Driveline CLUNK

[bluedragon]

I have an 04 XR6 Turbo with 131000 klms .Leather , premium sound and 20inch rims . I looove this car , BUT , this clunk in the driveline is seriously doing my head in . Since buying the car ive replaced the centreline rear diff bush ,the engine mount bolt and rebuilt the 4 spd auto ,but , the car still makes the damn clunk . Now someones telling me maybe its the bearing in the tailshaft ? Im lost for words at how many opinions and theories have evolved as to the reason why the car has the thump from underneath . Its at its worst when im sitting on 70 klms per hour ,4th gear in auto and I nail it .... the auto drops down to 2nd I think , then , bang , it jolts into gear with a thump that you can hear and feel. Before I rebuilt the auto , the thump was sometimes delayed by 1 whole second . Really detracts from the pleasure of driving the car. I hear people say its common for BA turbos , but what is causing it ? The Diff ? The Bearings in the Tailshaft ? The Auto itself ? Whats wrong with these damn cars. I paid $400 to get an RACV inspection before buying the car and they told me it was due to the Diff bush , so I replaced it . Didnt change , so I took it to the foreman at Jefferson Ford and he replaced the engine mount bolt which had snapped , engine was smoother but still had the thump. So then he tells me its the auto , so I rebuild it , and now thousands of $$ later I still have the same problem.

[nelsonian101]

Give Pat at Wholesale suspensiona call.

Address: 129 Coreen Ave, Penrith NSW 2750 Ph: (02) 4721 2112

[CCCC]

dont thrash it in fourth

[bluedragon]

Ive been reading through the Driveline workshop section and my head is spinning @_@ ... Seeing that driveline issues seem to be a MAJOR problem with these XRT's .... could someone knowledgeable write down an A-Z list of the most common issues , causes and fixes please ? Im noticing Diff Bushes , Broken Engine Mounts , CV's , Tailshaft and Gearboxes etc appear frquently... But how do you work out the problem before you go broke ?! Like I am ! Why is it so damn hard to diagnose these common problems ?

[dule]

Nah mate wouldn't say they are a major problem, but things people post in the driveline section are mainly problems so when you read it you think there is nothing but problems , people rarely come and post "Hey just to let you know my I have no driveline issues).

If you have a problem you can't diagnose tell us what the symptoms are and the car details (model, manual/auto, kms, mods) and maybe someone can tell you what to look at.

[bluedragon]

Thanks for the feedback friend,

Interesting point you make there . I have an 04 XRT , auto with 139000 klms . It is unmodified . I bought the car at 131000klms , it had the 'clunk' then but the RACV inspection I paid for said it was merely a rear diff bush issue so I had it replaced, $800 later . Didnt help .I then had the Diff checked , and the oil in it replaced . Got the ok . Then I took it to Jeff Ford and the foreman diagnosed a broken engine mount , which they replaced ,$750 (brakes adj also and diagnosis labour costs) , and they also told me the auto needed rebuilding . So another $3000 later I had the Auto fully rebuilt stronger than factory with a trans cooler. The problem is better ,but still there. The worst example is when im sitting on 70 klm per hour in auto mode and I nail it, it drops down 2-3 gears (its a 4spd ) , and .. BANG/CLUNK , bashes into gear violently . Now someones mentioning it could be the Tailshaft ?!? ...Accelerating from standstill in auto or manual mode its quite good now though. I loove this car but im getting really I <3 Bananas angry , im a Semi driver for Linfox and I work hard , this car is slowing sending me broke. Its my first XR6T and my first expensive car.

Edited 01/11/10 02:33 AM by bluedragon

[dule]

Can't help you too much with the auto, but I can tell you that you should try and avoid the ford dealers for any major work if you possibly can. Even if they do the work properly they will still rip you off royally.

Clunks are one thing most of these cars have, they have a fair bit of play in the rear end. Most think it's the diff or gearbox but from what I have read here seems like the drive shafts are the more likely problem. And this is a no cost factory option that not much can be done about you just learn to drive around it, especially noticeable in manuals. Just depends how much of a clunk you have and where from.

Try taking your car to a good workshop that deals with these cars on regular basis so they can tell you if there really is a problem and if there is, what it might be.

Where do you live, maybe someone can recommend a good workshop in the area.

In the meantime try putting the car in 1st or 2nd gear medium revs and try getting on and off the gas (not too heavily) to see if you can replicate the clunk and maybe better tell where it's coming from.

[Banned1]

jack car up ! grab the shaft, grab the uni joint, if there is any movement there then you will have some degree of clunk cos if you can do it by hand, then under huge forces from the box, it will be a lot more.. on a side note, I used to have a clunk in my xg ute, turned out to a be a flogged out diff ! just worn out ! but I don't suspect this with yours at all..

could be the exhaust thumping something underneath when you boot it, or driveline just hitting something too close that needs adjusted further away.. our brand new FG will clunk a bit of you misuse/poorly time gearchanges etc.. my EF wagon is smoother !

[Guest XR09]

A -all farked

Z - call Z tow truck

there ya go

[Dillz]

Thanks for the feedback friend,

Interesting point you make there . I have an 04 XRT , auto with 139000 klms . It is unmodified . I bought the car at 131000klms , it had the 'clunk' then but the RACV inspection I paid for said it was merely a rear diff bush issue so I had it replaced, $800 later . Didnt help .I then had the Diff checked , and the oil in it replaced . Got the ok . Then I took it to Jeff Ford and the foreman diagnosed a broken engine mount , which they replaced ,$750 (brakes adj also and diagnosis labour costs) , and they also told me the auto needed rebuilding .

I've highlighted some of the major problems I've seen so far, buying such a high K car with merely an RACV check (which are hopeless) is asking for trouble. Not having a go you were on the right track just next time get a trusted mechanic to fully go over the whole car no matter how much they cost.

Whats the cars history like? Sounds like it might of have a hard life, I assume you picked it up fairly cheap as there are a lot of BA's out there with less kays on them.

Stick with it, everyone will try and help you out as much as we can.