- Location
- Minneapolis, MN
Your transmission guy must not be a differential guy, 'cause that is where the clunk is coming from.
FOLLOW UP: Just got my XJ back from the transmission shop. It was in there for over 2 months, during which he completely rebuilt the transmission and the torque converter, replaced the valve body and the transmission control module and even the transmission case, and at the end he said that he and all of his fellow transmission shop owners on a network were all completely stumped as to why none of that fixed the problem. He did not charge me for any of this, because he said that he does not charge if he can't fix the problem. He was still pretty much 100% sure that the transmission would be the problem, but at that point he said the only thing that I could do would be to actually replace the entire transmission with a rebuilt one, and hope that doing that would solve the problem.
Have you actually been under the Jeep when someone is shifting to see where the noise is coming from? If it that loud and that noticeable, you will have no trouble ascertaining what is making the noise.
As far as the slip yoke "sliding down" due to gravity. It cannot happen! The rear driveshaft is a single piece with end one fastened to the axle differential pinion, the other end slides on the slip yoke at the transfer case. The only time the slip yoke "slides" is when the axle cycles up and down, changing the distance between the axle and the transfer case.
So, get under it and listen/feel and report back.
Have you actually been under the Jeep when someone is shifting to see where the noise is coming from? If it that loud and that noticeable, you will have no trouble ascertaining what is making the noise.
Your transmission guy must not be a differential guy, 'cause that is where the clunk is coming from.
After watching your vids, defiantly in the diff. I know you did a static test to get your 4.5* but to me it looked like a little more than that. Combo of r & p plus side gears worn? You might have play in the thru shaft too. Found it interesting that it would back off a little bit when put into N and I don't think you can generate that much force by "hand" that you would be able to go up against it as it were and have it spring back a degree or two. Pull the cover and have a look, curious to know what you find!
After watching your vids, defiantly in the diff. I know you did a static test to get your 4.5* but to me it looked like a little more than that. Combo of r & p plus side gears worn? You might have play in the thru shaft too. Found it interesting that it would back off a little bit when put into N and I don't think you can generate that much force by "hand" that you would be able to go up against it as it were and have it spring back a degree or two. Pull the cover and have a look, curious to know what you find!
98K doesn't seem like much - I'm still on the original 27-spline version of that with my '92 and it's got 256K miles on it with no issues.
Could whatever holds the pinion into the diff housing be loose (crush sleeve? yoke nut?), causing something that normally shouldn't rotate to have to spin a little before you start taking up the R&P mesh slack?
In other words, is the amount the rear driveshaft twists when you put it into Drive and it clunks equal to or greater than the amount you can twist it by hand? If putting it into drive gets more rotation, perhaps there really is something "else" rotating under the greater torque of the engine/trans that shouldn't be?