Clicking And Thud Sounds

[SargeRX8]

Hey all,

Well Ive had two skylines both R33gtst and both series two, and both have done the same thing. Manual transmission and standard diff(not shimmed or anything).

Anyway the first thing is when sitting at the lights in neutral clutch out and light turns green, when I push the stick into third and before I start to depress the clutch, I get a thud in the car which can be heard and sometimes even felt. If I take it out of gear while holding the clutch and put it in it won't repeat. But if I let the clutch go as its in neutral and then clutch in and into first, it will thud again. I'm changing my clutch(for other reasons) in the next week or so, is there anything I can do to stop this? Ive noticed it in a couple of other manual cars. Could it be a manual thing?

Second thing is when starting to take off in first or in reverse(well this is only when I notice it) I get clicks from the rear. Sometimes one click, sometimes a couple of clicks. My old skyline done it quite alot. Its coming from mid to the back of the car.

Any ideas?

Cheers guys

[tridentt150v]

Hey all,

Well Ive had two skylines both R33gtst and both series two, and both have done the same thing. Manual transmission and standard diff(not shimmed or anything).

Anyway the first thing is when sitting at the lights in neutral clutch out and light turns green, when I push the stick into third and before I start to depress the clutch, I get a thud in the car which can be heard and sometimes even felt. If I take it out of gear while holding the clutch and put it in it won't repeat. But if I let the clutch go as its in neutral and then clutch in and into first, it will thud again. I'm changing my clutch(for other reasons) in the next week or so, is there anything I can do to stop this? Ive noticed it in a couple of other manual cars. Could it be a manual thing?

Second thing is when starting to take off in first or in reverse(well this is only when I notice it) I get clicks from the rear. Sometimes one click, sometimes a couple of clicks. My old skyline done it quite alot. Its coming from mid to the back of the car.

Any ideas?

Cheers guys

not sure about the clutch one.......sounds like badly adjusted or dragging?

The clicking is uni joints or maybe diff bearing [where the drive shaft enters the diff], but I'd say uni joints.

[89CAL]

Clicking will be cv joints

As for the thud...... What clutch do you have and can you notice the noise in say 5th on and off throttle? Mine thuds when j do this and its probably a worn bearing

[SargeRX8]

No CV joints in a rear wheel drive car.

Do these things get worse or should I just forget about them. I'm changing the clutch soon anyhow. I think in 5th when you back off it thuds abit I cant remember though which car that was.

[Dobz]

No CV joints in a rear wheel drive car.

Do these things get worse or should I just forget about them. I'm changing the clutch soon anyhow. I think in 5th when you back off it thuds abit I cant remember though which car that was.

There are CV joints in IRS rear ends, you're thining about live axle rear ends.

As for the the clunking it sounds like a possible clutch dragging issue as stated before. When changing or engaging gears push the clutch all the way in and give it about 4-5 seconds then engage the gear and see if that makes a difference.

[Luke_GTS-T]

what are you doing taking off in 3rd gear?

Might be your synchros

Edited April 10, 2011 by Luke_GTS-T

[SargeRX8]

Both of my cars done it and both had fine syncros. I think it might be the clutch dragging as my old car did cease doing it when my master was changed. This cars master is failing I think. At times when slowly disengaging(esp in reverse), it feels like the car is grabbing the clutch and its barely depressed. If I clutch back it I get a shit load of shudder, both cars did this.

Only does it in first gear and I don't even have to start disengaging. The gear goes in just fine it just thuds.

[89CAL]

No CV joints in a rear wheel drive car.

Do these things get worse or should I just forget about them. I'm changing the clutch soon anyhow. I think in 5th when you back off it thuds abit I cant remember though which car that was.

Yeah so I suppose those outer rear CV joints i Changed in my R33 were non existant?

You have a car with Independant rear suspension, Which means your diff stays bolted to your car while the suspension allows the hubs to move up and down so how do you think power gets to your wheels? Not to mention the slight left and right movement of the 4WS

Think twice before you make a statement like that again, especially when I'm telling you what the clicking noise is because I've had it happen in my car

[Birds]

The thud itself is the drivetrain taking up slack somewhere, you might have too much backlash in your diff, particularly if it also happens when you on/off the throttle while driving. The actual cause of the driveshaft moving may be a dragging clutch or a worn spigot bearing/bush. The latter can turn the input shaft while you are idling and therefore when you engage third, it will turn the whole drivetrain until the grip tolerance of the spigot bush/bearing has been reached. Maybe get someone to look under the car while you perform the manouvre that causes the thud, see if the driveshaft moves.

Good idea to replace spigot bearing/bush at the same time as doing your clutch. It's a very cheap part that requires gearbox removal to replace and can certainly fail down the track if it's not already doing that.

[SargeRX8]

Ahh Sorry 89CAL, I just thought you probably skimmed through my post and thought I was driving a GTR because I initially though CV joints were something which fizzles in a front wheel drive car. Thanks for the advice though, is there any way to diagnose that further? I get the same kind of clicking sound in the rear when I go over potholes or other ditches/bumps in the road. Is it the same thing?

As for the thud sound, just drove the car a fair way away. Its non existent when driving, and only occasionally happens in first gear from a stop. It does not do it if I back off the throttle then apply throttle again.

Ive got a new spigot bush ready to go in with my clutch change.

[89CAL]

Best way to see if it's your cv's is to have your hand rake on and load up the car in 1st and listen for clicking. Have someone looking under the back if possible to try and pinpoint that the noise is coming from the cv's.