klunking noise and apparent clutch slippage

[speedfreak3000]

Last Thursday my daughter in law called saying she heard a noise like a flat tire but she did not have a flat. I drove out and looked at her car and found a klunking noise from the transmission area which increased with speed. It is a 1990 Tallon TSI with 247,000 miles. I drove the car about 4 miles to my house. The noise went away but the further I drove it the more it appeared that the clutch was slipping. The rpms would rise faster than the cars acceleration.

I pulled the throw out lever rubber bushing to inspect for clutch material and found none. I have the car jacked up and can put the car in 1st gear and start it and with my foot on the brakes can let out the clutch and none of the wheel will turn. There is a whirring noise coming from the transmission area when I do this.

Is this the center diff? or do you actually think it could be a clutch.

I have never seen a noise similar to this that ended up being a clutch. I typically work on big trucks so I dont know that much about these awd DSMs.

What do you think the problem most likely is?


Thanks,
John

 

[GsxDsm1]

You need to go to a parking lot and do some sharp turns and see if it clunks, if it does its probably the Center Differential, as far as the slipping that could be the Viscous Coupler.