clang when engaging reverse - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

corollary · 11-17-2010, 02:24 PM

Hi TN, I have an 07 corolla with 40k miles and it just started to make a tinny clunk noise when I engage reverse after it has sat for a couple of hours. I warm up the car put it in reverse and it seems to engage just fine briefly and then "Pang" it makes the noise. It sounds like it is coming from the tranny (automatic) or the drivers side CVJ. It won't do it again unless it has rested. I have searched TN and found a couple of similar posts but they were newer cars and they fixed themselves. New cars are amazing. I took it to the dealership and they couldn't reproduce the sound so I recorded it and they said they couldn't diagnose it from the recording. I think the wheels have to be on the ground for it to happen so you can't put it on a lift and listen to it. Thanks for your help.

corollary · 11-17-2010, 04:11 PM

The dealership fixed it. They said it was the heat shield that had lost a bolt.

corollary · 11-18-2010, 06:50 PM

Its not fixed. The dealership said they fixed it and charged me for fixing it but alas its still clanging when I put it in reverse. I think they're just trying to get rid of me. This is the second time I've taken it in and the first time I gave them bad reviews on the Toyota survey because they acted like they didn't care. I guess I'll be buying Honda next time.

mikered30 · 11-18-2010, 07:48 PM

Does this noise occur after you park on a flat surface with the e brake on?

corollary · 11-18-2010, 10:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikered30

Does this noise occur after you park on a flat surface with the e brake on?

Yes. The surface is mostly flat. I am parking it in the opposite direction starting tonight to see if it makes a difference. However it happens in all types of settings around town but I'm not sure how inclined each surface is. In addition when I park I set the e break while I have my foot on the break pedal after I put the trans in park. Any clues would be helpful. Thanks.

prophase · 11-19-2010, 12:47 PM

Interesting, my wife and I had a 04 rolla for a very short time before we bought a 05 (long story). The 04 has the clunk or clank when put into reverse from the day we got it. The dealership had the car for 2 weeks and could reproduce the sound but not figure out the issue on ours.

We shortly then after traded it as the entire experience made us unhappy and nervous for a car with less than 1000 miles.

Not saying it's the same noise but we had something very similar.

corollary · 11-19-2010, 03:13 PM

I parked it slightly downhill last night and it didn't make the noise. Maybe the way I put the e brake on puts tension on the trans?

prophase · 11-19-2010, 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by corollary

I parked it slightly downhill last night and it didn't make the noise. Maybe the way I put the e brake on puts tension on the trans?

Interestingly enough, I believe ours made the noise on flat surfaces only as well. The noise did occur when the parking brake was used. It's was an auto but my wife had finally gotten into using the ebrake regularly.

Hopefully it's nothing serious, the dealership was at a total loss to find the issue despite having the car two week, that in of itself was odd to be honest.

Our 05 which we still have 65K miles later, never made the noise at all and is auto as well.

corollary · 11-19-2010, 06:06 PM

Today whenever I parked it I let it come to a rest in park before setting the e brake. Then it made the noise every time I put it into reverse even though It didn't sit very long. So I think that setting the e brake before letting my foot off the brake actually makes it better. Whatever that means. Still I am more sure than ever that something is wrong but who knows when it will break. One of the bad things is that I'm thinking of selling it and with that noise...yikes...I wouldn't buy it. So much for resale value. I bet toyota would trade it in for me at a reduced price of course.

PhoenixFaction · 11-20-2010, 12:10 AM

Um, I actually had this problem before and for me at least, it was quite easy to solve.

Whenever I would reverse, it would have resistance and *clank*, often times I would put the car in reverse and nothing would happen, but once I start moving it goes *clank*, and whenever I'm driving and it goes over a bump it sounds like a CLUNK like something dropped from under your car.

If ^ has applied to you, than you probably though your tranny mount was loose or something. But for me, I checked and saw that a large sheet of metal right under the tranny was interfering with the tranny somehow, I guess someone bent it while working on it, so all I did was take a pair of vice grips and bend them back. Never happened again for me.

corollary · 11-20-2010, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixFaction

Um, I actually had this problem before and for me at least, it was quite easy to solve.

Whenever I would reverse, it would have resistance and *clank*, often times I would put the car in reverse and nothing would happen, but once I start moving it goes *clank*, and whenever I'm driving and it goes over a bump it sounds like a CLUNK like something dropped from under your car.

If ^ has applied to you, than you probably though your tranny mount was loose or something. But for me, I checked and saw that a large sheet of metal right under the tranny was interfering with the tranny somehow, I guess someone bent it while working on it, so all I did was take a pair of vice grips and bend them back. Never happened again for me.

Yes this applies to my car sort of. I just found that while it only clangs when engaging reverse occasionally it always clunks when I accelerate in reverse. It only happens in reverse and only once each time. I have to put it in drive and accelerate then back into reverse to make it happen again.