Wierd Noise when Accelerating/Turning from Stop

[James Scott]

I lost the original thread I started about this maybe 3 months ago.. .

I started noticing a strange creaking noise when accelerating and turning from the stopped position. My friend and I both thought it must be an axle, but after replacing both axles.. and the noise continued.. Well!

At that same time, if I went in a circle, continuing to accelerate..or at least creating centifugal force (a type of acceleration)..I sometimes would get a wild sheet metal banging sound also.. . like a BAD LOOSE MUFFLER would sound like.

So, I looked under the car (jacked up) and found that the muffler guy (when installing the cat convertor for my smog fiasco [6/09]) had inadvertently dented the sheet metal cover under the muffler pipe, on top of the drive shaft. I used a piece of wood to pry the dented area out slightly. Afterwards, the wild noise went away.

Well.. . The creaking noise continues to this date.. with that sheet metal noise returning infrequently.

Does anyone have an idea about the creaking noise when accelerating/turning from a stop? I thought it might be a center bearing for the (split) driveshaft, but I took it to my mechanic who thought the sound was too high (creak) compared to his recollection of a bad center bearing.. . he remembered it to be a low sound. He gave up.

I know the sheet metal cover must be hitting periodically, but hate to guess at center bearing ($200+) for the main creaking sound without any confidence.. . ?

THANKS for any ideas!.. . Jim

[trophy956]

hi if it sounds like its under the park brake area ,it could be drive shaft related ,but i had a noise like that and it was the panetary gears in the trans grinding up

[James Scott]

Hmmmmmm? It sounds like it's coming from about a foot in front of the AT shift lever.. . That's why I was hesitant to replace the axles, but it was vaguely similar to axle failure.. noise when turning.

Tell me my AT/DIFF is alright! OK.. ? HA!

Thanks, Jim