dogas

Hey Guys,

Last week my car has developed a clicking noise from the rear that has gotten progressively worse, and it is at the point now where at speeds above 40mph, I can hear the clicking much louder than the engine.

Brief breakdown of what's going on:
-Sounds like "card in a bike spoke" type of clicking, about 5 clicks per wheel revolution.
-Clicking is directly related to how fast the car is going, not which gear it is in
-Clicking only audible during acceleration (goes away when not accelerating, not audible if coasting), and is audible accelerating at any speed.
-Clicking sound much louder at speeds above 40mph
-Briefly inspected under the car's rear for damage, found nothing visible

After searching the many "clicking rear end" posts, I don't think my symptoms necessarily line up directly with a bad diff or cv joint.

Also I must preface by saying that I did knock my passenger rear wheel a couple weeks ago pretty hard on a storm drain, maybe at about 1 or 2 mph, but it definitely took a hit. Car drove fine for a day or 2 afterwards, and I can't tell if my problem is correlated.

My questions are: if it is a diff or cv issue, do those symptoms occur and become greatly pronounced within a week's time? Or, if I did damage my wheel, what are some possible issues that may have occurred to that correlate with the symptoms described above?

I'm taking it to my mechanic monday, but I'd like to be armed with some knowledge before going there.

Thanks for any help guys, I really appreciate it!

SpitfireS

In what direction took the rear wheel that hit?

Are you still driving around on OEM wheels?

OEM 5-spoke wheels

I would check the inside of the rear wheels for damage and/or evidence they are touching the brake calipers.
Or a wheel balancing weight got knocked loose?

Let us know what you find.

dogas

I do have the OEM 5 spoke wheels, however, that was one of the first things I checked after hearing the noise initially.

There is no rubbing of the brake caliper and wheel spokes going on, however, the wheel weights on one of the rear wheels are completely missing!

I need to bone up on what exactly wheel weights are and what they do. Would missing wheel weights on one wheel contribute to the symptoms?

I was looking at new construction houses, and the pavement was really rough. The storm drains were everywhere and sticking 5+ inches out of the ground. It was like a damn mine field!
I tried to slither around a series of them *very* slowly, but I ended up catching one where it hit the jack railing and passenger rear tire pretty hard. The car went from about 2mph to zero instantly, and I think the the tire / jack railing bore the brunt of the impact. Needless to say I wasn't in the mood to look at houses after that.

SpitfireS

Wheel balancing weights balance the wheel/tire combo.
Without them you may experience severe unbalance at speed.

The hit you describe would make me inspect all suspension components very carefully!

jyeung528

sounds like the TCT...

maybe you are mistaken and it is actually coming from the front of the car, not the rear.

dogas

jyueng528 -

I checked out this video I saw by searching for TCT issues (This video), and it looks like you can hear the clicking just by revving the engine.

I don't get the noise when revving the car while it is stopped. Thanks for your input tho! One less thing it could be.

Edit: properly linked the video.

RACER

Is the wheel bent?

RACER

I have never heard of this at 40 mph

Mebbie try tightening the axle nut's

afwfjustin

Have you tried tightening the lugs? On my old Del Sol (two cars ago) I had an axle going that made that noise. Then, my last car was a Civic Si and I heard that same noise. I was upset thinking that my axle was going, and brought it in for repairs and found out that the lugnuts weren't tight and the wheel was almost falling off.

lol

dogas

heard from repair shop, definitely the diff. He doesn't even want to fix it.. he told me to take it to the dealership.

Would now be a good time to consider a shorter final drive gear?