John-USN said:
95 Legacy Wagon with 140K miles.
Recently, from a stop, when I depress the accelerator, occasionally there is
a thumping noise...one or two thumps, and then it ceases. Sounds like it
is coming from the rear axle, but, not sure.
Other than that, car runs like new. Any ideas on what might be causing
the strange noises??
Thanks, John
I can tell you from experience (see post: 90 LegacySW Front Drive Shaft) it
sounds like it could be worn universal joints on your drive shaft, likely
the rear one if the sound is coming from there, or it could be from the
front one, or both.
Go back under and wiggle the drive shaft around to see if there is any play
at all on either end -- even the tiniest play means it is going bad, and it
will make sounds because of the tremendous torque. If you have dual (front
and back shafts like mine) you may only need to replace one. Unlike on
reasonably designed cars, I cannot simply replace the U-joints, but have to
replace the shaft on mine-- I don't know what yours is like. If there is
play, it will likely be near the rear transaxle or the front by the
extension housing.
One of the signs mine were bad was thumping when starting out from dead
stop. If you feel some play but they look OK you still have quite a bit of
time ( I drove mine out of necessity for hundreds of high-speed miles until
it is now barely hanging on and disabled). It doesn't sound to me like yours
would be too bad yet. If that is it it will eventually start to rumble
whenever you accelerate, and stop when you coast, and will squeek that
sounds like a bad wheel bearing. But if it is wearing a little you should
start looking for a replacement asap because it may take some hunting to
find a replacement, I can tell you that.
Hope this helps.
Pflu
