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You say that you are a student which I assume means that you have nowhere at all to work on the car yourself, right? We were all there once, but it is rough to have an 18 year-old car and not have the tools and space to do your own work. You can quickly invest more than the car is worth paying machanics to repair things that are not really the core of the problem.
I was quoted $2300 to cure a clunk in my daughter's front end. I declined and decided to diagnose and repair it myself. It turned out that the $2300 the mechanic would have spent WOULD NOT HAVE FIXED THE CLUNK. I spent $250 and an afternoon installing a new steering rack, aligned it myself with a tape measure, and it is running great. My brother in law was quoted $1800 in ignition parts to fix a no-spark condition. We bought a junk yard distributor for $45 and spent another $110 on new plugs, wires, cap, rotor, etc. and the car is running great 5 years later. Don't agree to pay for work unless they can convince you it is really required.
Assuming that you don't have jack stands or a place to use them, find a spot where you can drive the car so that two wheels on one side are up on a curb and you can easily crawl underneath. Block the front wheels so the car doesn't roll away, but leave it in neutral, no parking brake. Now crawl underneath.
- Jiggle and twist each of the two U-joints in the drive shaft. There should be NO slop at all in those joints.
- Move the drive shaft around in the hanger bearing that suspends the middle of the drive shaft. The rubber should be intact and there should be no rattle.
- Rotate the drive shaft back and forth. There should be only a degree or two of rotation in the rear differential before it stops because it is trying to turn the back wheels. There will be a little clinking sound, but it should be softened by the gear oil in the rear end. In my opinon, even if there is 5 degrees movement or so, it will probably go a long time before failure. 10 degrees or more, you have a problem. Others will know the allowable slop better, but, I've run several up to 250k miles that were pretty sloppy, and I've never replaced one.
- Examine each of the rubber suspension bushings carefully. The first to fail are the large ones that attach the trailing arms to the bottom of the axle. Those are also the hardest to see. If they appear to be way off center, the rubber is chewed up and they need to be replaced. These will cause a clunk and loose steering (as the rear axle moves around, steering the car from the rear. There are also two torque rods that attach the top of the axle to the car body, and one diagonal rod behind the rear axle. Each rod has a rubber bushing in both ends, and any of these can cause a clunk.
- Also examine the rubber at both ends of the rear shocks.
- Back on level ground, still with front wheels blocked and parkign brake off, using your car jack, jack up each side of the rear and try moving the rear wheels up and down to see if the bearings are intact. A little movement (a few thousandths of an inch) is OK. If you can move it an eighth of an inch and it clunks, the bearing is shot. There should also be no in-and-out movement, but that is hard to feel if the disk brake caliper is in place.
If you do need a new differential, most folks get complete axles from a junk yard. A reputable yard will check it and will only sell you a tight one with good axle bearings, and they will give you a 90-day guarantee. Put fresh lower control arm bushings in it before putting it on the car (easier that way). Make sure you get one that is geared for your transmission configuration.
If you go to the repair shop knowing exactly what needs to be corrected, you will spend a lot less money.
Good Luck
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