Intermittent VERY LOUD clunk from the rear end. - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Holson Adi · #1 10-30-2002, 09:26 PM

Allright...

After I took my car to my mechanic to have my leaking fuel lines fixed, where he ended up finding a leaking brake line too, the fuel lines were just replaced by rubber tubes, but the brake line was cut and in the cut section a similarly shaped brake tube was installed and the tubes are joined. Good.. no leaks..

now the brakes even feel better.

However, I noticed a really bad clunk right away especially when I make a right turn.

I took the car back to him and he found nothing and we agreed to replace the shock absorbers (mine were leaking anyway). Shock absorbers replaced and I thought I heard the clunk again but I ignored it.

I was on a downhill and suddenly heard it again.. It sounds like a spring hitting another metal because it makes some sort of echo. But it's definitely metal.

So I hit an onramp harder (i know it's bad but I was pissed) and the sound just got really really bad. After that it kept making that noise... and in the garage it was so loud (I was just driving straight slowly) that people looked and wondered if my car blew up or something....

What do you guys think I'm looking at?

Flex Discs?
Half Shafts? (Oh no........big money)
Differential?

The rear swaybar links are in good shape and my mechanic put the car on a lift, put the tranny in Drive and the rear end was really quiet. The muffler hangers and bushings are also good.

Rear Subframe bushings maybe?

This is really getting on my nerves. I'm getting to a point where I just wanna take it to a dealer and trade it in for a Corolla or something...

Any suggestions would be appreciated.. or just words to convince me to keep it..

Thanks
-Holson-

leathermang · #2 10-30-2002, 11:30 PM

halfshaft.....When mine went out... I was about 20 miles from home... and drove 15 mph on the shoulder to get home... it was mid summer in central Texas... I was not going to get stranded in the heat... I later found out that if I stopped and backed up a few feet it would stop for several hundred miles...I got it rebuilt for $150 with a lifetime warranty...but I put many thousands of miles on it before I fixed it... It was so loud when it happened that I thought something was really torn up... but looking or feeling of them you could not tell anything was wrong... I had had cv joints go bad before... VW's and Subaru's... they would just start clicking... not anything like how loud this thing was....

Holson Adi · #3 10-30-2002, 11:44 PM

So there is no way to check if it is indeed bad? I thought if there was too much play or something I could call that one bad?

or should I just go ahead and have them rebuild mine or something? Is 188500 mi. really the time to do these half shafts?

I hope nothing else comes up after this..

I am quite positive that the noise comes from the left.. should I replace the right one too then?

I wonder what all these problems came in a huge salvo...

leathermang · #4 10-31-2002, 05:39 AM

I had it up in the air to feel of both of them several times... I could not tell any difference myself.... I drove that one probably 15k before replacing it... so I would only do one at a time myself.... but yours could fail in a much shorter period so you are taking a chance on it stranding you if you don't replace it when symptoms occur... I was only driving it to and from work on a direct road .... so if I had to call for help I knew I could get back and get it quickly...have you had the car since it was new? My car had 280k on it at the time that happened.. but I don't know if that was the first time...

Holson Adi · #5 10-31-2002, 09:48 AM

My mechanic looked at it again and this time he rode in the trunk and a cop saw that and followed me. The cop eventually pulled over when I pulled over to talk to my mechanic.

He heard it this time but he doesn't think that it's from the drivetrain instead it's the body.

When I sat in the passenger seat, I could kinda tell that it's higher up than the drivetrain.

No,
I haven't had the car since new....

We talked about the possibilities of a rear end problem or the half shafts.

Holson Adi · #6 11-01-2002, 05:51 PM

Do you guys wanna know what caused it?

Click Here

Guess where this thing was//
A small screw that made such a huge noise!

leathermang · #7 11-01-2002, 11:31 PM

It was supposed to be holding your jack holder secure in your trunk ? I don't know.. and we are the only ones in this conversation... so you can tell me...:p

Holson Adi · #8 11-02-2002, 04:07 AM

hahah neah I guess it was holding the bracket that holds the fuel lines and the rear brake line together under the car.

They must've dropped it and it got in the cup where the spring sits in the control arm!

leathermang · #9 11-02-2002, 09:01 AM

So was it the fuel line bracket being loose that caused the noise or the screw being in the cup ?

Holson Adi · #10 11-02-2002, 01:43 PM

It was the screw being in the cup. I guess it must've got stuck in between the springs and when I hit a bump the spring ejects the screw and returns back to position by hitting the control arm and that causes the noise.