Alright, my gut is telling me that this is probably not good but I always appreciate extra input. The car has 40k on it and 4 seasons of autoX (about 5 events a season). I suspect I am looking at a new set of axles.

Anyway pulled some bits off my car today to do some maintenance and repairs. I have been notice a LOT of lash in the drive train lately. A quick example would be traveling down a hill off throttle in gear if you get back on the throttle hard you are greeted with a very audible thud and a sudden lurch.

I know for a fact that the transmission mount bushings are word out, I can move the engine with my hand... So that is getting replaced.

The lurching is the obvious result of play in the drive line. I know there is some in the transmission itself (about 2-3 degrees from stop to stop), and the flywheel also had a little as of last year (about 1 degree from stop to stop), and the inner CV's have another 3 measured by me grabbing the housing and holding it in place and then rotation the hub.

My question is: Is there allowed to play in the inner CV's and if so what is considered an acceptable amount?

thanks

 

I'm bumping this thread, since I suspect I have the same issue. In my case, there is no sound. Nor is there vibration. And ALL of my mounts are brand new OEM. So is my clutch, and even though I have a getrag, I've got a single mass flywheel. If I'm coasting, any on or off the throttle gives me the impression that there is a lot of slack in my driveline. None of my passengers seem to feel it, and a friend who drove the car (not a MINI owner) didn't seem to notice. All I have been able to find is that my right inner CV joint has a little radial play, where my left is tight. Is it possible to feel a bad joint in this fashion, with no noise or vibration? It's a fairly easy thing to replace, but not cheap. I want to be sure before doing the job.

 

The answer is YES, a bad inner (tripod) joint CAN cause this problem. I swapped my RHS shaft last night, and it's all better.

Two other considerations for someone reading this preparing to change a shaft for whatever reason: Last time I did this, (after my transmission swap), I used a 3/8 drive 13mm socket to get the three bolts for the carrier bearing bracket. Since then I got a set of Gearwrenches. Let me say that this cut probably 20 minutes off this job alone. WELL worth it, even though I always thought of this as somewhat of a gimmicky tool.
Second: That $17.00 (with coupon) red plastic creeper that Harbor Freight sells might just be their best product. It's a toss up between that, and the 42" 13 drawer roller cabinet I have under my workbench.

 

Hey Blackbomber, how did you test for the play in your inner CV joints? I'm having and accel / decel transition noise (a billiard ball-like clunk, but lower tone) that I think is coming from there, but on the left side of the car. If there's a way to check the joints w/o taking everything apart, I'd like to know.

Thanks.
-Jay

 

It's pretty easy, actually. I just rolled under the car and grabbed both sides of the joint (cup in one hand, shaft in the other) and twisted. It should be dead tight. FYI, when I removed the bad shaft from the car, it WAS tight. I think it's important that this be done with weight on the wheels to keep the control arm angles the same as if you were driving, and therefore the axles compressed so the joint is in the same position as if you were going down the road. I have Rhino Ramps, but if you jack up, just put the stands under the control arms, as far outside as you can.

 

I couldn't really feel any play between the shaft and the inner CV housing when I tried this. I did note a fair amount of play between the right and left drive shafts, but since there was no noise, I expect that this is pretty normal, being caused by the backlash in the gears.

What I did find was that when I had a helper crank on the tire and the noise was produced, I could feel a tick in the outer CV joint that corresponded to the noise. That joint doesn't make any noise during turns, powered or coasting, but does seem to have some play that is causing the noise. Now all I have to do is replace it and see if I'm right.

 

Just finished swapping the left driveshaft. Problem solved.

 

Good deal.