grinding and clunking noise

[anthonypk]

Hello guys, I just purchased a 1999 eclipse GSX ! This is my childhood dream car so it was a very sentimental purchase for me. So anyways, I bought the car for $3,500 knowing it needed work. Main problem with the car is somewhere in the drivetrain. My budget for fixing up the car is $3,000 (hoping to get nowhere near that too quickly though!)

The first problem which was there when I bought the car is a clunking sound coming from what sounds like the front passenger side area. The clunking sound is repetitive almost as if something in a rotational system is continually hitting something. Specifically the sound happens only if the car is in gear (rolling in neutral makes no clunk). When the car is in gear (every gear does this) the car only makes the sound when throttle is applied; let off the throttle and coast in gear stops the sound.

The cars shifting was really hard and felt lie it needed to be forced or jiggled. The clutch felt very stiff and got progressively stiffer the more in you pushed. It has a stage 2 clutch. We bled the clutch and followed the jackstransmissions video on how to set the pedal adjustment. After that the clutch felt a lot easier to push in and had a consistent feel. Shifting into gear also seemed to be a lot easier and did not feel forced.

Later, we fixed the power steering and decided to take the car for a drive around the block to really figure out the clunking sound. before the drive we did wiggle the tire to make sure its not the tie rod ends or ball joint. Wiggling up and down confirms the ball joint is ok, but there was a bit of movement side to side so I suspect I may need a new tie rod end. So back to the test drive, the car starts good with no weird engine noises. car went into gear decently smooth (it has a shitty unknown short shifter which is being replaced by an OEM unit I snagged for 20 bucks). the clutch engagement felt better but still kind of on the low side no more than an inch off the floor. As expected the car goes "clunk clunk clunk clunk as you have the accelerator pressed. This clunk can be heard but is not felt through any of the pedals or steering wheel. The ride is smooth, just loud. After 2 small laps around the block, the problem suddenly sounded worse. Basically it became louder and was somewhat felt in the car. we pulled the car over and came to a complete stop. It was downhill fast from there . At this point the car did not want to go into any gear. in every gear moving the stick will cause a loud sharp grinding noise. the car eventually went into first gear but when trying to come off the clutch in gear it starts grinding again and it did not drive at all, just stayed in place making a grinding noise. We tried to push the car and it felt like it was in gear. It would hunch forward and roll right back (this was about a half foot of movement). We finally got the car to start rolling and then every 10 feet their was a thump sound and resistance. At one point the thump and resistance felt like someone slammed on the brakes and completely stopped us from pushing the car. We finally got the car to the house and tried to put it in gear. once again every gear grinds, and on top of that now just putting in the clutch pedal creates the same grinding sound. .
At this point we simply called it a day. Cant work on the car right now becaue of the snow storm that just passed but I'm doing as much research as possible. I really want all of your opinions so that I can make sure I do this right and sove the issue at hand without temporary bandaids. I did use the search function and got a lot of information, but none of the threads I found felt specific enough to my situation for me to feel comfortable choosing which of the many fixes to do. Not sure if its the tranny, the transfer case or a bad clutch job/throwout bearing.
Thanks guys, hope to hear from you guys soon!

 

[Nicholllassjones]

A CV shaft has a very distinctive shake or clunk to it. For me it's that way anyways. Also when turning, there is usually a pretty "hefty" clunking and banging. CV shafts rarely break. 9/10 they fail because the boots will break. The boots hold grease which makes it so you can safely and smoothly make a turn and still have control and maintains power over the car.

 

[Nicholllassjones]

Lets hope so! Is there anyway I can check to see if it is my cv axle? I will have the car on jacks here shorty

So if you wanted to see if maybe you have a CV boot missing. There's one on the inside by where it connects to the tyranny and another on the outside by your wheels. If the boot is missing or torn, then you should have your CVshaft replaced.

 

[Brandon2gsx]

So I'm under the car and I'm looking at the inner boot by the tranny. The thing is covered in grease and there's oil all over my tranny too. Does this axel prevent the car from driving? Like I put it into first yesterday and tried to go and it just sounded like a worn out gear and the clunking from before

So if you wanted to see if maybe you have a CV boot missing. There's one on the inside by where it connects to the tyranny and another on the outside by your wheels. If the boot is missing or torn, then you should have your CVshaft replaced.

 

[spyderdrifter]

If you have axle greese every where, then it had to come from the boot. I recommend replacing it. Don't drive your car until you do. If the boot is torn, then anything can get in causing the axle to bind or fail even further. Or, if there's no grease, it can heat up inside from friction above the normal amount and that could seize the axle maybe, or hurt the diff, i.e. strip the threads. A bad axle can indeed keep your car from moving, depending on how severe the damage is.

 

[Brandon2gsx]

I replaced the entire axle. The old one was completely in half inside of that boot. Now I still have a problem. When I put it INTO gear (1st-5th) and let the clutch all the way out, absolutely nothing happens. Car doesn't move, stall out, nothing.

 

[Brandon2gsx]

Update: I was able to use reverse still though. I was also told it could be my clutch disk? Anymore advice from anyone?

 

[Nicholllassjones]

So when you put it in gear, there's no grinds?
And when in gear with clutch pushed in, it idles as normal?
And when you let it out it doesn't do anything?
No stall?
No grinding?
Just idles?
Or does the car shit off?
I'm sorry for all the questions.

 

[Brandon2gsx]

Correct.. No grinding. Prior to this problem I didn't have any issues with grinding, pop outs, or getting locked out of gear either.

When the clutch is pushed in, the car idles perfect still just as it would in neutral.
When the clutch is released while in gear, nothing happens. Car doesn't stall, go, move, nothing. It just idles as if it's not in gear? But when I rev it after letting go of the clutch, it makes a faint grinding noise.
I drained the transmission yesterday and there were metal flakes on the bottom of my oil pan. I do not know when they last time the previous owner flushed it though. I have hope

So when you put it in gear, there's no grinds?
And when in gear with clutch pushed in, it idles as normal?
And when you let it out it doesn't do anything?
No stall?
No grinding?
Just idles?
Or does the car sh** off?
I'm sorry for all the questions.