noise play/back lash in the gearbox/diff

[pj9ar]

Hi

I have recently got my s13 back on the road after many years which is great!! but there are some concerning noises from transmission/diff that I don't remember being there when I last had it on the road, it is a clunking noise when the drivetrain is unloaded i.e comeing off power and then again coming on power. I have had it all apart to refurb everything and all the bushes are now polly and it a has an uprated gear box mount (hardrace street one not polly). the diff and gearbox are standard and the same as when it was last on the road.


ive been under the car and nothing is loose or fouling but there is a fair bit of play when you turn the prop it doesn't seem to be in the UJs more in the diff and maybe gearbox but that wasn't in gear. I took a video:



my questions are, is this too much play? will it break stuff because of the shock clunking back and forth? is there anything I could have done when reassembling to cause this? or is this normal and I should ignore it?


thanks Josh

[Mike41288]

Doing away with the standard bushes and going with polyurethane will increase the noise/vibration/harshness (NVH) from the drivetrain.
I'm sure someone with more knowledge than me will be along to tell you if your diff lash is bad or not but I can't say that it looks excessive personally

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

[pj9ar]

yea i know plus i got rid of the all the sound deadening and interior but still its prity loud noise im sure i would have heard it before if it was there

[autosri]

It will have been there before but the rubber would have isolated it from the car

[daveyboydave]

My S14A does the same clunking on loading or unloading torque through the drivetrain. I have solid diff mounts, poly subframe bushes and 'fast road' engine and gearbox mounts, plus no sound-deadening, so similar-ish to yours. I certainly noticed it more when I upgraded all the drive-train mounts.

Can't tell you whether it's perfectly fine or your diff is about to explode, only that you're not alone! I suspect all RWD cars have a bit of drivetrain backlash, but you can only really notice it when remove all the vibration damping. My E46 M3 did it (to a lesser extent) and I believe R35 GTRs are famous for it. So it's probably fine!

[pj9ar]

ok cheers dave that puts my mind at ease a little