Honda Car Forum

First, it's not the suspension as far as can be determined (anything that
looked remotely suspect has been replaced). Just wanted to get that
out of the way.

Car is a 2000 Accord EX, four door, four cyl. engine, automatic
transmission with a bit over 70,000 miles.

When I hit a sharp bump (like a 1"+ depression at a manhole) I hear
this really annoying/scary "clunk". (The exact sounds vary, but clunk
pretty much describes them all.) Two mechanics have independently
traced it back to the driver-side drive shaft where it enters the
transmission. (The last guy put the car on the rack with me in it, then
tapped and pulled things until I heard the noise, so we're pretty darn
sure.) The drive shaft can actually be wiggled quite a bit. (There is
some minor play on the right, but it feels normal and tight, whereas
the left side shaft moves a LOT. Don't know if full range of noise it
can make comes from the transmission or from the shaft slapping
the bottom of the car.)

Took a while to find since, while driving, the sound is apparently
transmitted to the left wheel and suspension where I thought the
noise was originally (you can often feel it through the floor). On really
good bumps, the sound seems to spread across most of the front of
the car (makes sense, the shaft runs from the left to the transmission on
the right).

Honda says wait for it to break and they'll fix it under warranty
(otherwise I have pay for them to tear down the tranny and have
a look - then they might pay for it). Opinion is that a break would
just leave me coasting, but since I'm planning a long trip this
winter, the idea of "coasting" at midnight in 20-below weather
doesn't appeal. No one's offered an opinion on how long it
might last, either.

Anyone had a similar problem?

william_ivey
-at-
bmc -dot- com