Hey guys, I picked up an '07 from a member about a year ago, (had 103k miles. It's at about 109k now.), but I noticed the rear had some inconsistent "clicking" over particular turns, bumps, and banks. As I've driven it more, yesterday it became more of a "clunk" on all right turns coming back on throttle.

I got underneath and the axles have some play. The left noticeably a bit more than the right. (The clunk sounds like it's coming from the left-center. And it's on right turns so the weight is mostly on that side on throttle.) I took it to a mechanic and he, without me saying anything, found play in the axles. He said the "differential bearings" are bad.

I'm fairly seasoned when it comes to working on cars, but I know differentials are a whole other ball of wax. Could I fix this myself? Do I need to drop the whole pumpkin and/or subframe? Any insight on the noise as to it could commonly be something else? (Not the axle nut noise) Thanks for your time!

 

Sure it's not the CV cups or rear axle nut torque?

 

I'm sure it's not the axle but torque; CV cups? Like the CV joints? Isn't that just directly part of the axles?

 

https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/241.../page__st__150

 

Even if you had play (this is normal) the chances are very slim that your carrier bearings are bad.

The play is just a result of the stub shaft fit in the dif.

I would rule out other things before opening up the dif.

 

Alright, so would a good course of action be: do the CV joint grease, fresh diff fluid, and reassure axle nut grease/torque? Anything else I might as well do while I'm down there?

From what you're saying, would that indicate my axles aren't doing so good? The stub shaft giving more than average play?

 

The diff has 4 bearings, 2 for the pinion gear, 2 for the Torsen LSD & ring gear (carrier bearings).
If the carrier bearings are bad the play between pinion gear & ring gear will have changed and that's not good.
It will not change the Torsen though and it is the Torsen that is "the diff".

Anyway..

Something you can DIY: the diff test.
Raise the rear so both wheels are off the ground, engine off, trans in 1st gear (no e-brake)
Use something to block the car at the fronts, work safe!
Turn one wheel by hand, the other wheel should turn in the other direction.
It may take some force to make the wheel turn but once it does it should turn smooth.
This will show if the Torsen internals are ok.

While you're at this you can wiggle the rear wheel and check for wheel bearing play and loose sway bar joints, etc.

Is the car lowered?

 

Interesting. The mechanic worded it as the bearings that the axle shafts go into. (I assume to allow the axles to rotate when in neutral.) would that constitute as the "carrier bearings"? Or are we on different playing fields?

I haven't done the rotation test, but, as far as I can tell, the differential is operating as it should be; no hindered performance or anything.

Swaybars, crossmember, mounts, diff, shocks, wheel bearings, etc. are all rock solid. The axles were the only thing with play and the left side had a bit more than the right. (Sound I'm encountering sounds like it's the center but towards the left side.)

Car is 100% stock. Thank you for the quick reply!

 

The axles on the S2k are what they call "floating axles".
The Torsen output has splines and the in-board CV too, it's held in by a c-clip.
At the wheel side it's the same, out-board CV has splines that connects into the hub, held in place by the axle nut.
No bearings support the axles directly.

Are the in-board CV boots ok?
Not twisted or anything?
No trace of grease anywhere around them?

Diff mounts?
They are fluid filled (red stuff).

To check wheel bearings and suspension parts it's best to have the wheels in the air.

 

Ah, thank you for the clarification. The CV boots seemed unscathed last I saw. No twisting or anything out of the ordinary. I didn't see a trace of grease. Just rusty like they all seem to be.

I didn't see red fluid from the diff mounts, but I'm not certain I was able to spot them. Are they on the top? The diff wouldn't budge at all; indicative of good mounts?

Haha, don't worry, I'm recalling from memory when I had the car up on jacks recently.