Clicking from rear-end

[Mischief2JZ]

I have no idea what I am actually putting down for power, because i am not sure what internal modds I am running. I have done both from a stop and highway speed runs with a stock e36 m3, and a 95 540i/6 with dinan chip, intake, and exhaust, and i run dead even with them. personally I think I have a cam of some sort, and not sure perhaps some valve work... it has a slightly lopey idle around 600-700 rpm, and revvs like a damn street bike.
I suppose I will find out when i do my valve adjustment in a few weeks.

also, I do know the car has around 185,xxx on it, and the diff is not origional ( came stock with a 3.73 lsd) so I have no idea the mileage on it...i guess at this point, all I am doing is speculating. I am getting antsy to tear into it tomorrow afternoon. I have friday afternoon and all day sat and sunday set aside for doing alllll kinds of good stuff to the front end, then digging into what ever I have going on in the rear

[Herr Faust Schinken]

i could just be worn a lot of the e30 rear ends have a lot of miles on them and haven't had fluid changes and rebuilds when they should , that being said the small case 4.10 you have wont stand up to a ton of torque reliably I'm not sure number but i think the golden number on those is around 300 lb ft( so don't quote me ) medium case BMW LSDs (3.73s for example) though are know to take a lot of abuse without blowing up , if they have good fluid in them , not sure if its as much as the supra rear ends but i think there are a couple of guys running S54 , and 1jzgte swaps on stock medium case rear ends

[Mischief2JZ]

one more thing that I forgot to mention, is that the LSD is still working strong, lots of fun in the rain, i only get slip when the pass side is on say, ice, and the driver side is on dry pavement. and when that is the case, there are no clunks or groans.

I will say however, the only other LSD I have a lot of driving experience with is the 3.73 in my 1990 supra, but those are known to be bullet proof and take upwards of 500 hp stock, that being said, the small case 4.10 does not lock up nearly as tight as the supra. this may just be the norm though for the 4.10?

[Mischief2JZ]

I still have my money on that, could be a good excuse to hunt down a 3.73 or 3.91 :D

with the ammount of highway I do, it would probably pay for its self in gas in not too long, although cruising at 70 (3200 rpm) I get 28-30 mpg as is.

[N2MYE30]

Im in for half-shafts.

[Mischief2JZ]

I pretty much have it narrowed down to either the half shaft or the diff, I am really praying its the half shaft. ill post pics of what I find on Sat.

[jlevie]

A clicking as described makes me think of a half shaft or a chipped ring gear in the differential. But a bad u-joint in the drive shaft is a possibility.

[Mischief2JZ]

ugh, not what I wanted to hear haha. replacing basically every bushing in the car is in my near future plans, But I was hoping I didnt have to replace/open the diff.

I know throwing parts at a problem is usually not a good solution, but I think I'm just going to tear into it, and replace that axle this weekend, and see what I find while I'm in there.

[Herr Faust Schinken]

The lugs most likely are not your issue , you seem to have done a lot of trouble shooting I would pull the diff check the condition of the clutches in the diff they could be failing , also I would check the condition of all of the back bushings Rtabs , diff bushes and subframe bushes sometimes bad bushings can cause weird noises but your problems sounds like you may need a new LSD

[Mischief2JZ]

much appreciated, definately could be a possibility, I had bbs baskets on it, and went back to the stock bottlecaps, perhaps they require different wheel bolts...seems that it does not fit the symptoms of when the sound occurs, but definately worth a check in the am.

thanks again for the input

[willworkfore30s]

I once forgot to install my spacers when putting my rear wheel back on. This made my extended lugs tap the dust plate behind the hub. It would be a crazy coincidence for this to be your problem but I felt it was worth mentioning.

[Mischief2JZ]

Hey All,

So, I've been reading up on bimmer forums and r3v for a while and have been provided with all the info I have needed without ever having to start my own thread.
I am finally stumped, so here is my issue, hopefully someone could shine some light on what my problem is.

I have an 89 325is with a 4.10 lsd, for some time, I have had a seemingly randomly occuring clicking coming from the right rear of the car (could be closer to the center, but seems to be from the right)
In the past few weeks, it has become louder and more frequent.
It can be heard from inside the car when accelerating very very slowly up to about 25 mph, and when coasting to a stop, whether the clutch is engaged or not again from 25 to 0.

It can be heard from outside the car when under a WOT load. It is more noticable when there is weight in the back seat or the trunk.

It is definately at the same rythm that the wheels are turning, not the drive shaft. No vibration or thud can be felt, it is only the noise.

Now for what I have checked. I have experienced bad wheel bearings, and it has no symptoms of that, I commute with the car about 800 miles a week, doing about 160 miles on the highway a day, there is no heat to the hub immediately after getting off the highway. there is no up and down, left and right, or in and out play in the wheel when jacked up. However with the rear end off the ground, in first gear, there is about 3 inches of play when rotating the wheel back and forth, and it does click louder than the driver side rear when doing that.

There are no tears in the axle boots, and no noticeable play in the axle/cv.

Now for the thing that seemed very strange to me, today just for shats n giggles i drained the diff (fluid came out clean, and did not seem to be low at all.) I re-filled the diff with Mobil 1 full synth 75w120 for LS Diffs. While I was under the car, I re checked how everything looked, and no changes. Only change is now the sound is MUCH louder and MUCH more frequent, but still only occuring under the circumstances listed above.

I know there is a lot of talk about the driveshaft CSB being the culprit, but I have checked it for play, and it had seemingly no play, looked good, and I am sticking to my guns about the sound definately coming from as far back as the diff, and the right side of the car.

I have an overhaul of the front end planned for this weekend (control arms, bushings, ball joints, sway bar end links, and tie rod inner and outers. I am also prepared to replace the axle (with a known good used axle) and shock mounts in the rear.

If anyone has read this far, I would greatly appreciate any opinions or insight.

Thanks again for your time guys