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Rapid Fire Noise **FIXED*


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When I start out in 1st gear, I get this repetitive noise that gets faster with speed. It makes the noise in 2nd gear too. In 3rd and 4th gears it's gone while I accelerate, but then it reappears randomly for a few seconds when I take my foot of the gas and coast while still in gear. When I coast while in 1st or 2nd it's constant.

 

It doesn't sound metallic at all. It sounds dull, like tapping a drum with a broken skin with a drumstick. It doesn't matter whether I'm driving straight or turning. The car runs, shifts and drives great.

 

Oh, it's a lot louder when it's really cold and quiets down a bit after driving a mile or 2.

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It sounds like it's coming from the right side. I don't think it's coming from the tranny, I had a ring and pinion go once... that was the same noise regardless of the gears... that sounded like a baseball card stuck in the spokes of a bike then graduated until it sounded like a Subie rolling around in a cement truck.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I kept driving it until it really made itself known. The noise was never a click but like a drum roll. We spoke to edrach regarding another matter and he suggested that it was probably the axle since they do some strange things.

 

It was the axle, it felt ok when it came out, but it fixed the noise.

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The inner DOJ on the axles is the most mysterious in terms of the symptoms it can present. The CVJ is always more obvious since it clicks on turns pretty consistently. DOJ problems are less obvious and can be just a slight vibration under acceleration or so bad that you think the tranny is about to fall out of the car and any other drivetrain related symptom. And there doesn't seem to be any way to tell by looking or wiggling or any other tricks to diagnose the problem. Whenever there's a noise that is speed related, I think drivetrain, and the axles are always my first choice when a visual inspection of the drivetrain doesn't find an obvious culprit. With the multitude of rebuilders out there who don't actually replace a joint "if it looks okay" I've learned that even newly rebuilt axles are likely to fail within the first month or two of installation. The rub is trying to prove it to the supplier.

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I read through this thread, so I know this hasn't been asked. What everyone else has said is viable. OK. I'm not trying to be funny or assanine.

 

Does this car have any type of spring held hub cap?

 

The reason I ask is, they can make a noise similar to what you describe when a spring gets weak. It goes with the speed of the wheel and can be anything from a click to a squeek to a grate. It doesn't necessarily do it all the time and can change with the temperature. I know this sounds stupid but our '90 Loyale had the small center caps and made a racket. Our daughters had dish hubcaps and made the same...but different racket. If it does have caps it would be worth eliminating.

 

Things are seldom that simple though.

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With the multitude of rebuilders out there who don't actually replace a joint "if it looks okay" I've learned that even newly rebuilt axles are likely to fail within the first month or two of installation. The rub is trying to prove it to the supplier.

 

I have found this to be true on at least 3 occasions. I am so lucky to have found a parts man that knows this and he takes them back for full credit and an apology and free stuff!! He says the same of rebuilt carbs and he won't even sell them. He says only 1 in 5 are good so I gave him roobuilders addy, Kerry is GOOD! Fortunately, I bought axles that had 3k on them and any defects would have surfaced by now... they should be fine for 100k with my driving habits :)

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