I'm driving an '01 Intrigue (3.5) with about 110k miles. I've recently begun hearing a clunk coming from the front of the vehicle. The clunk occurs typically after having the vehicle in reverse, and then placing it in drive and I begin to accelerate. The clunk can be heard at the very moment of acceleration, so I am unsure if the shift in weight is causing it or if there is something with the brakes getting hung up, or if it is something with the transmission.


I had a transmission flush about 6 months ago, when the transmission would not drop into drive when starting the car after it has been sitting 4 or more hours. This problem continues to exist, but I have been able to alleviate this by manually placing the vehicle in 1st gear, and then returning to Drive. I'm not sure if ths is related to the clunking noise.


Any thoughts?

 

TO ME WHAT YOU ARE DESCRIBING SOUNDS LIKE CV JOINTS, ESPECIALLY WITH THE MILES YOU SAY YOU HAVE ON THE OLDS . THE TRANSMISSION NOT DROPPING INTO GEAR SOUNDS LIKE THE FLUID IS NOT ALLOWED TO CIRCULATE PROPERLY. DID YOU HAVE THE FILTER CHANGED ALSO. I DONT UNDERSTAND WHY GARAGES FLUSH TRANSMISSIONS INSTEAD OF CHANGING FLUID AND FILTER . IF SOMEONE CAN ENLIGHTEN ME I WOULD APPRECIATE IT.

 

Good call!



I've only heard of aflush before they change the fluid and filter....


IMHO, they do it tocharge you extra one last time.


If a transmission has fluid old/burned enough to need something like a flush, then it probably needs seals, clutches, etc. But they can't doa rebuild(local oil change shop), don't think they can talk you intoa rebuild or just want to hasten the destruction process (tranmission shops).


C.J.

 

I AGREE WITH RED. THERE ARE SO MANY SHOPS THAT TRY TO HOLD YOU UP BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT COMPOTENT IN AUTO REPAIR AND TRUST THEM . STORM PAST THE BOGUS INFO AND INSIST ON A TRANSMISSION FLUID AND FILTER CHANGE. CHECK THE LOCAL PARTS STORES ( CALL ALL OF THEM ) AND ASK FOR A PRODUCT CALLED MOTOR PURR. IT COMES FROM CALIFORNIA AND I HAVE USED IT REPEATLY. IT WILL SEAL THE TRANSMISSION AND MAKE IT SHIFT AS SOLID AS A ROCK. IF YOU CANNOT FIND IT I WILL GET YOU THE TELEPHONE NUMBER FOR THEM AND THEY CAN TELL YOU WHERE THE LOCAL PARTS STORE IS THAT HANDLES MOTOR PURR. IT IS A RED LIQUID IN A CLEAR GLASS bottle.

 

I also was experiencing a front end clunk with my 02 Intrigue at 95K. Mine would occur like yours, when I first place the car in reverse, and then when I would be driving straightwhile accelerating away from home.


I looked at my suspension and CV boots but found nothing wrong. I then took the car to my local garage and they found the problem easily by opening the hood, and then having another person start the car and place in reverse. Once in reverse a clear snapping sound occurred at the top front engine mount. You could also feel it by touching the mount when the snap occurred. This mount is attached to the top of the radiator.


I installed a new engine mount piece that has the rubber bushing closest to the engine and my noise has disappeared.


I am a little skeptical if the solution wasthis newmount or the originalmount was not tight enough. I had removed the engine mount about 2 months earlier to change sparkplugs and then reinstalled without a torque wrench. When I compared the new mount to the old and also placed a bolt thru the bushing of both mounts, both bushings allowed the same amount of clearance between the bolt and the bushing ID. The old mounts bushing did have a slit/crack? thru-out its length while the new one was completely solid.


I then looked in my service manual and it said to tighten the 2 bolts to 35 pounds, which I did with a torque wrench.

 

02intrigue;;;;;;;great info . always good to hear a solution...

 

Motor mounts...darned good call!


C.J.

 

Well, 02 Intrigue, you nailed it. I actually had 2 broken and 1 cracked motor mounts. The engine actually wanted to jump right out of the engine bay whenshifting. My right axel/cv joint also needed replacing as the boot was torn and the joint was filthy.


Everything is now fixed, and the clunk is gone, but the repairs seem to have caused the car to pull to the left when accelerating. Also the left front tire is showing wear on the side-wall. The garage that did the work tells me this is torque steering as a result of new parts being placed on an older vehicle (2001), and that replacing the front struts would be the only solution.


This seems like something more than some simple torque steering to me. Anyone have any thoughts on this one? An allignment and a tire rotation were done at the same time as the repairs.


A.Clark

 

BE SURE THE AIR PRESSURE IS CORRECT IN ALL FOUR TIRES , ( CHECK OWNERS MANUAL OR THE DRIVERS DOOR PLACARD ) INCORRECT AIR PRESSURE WOULD CAUSE A PULL . I WOULD ALSO THINK THAT A WORN TIRE WOULD ALSO CAUSE A PULL. I WOULD NOT RULEOUT TORQUE STEERING AS THE PROBLEM BUT I HAVE NOT HAD ANY SPECIFIC EXPERIENCE IN THIS AREA. DID THE MECHANIC PLACE 2 TIRES OF THE CORRECT SIZE ON THE FRONT END OF THE CAR THAT WERE WEARING EVENLY WHEN THE ALIGNMENT WAS COMPLETED????

 

The pressure in all the tires are the same at 31 lbs, and all of the tires are the same size and brand. I am not sure of how the mechanic went about aligning the vehicle though.


I am wondering about radial pull as a possability, as the problem was not present until the tire rotation ocurred (which ocurred at the same time as the axel and motor mounts). But this would not account for the pulling during acceleration only, would it? Prior to the tire rotation, I did notice the front left tire was wearing on the outside edge, but I was told that the alignment was OK. Anything else that would cause this?