VLSD Failure? AKA The Clunk From Hell
Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 4:14 am
I've posted about this a few times over the past year. The rear end of my car clunks like hell whenever the car is under heavy load. This can be when I have anyone sitting in the back seats, I'm driving up a hill or any time I try to shift hard.
At a stop light and I want to drop the clutch? Noooo. The next thing I know my car is clunking so bad it sounds like it's going to blow up. It's also gotten to the point where my car is a two seater. Any time I have any weight in the back and do anything other than granny shift it the car will clunk.
I've replaced:
-Rear differential bushings
-Installed some subframe lockdown bolts
-Trailing arm bushings
-T shaped differential subframe bushings (outrigger bushings)
I also have:
-Polyurethane motor mounts
-Group N transmission mount
-Polyurethane pitch stop
-The whole set of shifter bushings
And:
-Both rear struts are only three years old
-I've had people move around in the back while I've driven and it seems like things are better when someone sits on the left side instead of the right.
I'm at the point where I've throw enough money at bushings to rule them out. The ONLY thing I can think of is that the VSLD is dead. I don't know how the hell the thing works, but my understanding is that when it's under heavy load it does its magic and makes the car slip less. Well, maybe that magic has run out. I have no idea how many miles are on it. I just needed a 3.9 diff when I swapped trannys and that's what went in.
Thoughts?
Thanks.
At a stop light and I want to drop the clutch? Noooo. The next thing I know my car is clunking so bad it sounds like it's going to blow up. It's also gotten to the point where my car is a two seater. Any time I have any weight in the back and do anything other than granny shift it the car will clunk.
I've replaced:
-Rear differential bushings
-Installed some subframe lockdown bolts
-Trailing arm bushings
-T shaped differential subframe bushings (outrigger bushings)
I also have:
-Polyurethane motor mounts
-Group N transmission mount
-Polyurethane pitch stop
-The whole set of shifter bushings
And:
-Both rear struts are only three years old
-I've had people move around in the back while I've driven and it seems like things are better when someone sits on the left side instead of the right.
I'm at the point where I've throw enough money at bushings to rule them out. The ONLY thing I can think of is that the VSLD is dead. I don't know how the hell the thing works, but my understanding is that when it's under heavy load it does its magic and makes the car slip less. Well, maybe that magic has run out. I have no idea how many miles are on it. I just needed a 3.9 diff when I swapped trannys and that's what went in.
Thoughts?
Thanks.