km for this issue and it was only a slight shunt back then (was told they will look at it at 3000km)... It is now what I consider bad and my wife complains about it constantly... First it was just at gear changes and backing on and off the accelarator.... but now on occasions I get it turning around corners ??? Its not a slight shunt anymore like it was in the beginning.... sometimes it feels like ive left something behind on the road!!

Anyway I hope your mate has the right contacts to get it rectified under warranty .... otherwise you can join the bull fight...

I have my car booked in early next week.... sadly by past experience I know they dont give a sh1t and hence I dont hold much hope..

[Buf-Phoon]

What I'm saying is that there are several driveline components that can be possibly contributing to the shunt. Of course a diff whine is a diff whine and I don't doubt that those with a diff whine know it for what it is.

But the clunk can be in the rear half shafts OUTSIDE the diff. It can be anywhere from the clutch back, including in the gearbox. There are at least eight "break points" in the driveline from where the shunt could derive.

6 Man you may be onto something , for some months prior to my LH CV joint giving up the ghost , I had vehicle vibration at speeds over 100ks and the occasional heavy clunk from a standing start under light throttle. Ford were able to partly fix it with a wheel balance .

Anyway , once the CVs and axle assemblies were replaced , no more vibration, and have only experienced a very minor shunt once or twice since ( 4000ks )

Still have my diff whine at 95ks , but given the risk of a clunker as a replacement I will put up with it.

[ZAP]

I was not suprised when I heard the clunk. It happend several times in heavy traffic, most often when lightly accelorating in 1st and then putting in the clutch. Like a hammer hitting the floorpan.

I will be going down to the dealer on Monday to inform them of my dissapointment of the drivetrain clunk. The one thing I will do is take it to a guy I know who is a driveline expert and will give us a better idea of what the problem is. He is a old mate from my motorsport days and he has a diff and gearbox workshop and what he does not know about drivelines is not worth knowing.

I am going to let my service department know that I am not going to let them blindly try to fix my problem by replacing the diff as I would prefer to wait until either Ford have a solution or I find the solution and then send the bill to FoMoCo.

The reason I will do this is because I cannot afford or want my car off the road at service to only get the same problem back. I am yet to hear of anyone who has had the diff replaced and is satisfied with the result. If Ford do not have a fix within the next few months, I believe that I will find one.

[BLKXR6T]

Ford keep replacing the diff (I've had 2 replacements), and it's a waste of time. Its an obvious design flaw in the entire drive shaft assembly. I consider it highly dangerous too, esp in the wet, when going around corners, because you can feel the car being pushed forward....

Im up for signing the petition any day! I didnt think I ticked the "Diff Clunk" option when I purchased the car.. must have been a freebie :(

[Redhawk]

I got the centre diff mounting bolt bush replaced, only clunk I get is when I hammer it, normal driving it is fine.

My dealer principal has a GT with bad driveline shunt, he took my car for a spin and remarked how good the drive train was, much better than his, and he tried very hard to get it to shunt but she is sound.

He also mentioned that clunking when it's hammered is to be expected.

[JB]

Mine's predominately at slower speeds, casual driving. I find I take my gear changes slower to Minimise the impact. Not that it works.

The only way to desribe it ontop of what you guys have is it's like when the power is on through the drivetrain everything is tight and under strain,then you back off everything loosens up/becomes slack, then power is re-applied through the drive train again and it snaps back.

I believe that the problem is the whole drivetrain design, ontop of the clunking, which got worse when my second diff went in, as did the whine, the car surges alot particulary when going down slight inclines. It then gets much worse when on steeper hills particularly in 4th or 5th. It almost does what I have explained above but without power being applied and no clunking. It almost 'Snaps' back and forth from letting go with the speed then fighting it again.

[Macktheknife]

Sorry to hear all you guys have the old driveline shunt.

Sorry to tell you also that it's been around for a while.

Last manual ford I had was an ED. The shunt was an accumulative thing (Clutch, box, universals, diff) and the whine (believe it or not) was from the gearbox. See if you have the whine in 4th gear, if it's not apparant in 4th then its in the gearbox. It does not show up in 4th because it's a direct drive whereas al the other gears are either under or over driven.

Sorry to say but unless you are lucky enough to get a build where every thing is just perfect, there are gunna be a lot of cars out there with a lot of driveline shunt.

The BA XR's are even going to be more inclined than my old ED. Why? because there is an additional driveshaft universal and 4 additional universals in the rear suspension. (AU's with the independant arseend were the same)

My experience with the ED (My wife kept telling me for 3 years that I was a sh!t of a driver) was a major part of me going auto as I knew there had been no major redsigns of the drivelines.

Realisticly, I dont think there will be too much improvement in future models without pretty lage price rises. It's really a case of price/sophistication/engineering compromise.

I have read reports of driveline shunt (Though to a lesser degree in cars worth 4,5, & 6 times as much (Lambo Diablo for instance)

I wish you all well with any dealings and though my thoughts may sound a little negative I really will keep my fingers crossed for some success.

Now.....If I could just get my stalling and handbrake rubbing fixed......oops....sorry...latest flash is the handbrake no longer works at all......still rubs but...

[Mondie]

Sorry to hear all you guys have the old driveline shunt.

Sorry to tell you also that it's been around for a while.

Last manual ford I had was an ED. The shunt was an accumulative thing (Clutch, box, universals, diff) and the whine (believe it or not) was from the gearbox. See if you have the whine in 4th gear, if it's not apparant in 4th then its in the gearbox. It does not show up in 4th because it's a direct drive whereas al the other gears are either under or over driven.

Sorry to say but unless you are lucky enough to get a build where every thing is just perfect, there are gunna be a lot of cars out there with a lot of driveline shunt.

The BA XR's are even going to be more inclined than my old ED. Why? because there is an additional driveshaft universal and 4 additional universals in the rear suspension. (AU's with the independant arseend were the same)

My experience with the ED (My wife kept telling me for 3 years that I was a sh!t of a driver) was a major part of me going auto as I knew there had been no major redsigns of the drivelines.

Realisticly, I dont think there will be too much improvement in future models without pretty lage price rises. It's really a case of price/sophistication/engineering compromise.

I have read reports of driveline shunt (Though to a lesser degree in cars worth 4,5, & 6 times as much (Lambo Diablo for instance)

I wish you all well with any dealings and though my thoughts may sound a little negative I really will keep my fingers crossed for some success.

Now.....If I could just get my stalling and handbrake rubbing fixed......oops....sorry...latest flash is the handbrake no longer works at all......still rubs but...

Great post Macka and all true too

l dont believe Ford will do anything to address the shunt in existing cars as the liabiity cost of undertaking a fix would be well into 7 figures. l believe the issue will eventually be addressed and implemented at the start of a fresh model or facelift release. All cars prior to the new release will be deemed normal and no warranty claims honoured. As you say its likely a combination of several components that in combination result in significant shunt and therefore significant costs to rectify.

Cheers

[BLKXR6T]

JB,

You have described it just how I would! It's definately more predominant at slower speeds, esp when changing gears..

I have to change gears slower, let the clutch out slower, that seems to minimise the noise a bit..

[Guest brutebogart]

hi guys just finished another 2 weeks at the mine, home for a week , I've complained about a clunk since I picked up my T I alsohave an xls ba ute it to has a clunk so I'll sign have a good day