Three Way Clunk

[Lute]

Neighbor asked if I could diagnose his sons's 2001 Ranger Edge.
It is 2wd, automatic, one piece driveshaft, and has 168K.
It makes a clunk when starting out in both reverse and drive.
Not a bad clunk, but you can feel it.
The bad clunk is when it shifts from first to second.
Once in second gear it seems to run well.
We put it on jackstands to check out the driveshaft.
If you put foot on brake and shift from Park to Drive the driveshaft rotates about 3/4 of a turn then stops.
U-joints seem tight.
Told him not to drive it until I get some opinions from the experts at the Ranger Station Forum.
Thanks for any help!

 

[black_demon69]

either u joints or play in the diff. would be my guess

 

[97RangerXLT]

Slip yoke...fairly common. Not going to hurt anything. He needs to clean and grease the slip yoke to fix it

Edit: just saw the turns 3/4 before stopping...gonna agree with Demon on this one...

AJ

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 4 while sitting in my underwear

 

[Big Jim M]

Them kinda noises are most times driveshaft oriented. However could also be engine/tranny mounts or spring hangers. Have also seen spring U-bolts loose.
do a really good job of trying to get the u's to move even a small amount. They should be solid at all times.
Big Jim

 

[Andy D]

2 piece drive shaft? Give the center bearing a shake too

 

[shane96ranger]

It's been my experience that the only way I can properly diagnose a u-joint is to remove the driveshaft.

 

[Milton]

2 piece drive shaft? Give the center bearing a shake too

OP says one piece drive shaft.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[enjr44]

It's been my experience that the only way I can properly diagnose a u-joint is to remove the driveshaft.

Me, too!

 

[96firephoenix]

I had a U-joint go bad, felt fine in the car, fell out and apart on removal of the DS...