clunk sound going into gear

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Rookiemoto

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I have a 88 D100 with a 318, not sure what trans.

I just bought this truck last week for $650. Has 149xxx miles and honestly drives really good. I have been doing minor things to it the last week. Changed spark plug wires, spark plugs, battery, oil/filter, air filter and aftermarket temp gauge. Trans fluid is next weekend.

Ok so my problem is when i go from park to drive or reverse there’s a loud clunk noise and sometimes a small jump. Also a vibration sometimes while driving. I’m thinking it’s the u-joints.? I already bought new u-joints so as soon as i get time I’m changing them.

Can it be something else? Any help would be great!

THANKS
 
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Rookiemoto

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Update...

Changed my u-joints and there’s no difference.

Any other suggestions??
 

BAILEY1

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If it was not the u-joints, then I would definitely check to see how much slack you have in the ring and pinion. Is it making a low "drone" noise when you going down the road?
 

moparman

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If it sounds like an airplane going down the road then youre in trouble. Sounds like a bad pinion bearing if you still have vibrations with new u joints. Crawl under it and try to move the driveshaft up and down at the rear. If theres no play then its good, if there is play then thats the problem. Same thing happened to mine, pinion bearings took a dump.

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crazzywolfie

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that clunk noise is normal with most older dodge transmission. if you start your truck in neutral i am pretty sure you should not have that noise. have you checked the rear differential fluid level?
 

Deblackmon3

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Kinda jumping in on here late, but I also have clunking from my transmission, mainly going from any gear to reverse. I know there's the light clunk from just shifting gears, but whenever I go into reverse, there's a loud scraping noise, and I mean LOUD. Like, I get looked at from across a parking lot because it catches their attention.

If anyone can tell me where to find the fuse box too, that'd be great, cause my reverse lights don't work.
 

crazzywolfie

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you may want to check the differential fluid level and universal joints if it makes that much of a clunk when going from any gear into reverse.

i think this should be the same for 90 but not sure. if fuse is fine then you may want to start another thread on the issue so that we don't thread jack this thread too much.
fuse%2520panel.jpg
 

Deblackmon3

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you may want to check the differential fluid level and universal joints if it makes that much of a clunk when going from any gear into reverse.

I'm thinking it's the differential fluid, only because it sometimes clunks, but not all the time and with varying loudness. If the car is just starting up, it's loud, but if the engine is warm (which I assume the fluid is warm and lubricated the diff) it is just as quiet as any other gear change.
 

crazzywolfie

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did you read my post about starting the truck in neutral? these trucks do not pump fluid in park so if you start the truck in neutral it should not make that noise. that big bang is fluid starting to pump and stuff starting to engage.
 

Deblackmon3

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did you read my post about starting the truck in neutral? these trucks do not pump fluid in park so if you start the truck in neutral it should not make that noise. that big bang is fluid starting to pump and stuff starting to engage.

OHHHHHHHHHH! That makes alot of sense. I forgot that you can start in neutral. But if it doesn't start pumping fluid in park, why wouldn't it make a clunk when switching to any other gear? Is it just the way the reverse gear is different than the rest or do I seriously just need to read up on my transmission stuff?
 

crazzywolfie

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i think it mainly makes the noise in reverse is just because that is the first gear you shift into and that is where the pump engages. once pump is engaged and pumping fluid there should be no reason to make the noise when shifting into other gears.
 

Deblackmon3

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i think it mainly makes the noise in reverse is just because that is the first gear you shift into and that is where the pump engages. once pump is engaged and pumping fluid there should be no reason to make the noise when shifting into other gears.

Interesting. So even if I go from drive to reverse, it shouldn't make the loud clunk since the pump is already engaged? Because it still makes the noise.
 

crazzywolfie

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if it still make the noise then you could possibly have a bad universal or low differential fluid level.
 

Deblackmon3

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if it still make the noise then you could possibly have a bad universal or low differential fluid level.

Hell I have low or bad everything. There's like nothing on that truck that doesn't need to be replaced, except like the radiator, glass, and the windshield wipers.
 

crazzywolfie

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that is the way vehicles are. i got at least $400 in parts that i need to order for my truck on top of all the money i have spent on stuff i didn't need.
 

Deblackmon3

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that is the way vehicles are. i got at least $400 in parts that i need to order for my truck on top of all the money i have spent on stuff i didn't need.

Vehicles are expensive to maintain, I know. That's why I want to go into the industry and learn how to do it myself and get paid to. All the money that I'm going to spend first is going to be on necessary stuff, like rebuilding or at least re-ringing the engine, probably going to rebuild the tranny if I don't replace it outright, rebuilding the brake and suspension systems, and last work on the body and interior. I mean, I can spend at least 10k outright on repairing this truck. Sure it's "throwing money away," but it's so sentimental to me that I don't want it to just rust away and die.
 

The War Wagon

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Update...

Changed my u-joints and there’s no difference.

Any other suggestions??


That was a factory-installed option; no extra charge. :roflsquared:

Once your Gen.1 is 20 years old, OR hits 100k miles, the clunk kicks in. :gr_grin:
 
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