ive been noticing this ticking noise that lasts for between a quarter second and 1 second after i shift. doesnt always happen, and for different lengths of time when it does. It doesnt happen in neutral, so its not the engine itself, its something in the drivetrain or clutch or who knows. I dont know if this is even a bad thing. could someone give me a little insight? here is the background on my car:
95 325i manual
122k miles
original clutch and all of that goodness
p.s. - dont know if its related, but my clutch when i press it feels different from time to time, tends to be smoother, less forced in the morning when there is dew, in the evenings, more labored, and the ticking seems to occur more at night, but that could be coincidence. thanks guys! can you give us a little more about this "ticking" -- not much to go on. i dont really know how else to explain it, its like a bunch of ticks really fast in succession that sounds like its coming from the drivetrain something with the clutch or flywheel? are you making completely smooth shifts? or shifting hard and popping the clutch?
btw, I find it much easier to find noises with the car at night. Since there are so few people out on the road, nothing going on, there is very little background noise. Wait till after 10pm at least (suppose this depends on where you are :)), roll all the windows down and drive slowly and deliberately.
Here's some random things you might try:
-different shifting techniques, hard/fast, smooth, pause during shifting
-coast in neutral, then put it in gear and rev-match it so its smooth, see if that makes the noise (this may help narrow it down because there should be no suspension movement when you do this, no rocking forward or backward due to acceleration)
-at constant speed, clutch in, go to neutral, then quickly release the clutch
-at constant speed again, clutch in, go to neutral, coast for a bit, then pop the clutch out (still in neutral). The coasting should give the transmission internals time to stop rotating. Releasing the clutch will bring them up to speed with the engine quickly, might be a rattle in there.
-at constant speed, clutch in, rev up a little bit higher or lower (500-1.5k rpms?)than where you were coasting, and release the clutch
Also try to get a better estimate on where the noise is coming from. Middle of the car? rear end? I don't want to scare you, especially since I don't know what it is, but something similar, but not the same happened to my 92 325is.
Not too long after my 1st to 2nd shift felt different, 2nd gear exploded.
I drove around for two weeks without 2nd gear until I could find a replacement transmission. Another possibility, especially with 122K miles on the drivetrain, is the drive shaft flex disc. Check for cracking on the guibo. One of the symptoms of these going bad is an odd ticking sound when the drive shaft is initially put under load. ok, all great suggestions guys, ill try the deliberate driving to see if i can better identify it, as far as the guibo, where is it in relation to the drivetrain and what does it look like? will cracks on it be obvious? any other pointers would be most appreciated...thanks If you follow the driveshaft up to the transmission, it's the black rubber section, and the cracks will be obvious. ok great, thanks guys, ill check it out a little later on today and let you know ok checked out the guibo, looks to be in ship shape, my dad verified the noise, and after listening to it more, im positive its not coming from the engine itself, and a better description of the noise is this : the noise sounds a lot like when you shift too low and it feels like the car is shuddering. its like that except faster, happens at any shift point and is a tad more like a ticking sound. any ideas would be great, im completely lost ok checked out the guibo, looks to be in ship shape, my dad verified the noise, and after listening to it more, im positive its not coming from the engine itself, and a better description of the noise is this : the noise sounds a lot like when you shift too low and it feels like the car is shuddering. its like that except faster, happens at any shift point and is a tad more like a ticking sound. any ideas would be great, im completely lostThe next thing I'd be concerned about is the clutch throw-out bearing. When was the last time the clutch was replaced, if ever? Unfortunately, checking this would involve taking it to the shop if you don't have a lift or if you're not comfortable working under your car with just jack stands holding it up (I know I'm not). well i dont mind looking myself, but ill probably send it to a shop for verification. Although, understanding what the throwout bearing does would probably help me more than anything. I know its part of the clutch assembly, but thats about it. Whats its function? Btw, the clutch has never been replaced and the engine is at 125k miles. thanks guys well i dont mind looking myself, but ill probably send it to a shop for verification. Although, understanding what the throwout bearing does would probably help me more than anything. I know its part of the clutch assembly, but thats about it. Whats its function? Btw, the clutch has never been replaced and the engine is at 125k miles. thanks guysHere you go. I found that this makes for an easy to read overall explanation of the whole clutch inner-workings.
Clutches Explained (http://auto.howstuffworks.com/clutch1.htm) labadia, thanks a lot, that couldnt have provided a better explaination. Ok so now i need to decide what to do about it. First question is obviously, how crucial of a fix is it? Second would be, would it be smarter for me to just replace the bearing, or swap out the clutch too? the engine is at 125k and its never been replaced, so i dont know. any help would be great. labadia, thanks a lot, that couldnt have provided a better explaination. Ok so now i need to decide what to do about it. First question is obviously, how crucial of a fix is it? Second would be, would it be smarter for me to just replace the bearing, or swap out the clutch too? the engine is at 125k and its never been replaced, so i dont know. any help would be great.It sounds like the question you're asking is really how much of a fix do you want to perform? Well, I know this doesn't help much, but how much you got? Assuming this is a clutch related issue (I enourage having a shop check it out), my opinion would be to replace the clutch/bearings/all other clutch consumables. I've seen clutch kits out there for various cars so that might be something to look into. At 125K (I thought it was 122K) miles on the odo, it can only help. If you are so mechanically inclined you can do it yourself and save some money. As far as how critical it is, I believe a complete failure of the throwout bearing would result in improper clutch disengagement or even lock up (I am not a transmission expert so don't take my word for it). I would think this would be a gradual failure over time. Again, though, this is all assuming it's clutch related. Only a qualified mechanic who can see/feel/hear your car will be able to provide the best answers. Who knows, maybe your clutch pedal linkage has something loose that's making the noise. alright, will do. thanks again for the help! |
