Well, the '85 300D and the wife and I limped into Carlin, Nevada, last night and are staying at the Comfort Inn until I can repair the car or get it towed to a larger town with an auto shop.

About 50 miles outside of Carlin, we started hearing the "TICK-TICK-TICK" that has in the past meant "bad CV joint." I couldn't tell which side of the car if was coming from. The noise got worse. It quieted down if I took my foot off of the accelerator. (Didn't think to try the effects of braking or turning while it was ticking.)

We stopped. I looked underneath. Four good boots on four CV joints. No ripped rubber, no splattered grease. No broken-wrist bumps in the boots. The boots were not hot, barely warm, to the touch. Wheel lugs and center axle bolt present and tight. No dangling parts. Puzzled. The left axle is new (you have read of my exciting axle adventures here). The right axle is only a year old.

Got back on the road. No noise for five or ten minutes, then it gradually came back. We tried driving slowly with one of us outside the car, watching and listening. No luck, the car didn't want to make noise in front of us. Every time we stopped for a few minutes, we could then drive the car for a few miles before the noise came back.

We finally got into Carlin about 9 o'clock last night and luckily got the last room in the Inn. About 1:30 this morning (lying in bed, trying to sleep) it occurred to me that the problem might not be an axle after all. What about the flex plate (is that the right term?) in the middle of the driveshaft? I've never even looked at mine. Could it cause the symptoms I've described?

I'm now going to look under the car and at the CD-ROM FSM. In the meantime, I invite your questions and opinions; your help in getting us back on the road is appreciated as always. We are trying to get to Salt Lake where the wife's sister is hospitalized.

[edit] Looked at the FSM. Doesn't look like something I can do on the side of the road.

Jeremy

__________________

"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970