What's wrong with my drivetrain?

cwapface

cwapface

Supernerd
Mar 30, 2005
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www.dylanwiggins.com
My drive home from work a few weeks ago was uneventful, and the car drove like a supra should. The next day, however, I got lots of bad clicking and vibration from the drivetrain !!!?!?!?!?


The sounds in question are weird little clicks that range from soft to pretty loud. It sounds like it is coming from underneath the car near the middle but it's hard to say for sure. The vibrations get pretty bad on hard acceleration, and they come and go during normal driving. The engine is fine, it has a minor exhaust leak but whatever vibrations it may cause I am used to them so I can tell what is normal. Nothing has changed on it and nothing sounds different, so I am going to rule that out as a suspect. The only thing I have tried fixing is the carrier bearing, which had been well worn since the day I got the car. After replacing it, it seems that the noise and vibration are unchanged.

Any ideas? I won't go too far into what other crazy things/symptoms I have found, needless to say that I have almost no idea what I am doing or what usually goes wrong that could cause such a problem.
 
suprahero

suprahero

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Aug 26, 2005
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Have you checked the universal joints? Should be three of them. I bought three new ones from Advance Auto Parts for 15.00 total. They had two kinds and I bought the upgraded ones. I guess there a little stronger.

It also might be your exhaust maybe hitting underneath your car if one of your hangers broke. Hopefully it will be something simple like that and not something mechanical with the tranny or differential...............Good luck.
 
suprahero

suprahero

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I'm sorry cwapface, but I don't know for a fact, so I'd rather not say. Just guessing I would say yes, but if it was the 1 million dollar question I wouldn't go for it. I'd take the 500,000 and quit. Damn, if only I was smarter.


This useless post is only meant for a bump.................lol
 
C

casing

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Jun 15, 2006
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i have n issue with my drivetrain also. I get a clunking when i let off the accelerator and when i press. I belive its the shaft but I dont know for sure. I want to buy the one peice alluminum. HOPEFULLY, those clunks will go. if not.. I got a cool new driveshaft.
 
T

toyman1987

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Apr 2, 2005
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cwapface said:
I'm going to try taking my driveshaft in to a shop because i have no idea what i'm doing with u joints. Can bad u joints cause really bad vibration under acceleration?
Click to expand...


YES, bad ujoints will cause more of a vibration when on accel, they can fail in two ways, loose with a lot of play, or get tight and hard to move side to side. either of these problems will give you a bad vibration.
the other prob with supra shafts, is the rear section is a two peice shaft with rubber in between, they can actually twist and get the ujoints "out of time"
 
cwapface

cwapface

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Mar 30, 2005
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I would have gladly done it had i not been so scared of fucking it all up :) I popped the driveshaft out today and oh my god te 2 u-joints on the end were binding all over the place. Awesome. Hopefully the driveline shop doesn't rape me too hard
 
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Shytheed Dumas

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Mar 6, 2006
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Cwapface - can you keep us posted on what the shop ends up charging?

I have an intermittant vibration that usually shows up at speeds over 40 mph, might last 10 minutes and gets much worse under braking. I thought I had gotten rid of it when I replaced my rear struts,but it's back as of Wednesday. I was suspecting the drivetrain, but does this sound anything like a drivetrain/u-joint issue, or am I way off base?
 
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Shytheed Dumas

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Well I thought I had ruled out rotors because it won't be there at all and then it will show up as I accelerate, shutter slightly as I drive and get really bad under braking. Then it will go away as quickly as it came. Plus, I can't seem to pin point which wheel it would be coming from (the whole car shakes), and braking can be as smooth as silk at times - it's really intermittant. Because of those things, I felt like it had to be either suspension or drivetrain. Does that sound right at all?

btw, the problem was completely gone for a couple of months just after I replaced the rear struts and had an alignment done, and it just came back Wednesday. Coincidence?

EDIT: Okay a little searching goes a long way. I reached under the car and found A LOT of play in my driveshaft. =worn center carrier bearing. I'm calling Toyota now and replacing it Monday along with my knock sensor rewire. Any words of wisdom on replacing the carrier bearing? How long should it take me?
 
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Shytheed Dumas

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Might want to search the forum regarding the 1 piece driveshafts. There is definite concern by quite a few here that harmonic vibration can be more of a problem with a 1 piece. Nothing that I can really comment on myself, but something that has been a point of discussion. As long as the jury's out on that one, and as long as I can get a bearing that will work for under $50 and replace easier than a 1 piece install, that's the way I will be going.
 
cwapface

cwapface

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Mar 30, 2005
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I thought Toyota used the 2-piece driveshafts to cut down on noise and vibration, which is what I want in my car rather than balls to the wall racing monster. I got my driveshaft back from the shop with 2 new u-joints and a straightening and balancing job. It cost me $100 and the car is silky smooth now. Awwww yeah
 
C

casing

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Jun 15, 2006
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cwapface said:
I thought Toyota used the 2-piece driveshafts to cut down on noise and vibration, which is what I want in my car rather than balls to the wall racing monster. I got my driveshaft back from the shop with 2 new u-joints and a straightening and balancing job. It cost me $100 and the car is silky smooth now. Awwww yeah
Click to expand...


Mine is garbage. I chalk marked the rear shaft. one mark on the inside tube and one on the outside. they were not the same when i checked later. Its either 300 from toyota for a whole new shaft. or 300 for the one peice and eliminate that whole hanger bearing...
 
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