Hey guys,

When I drove my car to work today I noticed that there was a pronounced vibration/clunking when accelerating in 1st and 2nd gears. My car has always had some minimal vibration in 1st, depending on how it feels that day, but today it was very bad.

Once moving the shudder is mostly gone and the car rolls smoothly. However, when I get up to speed (~20 and up) the car starts to make a drowning/groaning sound. The sound seems to depend mostly on vehicle speed (relatively quiet from 25-50, very loud ~55-65, quieter from 70 on). I haven’t tried coasting to see if that makes any difference. Also, when I come to a stop with the clutch in the car has a small vibration that feels kind of like a really, really low idle, but the engine speed is fine (~900rpm). This shudder only happens just before I come to a stop.

What do you guys think is wrong? The sound most definably sounds like it is coming from the back half of the car. This just happened this morning all of a sudden, and I really don’t want to drive the car like this, but I have a 30 mile commute that I have to make. Do you think I could nurse it along till the weekend, or should I stop driving it now? Any help would be appreciated.

Nathan
1978 242DL mt
IPD springs/swaybars

Could be your drive shaft U-joints. I had bad vibration while driving at certain speeds and then finally the drive shaft broke at the rear U-joint leaving me stranded. I unbolted one from a car at a junkyard and bolted it in. Cost around $20.00 and had to unbolt and bolt eight or so bolts.
you could at least get an estimate/ diagnosis at a chain Monroe or something and then drive out of there in a hurry and do it yourself. Don't tell them you plan on doing that though.

I will never claim to be an expert, but I had a similar situation with an 83 242 I had. It sounds like it could be the bearing? that goes around the driveshaft. It helps to keep the driveshaft aligned. Look under your car, thare is a bracket that the bearing sits in and the driveshaft passes through. If the rubber is torn or missing that could be your problem. Once I had mine replaced, the car ran so smooth.

Is replacing the bearing/mount very hard? I just so happen to have the center bearing/mount but I don't really have a good place to work on the car, apartment living and all. How much do you think it would cost to replace?

I replaced my center carrier ("mount") and bearing in my apartment parking lot. You'll need to jack up the car and undo 2 bolts to lower the carrier (don't lose the spring), and then 4 more to remove the front half of the shaft from the transmission. Just make sure you mark the point where the transmission and the shaft meet, as well as the where it meets the rear half of the shaft, so you can put them back together correctly. It's crucial that they are matched up correctly. The front part of the middle u joint must be in line with the rear part of the front u joint, like this: o]----[o----o] not o]----o]----o], or anything inbetween. Also be sure not to contaminate the grease on the spline between them; maybe put it in a plastic bag.

The only hard part at all is the bearing itself. Once you have the shaft down, you can take it to a shop to have em press take the old bearing off and press on a new one. Don't pay more than 20 bucks. I'll always remember doing this repair because I got my bearing pressed on at the hilariosly named "Master Shaft." Then you got to get the rubber carrier over the bearing, making sure it faces the right way. Then reinstall.

I can't remember exactly how much it cost to replace, I had other work done at the time, maybe $150. You have to drop the drive shaft, so not having a lift would make it a real pain (same reason I had someone else do it). Try to find someone near you that knows how to work on bricks (not the "all foreign" garages). I lucked out and found a specialist that allows me to help him work on my car and gives me a discount for my help! Hope I helped.

I just read some posts about spraying the bearing to get a little more life out of it. At the least it might help you figure out if that is what is wrong. Check your trans mount if it failed it could casue undue stress to be put on the bearing. If none of this helps you diagnose the prob maybe if you repost after checking these things you can get some more advice. Price the bearing at fcp.groton.com