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Can anyone help with my MK2 axle clunk?

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J

Jack64nm

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I have a 3.8 with powerlock diff. and I have (what I understand to be a fairly common) clunk. This is more annoying because the car has high lift cams and is a little lumpy at low revs. So driving at low speeds in town is getting more and more painful.

I am a pretty competent mechanic, but before I start ripping out the diff, has anyone rebuilt a mk2 powerlock, or fixed a clunk? if so how easy is it and are there any pitfalls I should be wary of?

BTW, I have confirmed that it's the diff. not the propshaft or half shafts.

Appreciate any feedback,

Jack
 
Pull off the back cover and inspect. Sometimes, it is wear on the spider gears, and replacing the shims with new can take up the slack. You have to verify where the noise is coming from though, as worn bearings, ring and pinion, etc can all create noise.
 
You should have no problems as the diffs are pretty much the same as DANAs. Bearings are sold at particular Auto Parts stores such as the old time AutoParts. AZ and etc., might carry the bearings but you'll have to deal with their computers.
 
Hello Jack,

could it be that the input coupling is loose on the pinion shaft, quite an easy check, by removing the propellor shaft from the differential.
After that it's remove the back cover and have a look. As you don't say the differential is noisy apart from the clunk it has to be slack somewhere, rather than defective bearings, spider, half shaft splines (unlikely due to the lubrication they get.)

The other thing could be a worn out radius rod\panhard rod (these can break also) or axle bush?

Alec
 
I'm pretty sure its inside the diff. and my guess is that it can be shimmed as Jesse says. Has anyone removed the diff? I was wondering how easy it is without stretching the casing with the special tool? (using the "field solution" as the manual says)
Jack
 
I'm in agreement with Jesse here. A good visual inspect should show what's up. The spacer washers for the spider or "planetary" gears would be my first guess. Having a range of thicknesses on-hand ahead of time is a good thing, too. They're not that expensive and it saves the "hurry up and wait" time.
 
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