I have a 93 ford escort which makes a clunking noise if I shift into reverse without letting the car warm up and idle down. It sounds as if the noise is coming from the front passenger side wheel well. The sound does not occur when shifting into reverse if the car is allowed to warm up and idle down to 1100 rpm. What’s up?
Has anyone checked the motor mounts and/or transmission mounts?
No. Car Talk is my first stop.
To add: I have not heard the sound when shifting from park to drive. It makes the sound when shifting from park to reverse under the conditions I mentioned in the original post.
Please bear in mind that none of us giving advice in this forum can hear the noise or examine the car.
All we can do is to give you some possible scenarios, and ultimately, a qualified mechanic will need to examine the car.
Thank you for taking the time to respond. What would be an estimated cost of replacing a motor mount? Less than $400? I’m in California.
Get an assistant and open the hood. If the assistant knows anything about cars you start it up & replicate the conditions that makes it klunk, or put the assistant in the car & tell them what to do. Right on the passenger side of the car crammed between the engine & side of the frame is a motor mount (it looks like the pic below). First just visually inspect the thing for cracks, loose bolts, etc.
If you don’t see anything, someone must stand off to the side of the car (not in front or behind) and watch that mount while it is put into reverse. If it is the source of the noise there will be some excess movement & it should be fairly easy to tell that its where the noise is coming from.
If you’re still not sure and everyone is very very careful you could hold something like a metal rod or pipe on the mount while it is put into reverse. If it is klunking you’ll feel the vibration through the pipe.
If that mount isn’t it, I’d say the next stop would probably be the passenger’s side CV joints. I had one once that basically clunked everytime I went from drive to reverse or vice versa. It was something between a click & a clunk & isn’t the most common way for a CV joint to show wear, but it happens.