[T3] *thwaaak* What Was That Sound?

[Jim Adney]

On 21 Jan 2012 at 22:29, Mark Fuhriman wrote:

> '69 Fastback, Manual Transmission
> 
> Parallel parking on a steep hill in San Francisco today.  (Yes, a real
> steep hill).  Running in reverse, going kind of slow, sort of slipping the
> clutch in and out as I ease up toward the curb and into the parking space.
>  Then all of a sudden a loud *thwaaack* sound from under the car startled
> me.  99% sure from the transmission area.  Sounded like some kind of gear
> tooth slip.  Freaked me out, but I got parked OK and made it home later no
> problem.

Of course something your ran over would be the best option. I don't 
think broken clutch cable strands usually make any noise at all, and 
you'd notice a difference in where the clutch pedal "works."

If it was something in the clutch itself (pressure plate, driven 
disk), I'd expect you to notice some change, but I'm not sure about 
that.

The last internal possibility I can think of is the reverse gear in 
the tranny. That's a special brass gear used only in reverse, and it 
often gets a bit chewed up since there's no syncro when you shift 
into reverse. It's probably replaced in every tranny rebuild.

If reverse gear sounds okay now then it's probably still good enough. 
If the car popped out of R when this noise happened, then this gear 
may be getting thin (the edges get worn off the teeth) and you may 
start having problems every time you need to back up against a heavy 
load, like backing up a steep hill.

-- 
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Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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