I have been hearing this clunking noise from the engine bay for awhile. It came and went, and I even took it to 2 different mechanics. At the times, theywere not able to hear the noise.Now the noise is definitely permanent and I wanted to pick everyone's brain about the noise, before I take it in for a check.

I went under the car and checked for any noticeble deficiencies. The only thing I noticed was that the front passenger side transaxle had a bit of play in it where it went into the transmission. Interestingly enough, when I turned the transaxle back and forth for a few times, the noise dissapeared for awhile. Not it is back again. It is mechanical clunking noise, and almost sounds like bad CV joint. I know that the inner CV joint sometimes goes bad, but I didn't really notice any play vertically.

So what do you think? Is it my tranny? Or differential? Can I replace the defferential by itself without replacing the whold tranny? Any similar experiences? Any inputs are appreciated.

 

Bump?