clicking sound in rear end on my 93 300e
 

I did a search and came across a thread that t. walgamuth responded to and said to put the car in neutral and try and wiggle the half-shaft, if you can wiggle it then its bad. I did this, and there is no lateral movement, it only slides in and out about an inch or so. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Bryan,
Tell us when the sound occurs: up-shifting, down-shifting, over bumps, in reverse, always, sometimes? More info is needed.
regards,
Mark

About 5 months ago it started making a lower pitch clunking noise in the rear end, mostly during heavy acceleration and turning. When I took it to my mechanic the next day the noise stopped therefore the mechanic wasn't able to hear the noise. Just recently there is a higher pitched clicking noise that occurs after the car reaches 20 to 30 mph and is constant with normal driving. I also tried the car in neutral and coasting and the car still made the noise. The noise also gets louder the faster I go. I don't know if I stated in my post, but it is a 1993 300E. Sorry for the blotched information. Thanks for responding.

Check driveshaft center support bearing.......

What do I have to do to check this.

Stethoscope.. car on lift.

I assume you have verified differentail fluid level.

My '86 SDL was clicking. Got worse and worse. Replaced right side axle shaft (with used unit) and problem went away. Common problem. Took about an hour to fix. Funny things was, boot was still intact. Usually the boots fail and then the CV joint goes.

Is the noise on one side? You may want to crawl under there and check for
a cracked boot.

My bet is CV joint. My '92 started making noises in extreme cold. In a mile it would go away. Warm weather it was OK. Then about a year later more noises. Finally one day, luckily near home, it really broke. Loud , bad sounding noise. Boot was cracked on the driver side. Made it home.

Put in a used half-shaft that I had bought on a whim a year before. It is a fairly simply R&R. Problem has stayed solved.

Steve

Both of my cv boots look to be intact. The only movement in the shaft, is that they slide back and forth. I also checked the wheels for any play, ruling out wheel bearings. Tomorrow I'll check the drive shaft center support bearing. Thanks for all the help. I'll let you guys know how that goes tomorrow.

I can't here anything unusual with a stethoscope. When I elevate the rear end, and spin the wheels there is no clicking. But when I go down the road the clicking starts at 20 to 30 MPH. There is no vibration or play, just the loud CLICKING!!
It sounds like something is wrapped around my drive shaft and hitting on something under the car.