Thread: New half shaft clunk

I've replaced drivers side half shaft year ago with A1 Cardone unit which failed after a year minus 5 days. Started to vibrate under accel and made this metallic clunk when going from drive to reverse and vice versa. So I sent it back - lifetime warranty, no more vibration but the clunk is still there. Could it be the new half shaft is garbage or...is my trans starting to act up? It has zero issues as far as shifting/slipping, fluid is nice and red no funky smell or anything. Came across this video on YT, exactly what my car does/sounds like. Any suggestions?

Reverse to drive clunk should have nothing to do with the axle shaft. I'd bet you've got a motor mount sh!tting the bed.

I should probably be more specific. When changing gears from reverse to drive all is good. When I change gears from D to R and accelerate I get this metallic pop. I can hold my foot on the brake throw it in reverse give it some throttle - POP, put in in drive and do the same thing - POP. Just like in that video I posted, even the sound is exactly the same. Mount?

Yes, sounds like the mount to me.

It would be better if the video was of your actual car. I had that type of clunk with the same symptoms. It could be a mount like said above. I eliminated all possible issues. I checked all my mounts. They are all solid and urethane so I figured that wasn't the issue. I tightened all subframe bolts, rack and pinion mounting bolts, re torqued the axle nuts and make sure they were seated properly. Just anything under the car I tightened. In my situation it turned out to be the aftermarket axles didn't work very well in my car. I bought a brand new AC delco shaft and the noise stopped.

In my 04 NA GT I had this issue also. Again same checks but different problem causing the clunk. In this situation it was the lower ball joint (new mevotech) was making the clunk. I had someone power brake the car going back and forth in reverse and drive and looked around under the car until I could isolate where the noise was coming from. No matter how much I tightened the nut it still shifted enough to clunk. I put a Moog in there and it stopped.

You just have to go through the process of elimination.

FWIW I had this same "clunk" on my regal for several years. It was the wheel bearing. When you put the axle in what did you torque the nut to? Even though I went through about 7 passenger wheel bearings in the past 6 or so years. Timken, and other various manufactures all had the same clunk. I have a video on youtube if you want to. Look up "popping sound from my regal". It only happened when going from park to reverse after the car sat for a few minutes and settled.

Posting a video of an Audi to diagnose a Grand Prix problem is pretty counterintuitive... Just saying. As mentioned, take a video of your actual car, actual noise, open Photobucket account or similar and then post it. That said, noise is a funny thing, it travels. But for the most part, imo, if the Trans was clunking as you say, you'd notice other tell tale signs of problems, not just a clunk. As for the clunk, there are ways to tell what they may be, ways to check ball joints and other attachment parts which may be responsible for the clunking. For the matter though, the Cardone axles are known to be junk, but people don't mind because of the lifetime warranty and lifetime of replacing them. Get a Napa next time, lol. Ball joints are cheap, and mounts are too. You neglect to state your mileage or other pertinent information regarding the condition and or age of your suspension. It could be a broken sway bar end too, that's known to happen... Lol. So please be more specific and you'll probably get a better internet diagnosis ; )

Originally Posted by coolone

Posting a video of an Audi to diagnose a Grand Prix problem is pretty counterintuitive... Just saying. As mentioned, take a video of your actual car, actual noise, open Photobucket account or similar and then post it. That said, noise is a funny thing, it travels. But for the most part, imo, if the Trans was clunking as you say, you'd notice other tell tale signs of problems, not just a clunk. As for the clunk, there are ways to tell what they may be, ways to check ball joints and other attachment parts which may be responsible for the clunking. For the matter though, the Cardone axles are known to be junk, but people don't mind because of the lifetime warranty and lifetime of replacing them. Get a Napa next time, lol. Ball joints are cheap, and mounts are too. You neglect to state your mileage or other pertinent information regarding the condition and or age of your suspension. It could be a broken sway bar end too, that's known to happen... Lol. So please be more specific and you'll probably get a better internet diagnosis ; )

Were replying to me with an Audi? or are you talking to the OP about the imbedded video (I can't see youtube at work).

Originally Posted by buck531

FWIW I had this same "clunk" on my regal for several years. It was the wheel bearing. When you put the axle in what did you torque the nut to? Even though I went through about 7 passenger wheel bearings in the past 6 or so years. Timken, and other various manufactures all had the same clunk. I have a video on youtube if you want to. Look up "popping sound from my regal". It only happened when going from park to reverse after the car sat for a few minutes and settled.

I actually replaced the wheel bearing with Delco unit before the axle went bad. Nut torqued to 118 ft/lb. Inspected the trans mount after work yesterday, looks squashed so I'll replace that first since it's the cheapest/easiest thing to do at this point.

Just an FYI Napa gets their axles from Cardone. Same box and packaging with a different sticker on the box. I ordered a set of new half-shafts from RockAuto (Cardone brand) and Napa at the same time and they were identical. (Minus the huge price difference!)

Trans mount replaced, clunk didn't go away.
I have a feeling my torque wrench might be "little" inaccurate. I tightened the axle nut some more and clunk went away. Ordered new wrench, will have to compare the two. Anyways...no more annoying sounds.