Date:         Fri, 15 Nov 1996 15:23:15 -0800
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         bayer@sybase.com (David Bayer)
Subject:      Clunky CV on 87 Syncro?

Ok, first of two questions for today...

	I brought a 87 Syncro home a few weeks ago, and it has started
making a few odd sounds, one of which seems to be coming from the front
right wheel well, though when I have someone riding with me, they seem to
think it is coming from ahead of the passenger seat. When driving, it kind
of sounds like the spring might been about 1/2" too short and each little
imperfection in the road makes the car bounce up and down off what the
spring sits on producing an industrial metallic clunking (that's about the
best I can describe it). I jacked the van up to look around and could no
play in any of the swing arms, the sway bar, the steering rod, or even the
driveshaft U-joints (was not sure what the difference between the clunking
noise and the vibrations described in CV or driveshaft related posts in the
archives - still not sure if the metalic clunking is the same as any of the
noises described). I found I could reproduce the noise by hitting one side
of the tire. I could not make the other front tire do this when I jacked
the other side of the car up and hit the tire in the same way.
	From where I heard the noise, I think it is the outer CV joint,
but I have no experience with CVs and do not want to rip the boot and CV
joint off to find I need to replace it (and then not be able to go out and
get the part). So I was hoping someone might be able to tell from my
description above if that is the outer CV or a way I can check the joint
without removing the boot and the CV joint to inspect it...

	I also have one other disconcerting noise which I have not been
able to trace to a level that I feel confident to begin ripping pieces
off of the underside of the bus. It is kind of like one might expect if
you took a really thick rubber band and strecthed it under the bus and
then let it thawk the underside right about when the front final drive
is. It started making this noise a week or two after I noticed the
faint clunking that I described above... I cannot attribute any type of
frequency to it.

dave