97" Sunfire
Manual Trans , 2.2
hey guys , so this morning my girl started talking to me but im not sure what shes saying.. It was fine about half way to work today , i stopped at a light some guy signaled for me to go so i took off kinda quick small chirp on the 17's as i accelerated.. Once i let off after the intersection it started making a noise.. But i cant pinpoint it..
The noise seems to come from the center of the car. I can only describe it as 2 un-oiled gears spinning together.. It's gets louder and faster as i accelerate and seems to have no relation to steering at all. A few key things i noticed is the noise only starts if im not on the throttle , if i touch the throttle a HAIR it goes away , but as soon as i let off it returns. There is no feedback to the inside.. No shimmy , no shakes nothing. Also the " noise " does not change in intensity or get less intense during turns... Basically what im trying to get at is has anyone experienced this before? It feels as though it's tranny related.. As long as the cars rolling it makes this noise.. no matter if it's in neutral or between 1- 5 it stays the same strength in sound. Could this be an axel?
I do have a spare tranny in the garage along with my spare motor im just not ready to spend a weekend doing it right now as i was planning on getting a clutch also!
I'm going to upload a video clip of the sound in the next hour or so so everyone can fully understand! Il keep everyone updated until i find the solution.
Thanks guys!
1997 Sunfire 2.2 OHV , 5 Speed.
" Yeah you drive a jbody , but not like us. "
What you just described are the exact symptoms of a bad differential. If it does it in all gears AND neutral, and it goes away at a dead stop, it is the differential. The same thing happened to me.
Hey guys , i took a couple videos so people could visually see whats going on , the first video is of the actual noise from the front end , it may be difficult to here over ambient noise but if you crank your speakers abit it's there..
The next video i took today when i climbed underneath the car.. I'm no expert , this whole car has been a great learning experience and im assuming this much play in the axel is not normal.. I know a little <--> Left to right play is normal.. But the play on the passengers side axel is up , down , side to side.. Anyways you have a look! Its kinda hard to see in the video but theres play.. You can hear the noise of the axel banging around as i move it.. Freaking dog in the backround kinda makes it hard.
Thanks for any responses you might have guys you're a great help!
1997 Sunfire 2.2 OHV , 5 Speed.
" Yeah you drive a jbody , but not like us. "
Usually an axle does not make a ticking sound like that, although it can happen. Most often they will make a "popping" noise when cornering. I got an axle a while ago for 65 dollars with core, I would try that first if you suspect it (from the videos it looks borderline at best). It may or may not fix the problem, but I will say the tick sounds exactly like mine resulting in a differential that looks like this:
http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/5346/sdc10554f.jpg
Thanks for the response , I'm
Gonna try replacing the passengers side axel this weekend hopefully that eliminates the problem! I'm really not up to pulling the tranny right now haha , but what needs to be done needs to be done i guess. If it comes to that I mightaswell start looking for a decent clutch too.
1997 Sunfire 2.2 OHV , 5 Speed.
" Yeah you drive a jbody , but not like us. "
Altho It could very well be a Diff, Axle shafts do make clicking sounds. Normally when turning you will hear a clicking of the plunge joint meaning the axle is bad. I didnt see the other vid, and its really hard to hear it in the first vid. But if you suspect a bad axle, cant hurt to change it. If after you change it, i would suspect your diff. But axle shaft can click, but usually not going straight.
Hey guys I haven't had a chance to try replacing the axel just yet. My womans car needed some work for inspection so I was at that all weekend.. But back to my car , waking up this morning to find out I had no clutch , reservoir was dry and there was no muddle or visible wet spots.. What the hell is going on.. I know these symptoms are unrelated but I'm having bad luck lol !
1997 Sunfire 2.2 OHV , 5 Speed.
" Yeah you drive a jbody , but not like us. "
