:iagree:

Must be where the word, "clunker" came from...


:hides:

:koolaidwall:

Man who drives the AT may be a bit faster, but the man driving the MT is having way more fun :tup:

I had this clunk fixed at the dealer. They replaced the rear drive shafts and the clunk was gone. That was 4k miles ago. Now it is doing it again. Happens only when I backup or accelerate from a stop - clearly audible when you are parked in a garage. Sounds like there is play in the driveline. I'm afraid it will get worse over time. When I went to a Z meet in VA in August, several other 370Zs made the same noise, but no one there thought it was a big deal. I found this somewhere online:

Clunk
Clunk is a metallic noise heard when an automatic transmission is engaged in Reverse or Drive, or when throttle is applied or released. It is caused by backlash somewhere in the driveline, but not necessarily in the axle.

There is a clutch clunk and then there is the rear-end clunk that you are talking about. The rear-end clunk could be slop in the pinion gear, or axle side shafts. My old Datsun had major slop clunk from the diff, eventually I completely destroyed the rear-end trying to launch it.

Yeah it is in the rear-end. I am so surprised that no one else is complaining about that or think that it is normal. It is not. I can see the differential go out of business right outside the warranty period.

I have the same problem. It is actually quite a loud clunk. It is most noticeable when disengaging the clutch in first gear on a hill when the car is cold. (I have to go up a slope when exiting my parking garage). I've read that someone here took it in and the dealer rotated the drive shaft 180 degrees and coated it with grease, which fixed the problem temporarily. I haven't done this.

Remembering the old days when I did a LOT more on cars than I do now, I'd say this sort of thing could be universal joint play. Those were things that had to be replaced sometimes in cars. I'd say the more powerful the engine and the more it is driven in a, hmmmm, spirited mode ( ;) ), the more wear and tear it makes on those joints but I wouldn't expect it to show up till 50,000 or 100,000 miles. Dunno...

Hope you guys aren't getting drive shaft (singular) confused with axles...

The axle half-shafts have universal joints as well. The drive-shaft universal joint is a pretty sturdy piece so I wouldn't expect any failure there for a long long time.

half shafts have CV joints.

I'm guessing some people's clunks could be due to driving style and timing. The Z is throttle by wire, so there is a lag between pedal action and the throttle plate reacting. If you drive the Z like a car without throttle by wire, the tranny will still be under load when you depress the clutch. I found this to lead to my clunking. I just changed my foot timing a little and no clunks.

when i went to the dealership to bring this problem to there attention they said it was "normal".....also he said that there wasn't a recall but there was a bullitin sent out saying that the bolts in the rear-end had to be re-torqued to a higher pound. this wasnt the case for my car.

Does this mean an aftermarket differential will help alleviate the problem ?