bpvideo

I have a 2003 P71 125,000 Miles. It recently starting making a clicking noise when shifting from Reverse to Drive or Drive to Reverse. Heard a repeated clicking after going over RR tracks at low speed the repeated clicking stopped when coasting and went away shortly after. Felt a slight vibration when around 35-40 on way home later that day. I haven't driven the car since to avoid further damage.

My first thought was a U-Joint, I got under the car and there is a little play on the end of the drive shaft at the transmission. My son (who works at an autosupply) had a an ASC cert. mechanic mention to him that it could be something with the transmission & spline. He told him I should jack the back wheels of the ground and check for play in the drive shaft. But my son did not remember details on how to tell if it is the U-joints or the tranny spline (19 year old memory). I haven't been able to reach the mechanic to speak to him myself.

Any idea's of what I should be looking for or this type of issue. I am planning on doing the U-joints this weekend, but if there is a way to determine if they are in fact the issue or if it is something inside the tranny I would rather wait and do it all at once.

Thanks for any assistance, sorry for the long winded post.

Bert

Here's a video showing one that's very loose but the idea is the same.
Try running it with the overdrive off and see if that changes. If so, the problem is in the transmission.

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Bert

NoLeaks2001

Bert, that vid didn't play for me. "an error occured...". I'll try again later.
If it was me I would chalk the wheels, put the trans in neutral (not park) and grasp the drive shaft at the rear joint and Twist hard while feeling for any play at the joint.If no play then I'd check to see how much play there is in the diff.and if it is noisy when twisted back and forth.If it is and there is adequate oil in there then you may need to check the pinion.
Then I would put the trans in Park and jack the wheels up off the ground, place jack-stands under there and do the same check at the front joint.
If the joints show NO play at all then I would check for excessive play in the trans. and how much noise this play creates. If that is the case then I guess I would start with checking the splines although I have never seen this as an issue personally (limited experience with newer fords).

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2001 Grand Marquis LS, 30K miles mint. Finally a vehicle with NO LEAKS !

R.S.LOGAN

Video working o.k here , good at illustrating this fault .

Bert

NoLeaks2001 explains it well. After the video, follow his explanation.

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Bert

bpvideo

Thanks for eveyone's input, it was the front U-joint that and a trany service it's purring like a lion.

Bert

Thanks for the update. Glad it's fixed.

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Bert