"play" In The Driveline

[s13-steve]

Hey guys,

noticed in my R33 Gts-t, there seems to be some play in the driveline, im not sure if its normal or not.

For example if im doing 100 on the freeway in 5th gear and i give like 2% throttle it will accelerate and then when i lift off it there will be a tiny pause and then "clunk" lightly if you get what i mean.

There seems to be play in the gearbox, tail shaft or diff, the cars meant to have a genuine 70 000kms, its in perfect condition everything about the car suggests that and it was bought from a repuatable dealer in WA.

any ideas?

[Duncan]

.....there seems to be some play in the driveline, im not sure if its normal or not......

not normal, it's a skyline not a commodore!

There seems to be play in the gearbox, tail shaft or diff, the cars meant to have a genuine 70 000kms, its in perfect condition everything about the car suggests that and it was bought from a repuatable dealer in WA.

any ideas?

Best idea is to get it on a hoist and checked out. Most likely wear points are control arm bushes (put a big pry bar under each and see if there is any movement), or tailshaft centre bearing. Other possible problems are cv joints in the driveshaft, incorrectly adjusted diff (backlash) or gearbox, but they are les liekely.

BTW I would guess your 70,000klm GTST has a 1 missing from the odometer. Who has a cool car like that for at least 13 years and only does 70,000?

[siksII]

I have this same problem. When you back off then accelerate if you are not smooth with the throttle it clunks. Only noticeable at low rpm.

I will be changing the diff, diff bushes (front ones anyhow) and clutch for a much softer one than the button clutch I currently have. Sick of waiting for it to wear out so im removing it and putting it in the bin where it belongs

My suspicions lie mostly with either:

-Diff bushes (noticed a bit of play in the front bushes which im changing)

-Tail shaft centre bearing (I have had this checked out and apparently its fine but im not sure)

[Trozzle]

I can almost 100% guarantee it's the diff. Climb underneath and turn the tailshaft with your hand, you will notice it moves a tiny bit in each direction. It's ok, as long as it doesn't get REALLY loud and really loose.

[siksII]

I can almost 100% guarantee it's the diff. Climb underneath and turn the tailshaft with your hand, you will notice it moves a tiny bit in each direction. It's ok, as long as it doesn't get REALLY loud and really loose.

Im not changing the diff for a few weeks so ill check this in the meantime - i have had it checked before, they did what you described and said it was normal.

How much should it turn?

[Spurdo]

its perfectly normal for you to be able to turn the drive shaft by hand just a tiny bit in either direction, i believe thats caused by the gap in the teeth inside the diff. to my mind they cant be making contact 100% of the time or it would cause excessive friction when it comes under load.

mine was doing this when i had just re-installed my gearbox after rebuilding it, so that rules out the gearbox. and when turning the driveshaft there was no movement in the half shafts so that only leaves the diff. im going to estimate the total free rotation of the driveshaft was about 10-15 degrees (give or take) i guess it would get worse in time as the diff wears out more? i havent a clue on the age of my diff

[some_cs_student]

I've had a similar issue and I have rebuilt the diff, the clunk is still there. It is quieter or non-existent if I rev a little (very little) while releasing the clutch when going up gears...

Not 100% sure if its the same issue your describing.

[Birds]

Usually a diff or shaft problem. Caused by hard driving over time, dumping of the clutch and aftermarket/harsh clutches. People getting diffs reconditioned, make sure the crown and pinion or axle gears are replaced at the same time (hell these diffs are so cheap you might as well get a good second handy) as there is usually free play in these parts and no matter how many bearings you put through it the play will still be there.

The way to diagnose it is to get under your car and start turning shafts by hand, you will soon find which part of what has the play.

[siksII]

Just closing the loop on this one. Finally got rid of the clunk in my driveline, im so happy right now.

The car had been checked on the hoist by myself and two other mechanics on separate occasions with no indication of where the clunk was from. There was no noticeable free play anywhere.

I recently had the tailshaft, diff and CVs removed as I was getting a 1 way Nismo centre put into my housing.

Parts that were changed were:

-Diff centre (installed into housing by diff shop and adjusted accordingly)

-Axles and shafts (so CVs are different now too)

I reused the crown and pinion from my car and the diff bushes were not changed.

The clunk was gone. The original CVs seemed ok, they were inspected on the car and on the bench, so this leaves the stock diff centre itself as the most likely cause of my annoying clunk with a less likely option being the CVs.

Having a nasty clutch is now not so much of big deal since you dont have to be 110% perfect with even slow upchanges to avoid any clunking.

[89CAL]

Was it only a problem in 5th? mine does this but only in 5th. Maybe its time for a new diff centre

[siksII]

Was it only a problem in 5th? mine does this but only in 5th. Maybe its time for a new diff centre

You could feel it in any gear, in particular at low speeds in the first 3 gears. Definitely not only in 5th.

[89CAL]

Ah ok. mine sort of does it in a few gears but really noticeable in 5th. had thought it was gearbox related, after i did an overhaul it was still doing it

Thinking that 5th gear might be a bit wrecked. was hoping it might just be the diff, that would be a bit easier lol

[defari]

mine ever so slightly does it.. i chucked in some additive in with the diff oil which seemed to help..

[iruvyouskyrine]

My 32 gts-t has exactly the same problem, but like 89CAL its only in 4th and 5th gears.

I always presumed it was the diff having a bit of free play somewhere inside it. I will be shimming my diff soon, do you think this will stop the clunking noise?

[89CAL]

My 32 gts-t has exactly the same problem, but like 89CAL its only in 4th and 5th gears.

I always presumed it was the diff having a bit of free play somewhere inside it. I will be shimming my diff soon, do you think this will stop the clunking noise?

I'm doing my Diff bushes on the weekend, while the Diff is out I think I'll just check it out anyway to see if its got any setup issues. Would like to put a better centre in but cant really afford to buy a decent one right now

[the_wolf]

my 32 gtst has the same symptoms..ive had it on a hoist at work and mine has some pretty epic backlash in the diff, like from 10 o"clock and 2 o"clock turning the shaft clockwise between those two points, and clucky as all hell. nismo gt pro on the way

[jiffo]

Once you've ruled out propshaft and half shafts, the most common cause of excess movement is worn spider gears and their thrust bearings.

Crownwheel to pinion backlash is nothing when compared to the slop you'll get from worn spider gear thrust bearings.

Oil change won't fix that.

[Birds]

Disposable diffs...find one with little backlash, chuck it in, good to go. Or aftermarket centre...

[89CAL]

So I changed all the bushes for my Diff today, front ones are easy, just have to drop the diff a bit, pull the old ones out, put the new ones in

The rears are a pain. Have some photos to show what I did for anyone who wants to replace them

Ok so I used a Die grinder and air hacksaw:

Basically i pulled the diff out slghtly so it had dropped down a bit and was out of the way (was to much of a pain to get out, would have had to drop the exhaust and sway bar possibly

So I got the die grinder and basically just used it like a drill to get rid of some of the rubber, then used the air hack saw to cut through the steel parts, Could probably have just used the hacksaw for everything but i found it easier this way. Then once I had done this in 2 spots I used a large flat screw driver and a hammer to curl them up a bit and knock the bush out. They looked like this afterwards

Finished product:

Old front bushes:

New front bushes fitted:

As for the play I was experiencing in 5th, well its still there, so pretty sure its a gearbox issue for me. But theres something that just feels a bit better now with the new bushes in. Yet to see if its fixed the axle tramp, will try that out sometime soon

[smithy85]

Same problem here in an R32 GTR - clunks from the rear when driving harshly, so I put it over the pit and it has a ridiculous amount of play which we isolated to the rear diff. Next, is to remove the centre and get it rebuilt at a shop.

On that does anyone know a good place to go for a diff centre rebuild in Perth?