The other day I drove the car to work and noticed a knocking sound coming from the rear end. I pulled the wheels and found the drivers outer axle bolt had worked itself loose to the point that you could move the can in and out about 1/4". After tightening the bolt and going for a test drive all seemed ok.

Now today (15 minutes ago) my wife has the car up about 70 miles from here and she is complaining of a knocking coming from the rear end. I asked her to get out and check that outer can to be sure that outer bolt did not break or come loose again. As it turns out.... The bolt is tight and the can is not moving. So, I asked her to slide the axle shaft back and forth a few times and see what happens.... Now she is on the way home and the noise is temporarily gone again.

Is this the warning signs of an axle that is about to go? Is there anything else back there that can make a knocking noise?

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AJ

1985 300D (SOLD)

C-clip come off inside the diff?

Met up with a guy here in Austin a few weeks ago that had this problem. Axle was nearly 1" out of the diff and no longer in the splines.

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'85 300TD "Puff The Magic Wagon" - Rolling Resto
'19 Mazda CX-9 Signature - Wife's sled
'21 Morgan 3-Wheeler P101 Edition
'95 E300d - SOLD
'84 300TD "Brown Betty" - Miss this one
'81 240D "China Baby" - Farm grocery getter

Nope. The inner cans are secure and tight.

She just got home and said happened again. She got out and slid the axle shaft back and forth and she said it quit.

Maybe just shoot some CV grease in the boots on the drivers side? Or is it too late?

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AJ

1985 300D (SOLD)

Hard to say. But shooting some grease in won't hurt.

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'85 300TD "Puff The Magic Wagon" - Rolling Resto
'19 Mazda CX-9 Signature - Wife's sled
'21 Morgan 3-Wheeler P101 Edition
'95 E300d - SOLD
'84 300TD "Brown Betty" - Miss this one
'81 240D "China Baby" - Farm grocery getter

Sometimes dead Human bodies can make noise inside of the trunk.Its nerves still firing off,and moving muscles.

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1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran

My wife had a pontical Sunfire when we first started dating, and it had a random knocking that happened when you'd come to a stop. It never had any regularity to it. So we never worried about it. We always joked that it was the squirrel in the trunk. So maybe you have a squirrel in the back kicking his nuts around! Aren't we so helpfull!

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LOL!! I did not find any squirrels or bodies (yet). Knowing my wife these days... That is a possibility.

I pulled the drivers outer boot and shot some Volvo CVJ grease I had laying around in there. I was not really sure how to do it? I pulled the boot away from the can, squeezed some grease in there, pulled the shaft towards the wheel and worked it into the can with my fingers and then rotating and repeating until the tube was gone.

It is weird because the noise initially sounded like valve train noise. Like a loose rocker arm tapping. I really freaked the first time I heard it. I pulled over, pulled the oil cap and was listening for anything.... But, everything under the hood was normal. Then as I got into town and the noise got worse, I could hear it echoing off a curb towards the rear of the car. Then as it got worse it went from tapping to a knocking sound.

Anyway... I'm driving another 180 to 200 miles again tomorrow, Friday and Sunday. Hope its fixed....

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AJ

1985 300D (SOLD)

I guess that fixed it! 500 more miles and the noise has abated. The shafts seem tight and look good with no leaks. We are doing 250 more around Orlando tomorrow on the highway (toll roads).

Funny thing... The joint that I added the grease too was the only one that still had a crimp type clamp on it. The rest of the clamps had all been replaced with the screw type at some point (along with the boots).

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AJ

1985 300D (SOLD)