mystery clunk

[hikersteve]

so i have a mysterious clunk that is happening in my wagon.

little background: this was the car that was in washougal a month ago for 1150, 84sr5 87,000 miles on it, the girl said she thought the clutch was out, she was honest and said she wasnt sure and even hesitated on selling it to me without me lookin at it. Just so happens my sister lives in washougal, she went and looked at it said engine sounded great and car was in great shape. so i took the chance.
well the tranny was melted and it cost a little more than expected. luckily found a tranny in idaho with 110,000 miles on it guy sold it and shipped it for 325 dollars had it installed at shop in washougal with new clutch for 500, some tune up parts and some and a long drive later i was into about 2100 and its a great car

So when i took it for a test drive upon pickin it up i noticed it was binding up shifting out of 4wd, i questioned the tranny guy and he said it was probly one of the rear tires that was different brand(all same size), i agreed. had to drive it back though and couldnt afford new tires. knew it needed to be addressed, and didnt try to drive in 4wd until i got new tires. two days after i got it home i was at gas station went inside and got some food and paid for gas (about 15min) when i was walking out to my car that had been off the whole time it made a loud clunk. i thought to myself it doesnt matter if im not in 4wd i cant drive it till i get new tires. parked it for a week. got new tires and sure enough 4wd drive on the fly is smooth as can be. a few days later i was walking out store after about 20 minutes and heard clunk, thought "oh hell it must be something binding still" so i have already lined up a parts car and was going to start trying to figure out problem, figured it had to be in axle, pumpkin or god forbid tranny.?????

the weirdest thing about it is that pulled it up on ramps yesterday at about three pm to do distributor and clean up under carriage to figure out problem i was talking about in earlier post. it had been up on ramps,not moved an inch and in neutral for almost 24 hours. As i was writing response on earlier post at about 1pm and after car had been off for about two hours, it made clunk again? so thats the mystery? any ideas?
all i can think of is that something is getting hot and cooling down or vice versa, expand/contract?
thanks steve

[marlinh]

The binding is probably a mismatched pumpkin. if the trans was from a newer car it definitely has a different gear ratio.

Not sure what the clunk can be.

[hikersteve]

no more binding just clunk, checked rear pumpkin it is from 83-84 and new tranny is 83-84

[marlinh]

That's good news.

[Gottolovem]

I think you nailed it on the expansion and contraction cycle.
Have you named her yet perhaps "Christine"

I like to call it carthritis mine has a real bad case

[hikersteve]

well thats good to know. carthritis i like it

[Petros]

fuel tank vapors? replace the fuel filler cap, the check valve may be sticking and you hear it open suddenly as car cools, sucking in air. Also check your charcoal canister for proper function per FSM.

It does not sound serious. despite the repairs, overall not a bad price if it is in decent condition and it now has a new clutch, good trans and tires.

post some pictures please!

[dlb]

steve, are you saying you hear the car clunk when you are outside of it, not driving? it's hard to tell from your story exactly when it's clunking but that's what it sounds like to me.

if that is in fact the case and you are not having any more shifting issues, my first guess would be the park brakes need to be looked at. trying parking it on a hill in neutral with just the park brake on. it should hold. if it doesn't, check the cables and automatic adjusters. checking the charcoal can for vapor expansion issues is a good idea too.

[hikersteve]

huh i thought about like a vaporlock or something because it came from rear of car. i will check on charcoal cannister, then get new gas cap but i think gas cap should be good cause thats part of CA emissions, but maybe he just didnt check it.
thanks for the tips
thanks dlb also i will check parking brake

[hikersteve]

i will try and gets some picks posted soon,

[Gottolovem]

I got to drive Steves t4 and WOW there can't be many more out there is as good of shape.
We had just left the junkyard and I drove it with my index finger only on the wheel afraid I might smudge something.
My auto with 130 thousand is in great shape but his is even better. Everything tight and nimble truly felt like a new car.

How about a two for one trade dude

[hikersteve]

ya that would solve the problem of giving this "new" car to my new driver son!
two runners? for 1 runner?

[Gottolovem]

I was kinda kidding you should hang on to that car it's a diamond in the rough.
I would find your son another one he will beat that one up.

[Petros]

It would be a major luxury to be able to own one car that meets all my needs, and not have to have two spare cars as back up when the daily driver goes down for major maintenance. sometimes even my two spare cars also need major maintenance as well.

We recently got a newer 2000 Honda CRV for a trip. After reading on the CRV forums all of the stupid and expensive things that can break, and are not easy to fix, with really no solution for an otherwise very nice smaller SUV, I am thinking a 30 year old Toyota is a piece of cake to keep running. The CRV will be going up for sale soon now that the trip is done, before it needs a new transmission or differential. It is such a shame that Honda quality has really gone down hill so much, the more recent CRV are even more unreliable.

[hikersteve]

ya dan i was totally kiddin.