clicking from driver's side rear wheel area

[D-O]

I recently completed a full rear suspension rebuilt (everything but the axle shafts) while installing the vincebar and skinz. All has been working well until I just recently noticed a clicking sound from the drivers side rear wheel area when moving off from a stop (forward and reverse). It will also manifest when rolling on or off the throttle at low/moderate speed. Sound is not present during acceleration or at steady speeds.

I checked bolt torque on everything including the axle nut. I found no loose fasteners. I checked the calipers, anti-rattle clips, etc. but everything looked good (996 conversion with a recent pad replacement).

A good friend, who is a master Nissan tech, had a listen and said it sounds just like the rear axle click they get from the 350 Z. He recommended checking the axle nut torque first, and if it was okay that I should back out the axle and lubricate the splines and the shoulder of the CV joint (where it would come up against the back of the hub) with moly or anti-seize. I did use anti-seize on the splines when I put it together, but he said the shoulder of the CV joint was the more important spot.

I found a ton of stuff on this problem with Nissans and Infinitis, but only one reference to it with regards to BMW, where it was claimed that BMW and Mercedes had issued TSB's similar to Nissan's. This lead to more searching, but I cannot find any BMW TSB's or anything specific to the E46.

Thoughts?

[Lukem3]

Axle clicks are common across all manufactures. The tolerance in the splines can cause a click usually heard on hard acceleration or de acceleration

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[oceansize]

https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/main-forum/e46-2001-2006/83658-clicking-sounds?p=84756#post84756

Maybe.

[D-O]

Axle clicks are common across all manufactures. The tolerance in the splines can cause a click usually heard on hard acceleration or de acceleration

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That is what I hear, but its odd that I cannot find any mention of it regarding our platform.

I am beginning to wonder if the anti-seize was a mistake. The TIS specifies lightly oiled. Perhaps the anti-seize has exacerbated the problem? Maybe the axles had worn to the old hubs, and the new hubs don't mesh quite as well?

[D-O]

https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/m...4756#post84756

Maybe.

Thank you sir. I can confirm I have no interference with the parking brake components.

[TexaZ3]

We are talking about a mysterious clicking noise. Any chance you could record it and post here? Otherwise it is a moot point to try to guess.
I'd say its a diff or an axle, but...

[D-O]

We are talking about a mysterious clicking noise. Any chance you could record it and post here? Otherwise it is a moot point to try to guess.
I'd say its a diff or an axle, but...

It is apart now, but if this does not fix it I will record and post.

[VinceSE2]

What rear shocks are you running?
I had a click that drove me crazy trying to find. But that was more related to suspension movement, and was only audible at lower speeds.

It turned out to be the dust shield of the rear shock touching a ring (probably for a spring seat when running true coil overs in the rear) on the shock body.

I have GC double adjustable shocks


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[D-O]

What rear shocks are you running?
I had a click that drove me crazy trying to find. But that was more related to suspension movement, and was only audible at lower speeds.

It turned out to be the dust shield of the rear shock touching a ring (probably for a spring seat when running true coil overs in the rear) on the shock body.

I have GC double adjustable shocks


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Koni from TC Kline. They have been on the car for a while with no issues. I did inspect them carefully when I first started troubleshooting and they were fine.

[D-O]

I decided to follow my friend's advice. Here is how the outboard end of the axle looked:



Cleaned up:



Nice coating of anti-seize:



Put it all back together and no more clicking.

[Lestep]

Thanks for documenting this! I'll have to try it. I have an m3 rear in my 330ci and after a 2 day track event this past weekend one of the rear axles started clicking during off throttle coasting. Did you also consider re-greasing the CV-joints?

[D-O]

If this had not solved the issue my next step would likely have been to re-grease the joints. If I was smart, I would have re-greased them when I had the rear of the car apart.