Thud when changing gear

[Joe R26]

I've got a little issue thats starting to get annoying.

When I pull away in first I get a thud that feels like its going through the whole car when I release the clutch, and it does it when I change into second and third. Not so much in the higher gears.

I'm sure it hasn't always been like it. It seems like I really have to nurture the clutch when I release it to avoid the 'thud'

I'm thinking engine mounts are the problem, but theres not a lot of movement on the gear stick when accerating or on the overrun. So surely it can't be the dogbone mount.

What one is it more likely to be?.

 

[Dan@M.A.D]

Upper gearbox mount?

 

[Dan519]

any or all of the mounts. Could well be the long stud on the gearbox mount has come loose too

 

[Joe R26]

any or all of the mounts. Could well be the long stud on the gearbox mount has come loose too

Would this just consist of re-tightening the stud?.

 

[Joe R26]

I forgot to mention (not sure if it's linked but could be) in the wet when I go over water laying on the road I get horrendous vibration through the car I think it's the exhaust vibrating somewhere and it'll be constant for about a min or two after driving over a puddle in the road and then it'll eventually go again.

 

[Iceberg_172]

check all bolts on the gearbox mount/battery tray. mines done this and they were loose

 

[Joe R26]

Ok will check this out first. What's the best way to access them? From the top with the battery tray out the way?

 

[jonesyFX]

Glad you asked this mines doing the same!

 

[Joe R26]

Well I whipped my battery out to check the gearbox mount and it looked in good nick, all bolts looked and felt ok. And the rubber looked as new.

Stumped now. There's not much that can go wrong with the drivers side mount as far as I can see the rubber bit looks in good condition.

I also cant see much movement at all when trying to wobble the engine by hand.

 

[bozothenutter]

I have something similar, a thumping clutch...but only from cold, when warm it dissapears.
I have a set of uprated mounts about......so will try that first.

 

[Juude]

Gearbox oil low? :/

 

[Joe R26]

Nope I topped that up recently and it needed hardly any at all. Could it just be that I'm being to heavy with the clutch? It his quiet stiff maybe im just being lazy and letting it up to quick/hard

 

[bearne1]

Nope I topped that up recently and it needed hardly any at all. Could it just be that I'm being to heavy with the clutch? It his quiet stiff maybe im just being lazy and letting it up to quick/hard

Same problem here, mine bangs from 1st to 2nd with a hard change and occasionally from 2nd to 3rd. Have changed gearbox oil to the level but not replaced mounts yet. Thinking of the K-Tec solid mounts and see what happens when fitting.

Read that you cannot tell if a mount is worn by hand, you need a bar to check for excess movement.

Keep us posted if you get any joy.

 

[Dan519]

you can tell if the upper gearbox mount is worn by taking if off. The insides get quite chewed up

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

You can't tell whether a mount is past it's best by looking at it (unless it's absolutely ruined).

Thud when changing gear is the engine moving something and taking up the 'slack' in the drivetrain before applying torque to the wheels. This will usually be something loose or saggy engine mounts.

 

[Joe R26]

I did have to adjust the drivers side mount as my exhaust was vibrating on the over run. It didn't make any difference to this thud though. Maybe that ones had it. Ill probably have a mess around tomorrow see how slack they are with a bar or somethin.

 

[Dblock]

any or all of the mounts. Could well be the long stud on the gearbox mount has come loose too

Thats what happened to my old one. It was a pain in the arse to fix. I hated every second of doing that job.

 

[Bazz]

I get this, i've got gearbox and engine mounts coming so hopefully thats all i need.

 

[bozothenutter]

the only other thing to align the engine are the upper mounts, are they lined up etc...could they be the reason for the redrilled dogbone?
Has the car been crashed ?

 

[Joe R26]

I'm probably going to do the gearbox one as it's cheap but my suspicion lies with the drivers side one. There's a few mm of gap either side of the rubber which doesn't seem to be there on pics of new mounts and I was able to push it back and forth easily with a little 10mm spanner as a lever

 

[mark smith87]

Replace the engine mountings with K Tec ones and also change the dogbone bush for a Powerflex one.

 

[paulmcmillen]

I forgot to mention (not sure if it's linked but could be) in the wet when I go over water laying on the road I get horrendous vibration through the car I think it's the exhaust vibrating somewhere and it'll be constant for about a min or two after driving over a puddle in the road and then it'll eventually go again.

I get the very same thing, a real loud banging/vibration!

 

[Joe R26]

Yeah it is very odd. I know my exhaust is close to the underneath near the back but I don't know why water would make it start vibrating against it.

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

Gearstick has a rod linkage on the Clio so you wouldn't get much movement when accelerating/decerating anyway. When I inspected mine it was in pretty awful condition. The gearstick didn't move but you could feel the engine moving before applying power to the wheels.

 

[Joe R26]

I get the very same thing, a real loud banging/vibration!

What exhaust/decat are you running?

 

[bearne1]

Mine now doing this, which mount is best to replace first? Or worth doing all three?

 

[bozothenutter]

on mine it disapeared after I did the dogbone.....