Gearbox Clunk

[.Stripes.]

I've owned a manual 2010 FG XR50 Turbo for a couple of months now and I've had a bit of a saga with the car so far. Diff bush was shagged (got the usual thud when backing off after WOT and between hard gearchanges), so I got ALL the bushes changed in both the front and the rear (that's not overkill, right?) to Super Pro bushes (except the control blade bushes...they forgot to do those somehow), with comfort series outer diff bushes and a solid centre bush, as advised by Pat from Wholesale Suspensions due to the car being a manual. I also got some Teins fitted while I was at it (Thanks Pat!).

Once I got the car back the original thud was gone, but now I noticed my diff was whining and there was a clunk coming from the back somewhere. Chucked the car up on a mates hoist and noticed that there was oil leaking from one of the side seals in the diff and that the attached halfshaft had a bit of play in it that would make the same clunk I could hear from inside the car. So off to WA Diff Centre and had my diff rebuilt with all new bearings and seals and a Harrop TrueTrac centre. I was worried about the whinning still being there so got a little carried away and got the to change out my solid centre diff bush for a comfort series bush just incase, they also fitted up the Super Pro comfort series control blade bushes for me that the suspension place forgot to install.

Now that I have the car back the whining and clunk from the diff is gone but the original thud is back, albeit not as bad as previously. In hindsight I really should have just stuck with the solid centre to see how much difference there was with the rebuilt diff, as now I don't have a direct comparison. Could this just be an issue with running the comfort series centre with a manual? Is it worth throwing the solid centre bush back in to see if it gets rid of the thud, and just hope the whining and clunk don't come back?

Also, today I noticed a noise I've never heard before. I was sitting at a red light and when I pressed in the clutch and put the car into first gear I heard and felt a clunk from somewhere in the driveline (whether it was from the gearbox or from the rear I can't be sure). This clunk was NOT there before, even with the solid centre diff bush. I can replicate this noise most times and I found it's more pronounced if putting the car into 2nd gear when not moving and keeping the clutch to the floor. Any ideas what this could possibly be?

When I had the car serviced a couple of months ago I was told by the mechanic that the clutch slave cylinder is on its way out...is there any way that could be starting to get worse and causing the clunk with the gearbox? (this probably shows how unmechanically minded I am).

The only other thing to note about the car is that it clunks rather loudly from the front (gearbox?) when maneuvering at low speed. My housemate came out while I was reversing into the driveway a few weeks ago and commented on how loud and clunky it was outside the car. From what I've read in other threads this seems fairly normal for these cars?

[.Stripes.]

So after running the car on a hoist and putting the gearbox in and out of gear (while keeping the clutch flat to the floor) we could see the tailshaft torque up when it was put into gear and release again when it went back into neutral. The thud/clunk was noticeable inside the car as this was happening.

What would be the go in this case? New clutch and slave cylinder time?

Edited 22/11/13 04:08 AM by dowen

[gaz097]

Slave may not be disengaging fully causing the gearbox to have load when going into gear(maybe). What diff bush are u running now. Does it have heaps of voids allowing the diff to move causing the clunk. Also there have been many of people spend thousands trying to fix a falcon driveline only to find out that it is impossible

[.Stripes.]

I'm currently running a super pro comfort centre diff bush. When I'm back next break my mechanic is going to pull it out and put the solid super pro bush back in so we can see the difference. When I had it in previously there was a decent whine translating through to the cabin, so I'm hoping having the diff rebuild will help with this...time will tell though I guess.

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[gaz097]

Solid bush will whine a fair bit. I took mine out

[.Stripes.]

Yeah well it's fairly easy to take one super pro out and put another super pro in, can just use the bolt to lever it out without having to drop the cradle, so if it is still really noisy with the solid then it's easy enough to put the comfort one back in.

What bush are you running now?

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[gaz097]

Yeh that's what I did. The revised bf ford bush. No clunk at low speed. But does on hard changes

[Ralph Wiggum]

Flush and rebleed the clutch hydraulic system.

[.Stripes.]

Cheers Luke, I'll give that a crack.

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[Karnyge]

I had a similar noise between 1st and second from the gearbox, had ford take a look they apparently removed the box checked it all out and updated the computer with the latest software? Upon picking it up and driving it home I was getting all kind of rattles and play sounds coming from the box none of which were there prior to ford taking a look, gave them a call took the supervisor for a drive, he instantly said it's normal, had it serviced else where at a different ford service centre they said the same thing they bled the clutch, no luck, I took it to a diff specialist they couldn't pin point the issue either only thing they could come up with was, not sure if it is correct but, because the clutch is fly by wire? And since they updated the computer there might be a delay in revs when I'm shifting or something like that? If I am really gentle on pushing the clutch in and out and keep the revs on a bit when shifting I can almost eliminate the sounds, I've basically given up on it and would never recommend getting one of these in manual nor would I get another. Probably doesn't help but I feel for you mate.