Greetings everyone,
We had to take a trip to Savannah, GA to help my mother in-law for a couple weeks. So, I had not real progress on the SL and nothing to report.
Originally I thought the loud clatter noise was coming from the injection pump. The noise was so loud and severe that I hesitated to run the car much, before investigating some important things such as valves, tensioner etc.
After easing my mind regarding any engine related issue, I've been able to diagnose the problem and trace it to the front of the transmission / torque converter. The noise is pretty severe at times and seems loudest when first starting the car, however while running the noise sometimes quits. If I change the rpm at all it will start again and also sometimes just starts again on its own. I rotated the engine and torque converter and removed all bolts to inspect the flex disk / flywheel etc. the best I could. Everything looks fine to me. I have not removed the transmission pan yet, but plan to soon.
Because of my hearing loss, my wife was helping locate the sound today. She and i came to the same conclusion / question after tracing it to the transmission. Could something in transmission have broken the last time we drove the car, when we heard the loud, hard bang starting out from a red light? Could the breaking of the slip joint / yoke in the differential, be a result of the something breaking in the transmission?
It would make sense that after putting the differential back in the car, the transmission is making this loud noise without ever having the car back on the road or even driving it.
Any comments or suggestions are always appreciated.
Ed Riefstahl
1966 230SL (Ms Magoo)
1970 280S (Miss Daisy)
1989 300SE (Majestic)
1999 BMW Z3 5 speed
1991 BMW 318I 5 Speed
1997 Toyota Paseo Convertible - Red 5 speed (have you ever seen one?)
1997 Ford Ranger step side (Mater)
2023 Mazda CX 5
