Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 17:08:58 GMT From: BrandywinenopsamSPAMwriteme.com (Sam) Subject: Excessive Drivetrain slop in 900S
I have an 89 900S with 147K. It seems to have excessive play somewhere in the drive train. This can be observed by putting the car into gear (engine off, parked, hand-brake off) and pushing the car forward and backward. There is enough slop somewhere to permit the car to roll about 8 inches back and forth. This in itself is not a problem, but the slop can also be felt quite disturbingly when driving. I do not recall in which gear the problem is worst, but if you let up on the gas, you can feel the front wheels suddenly roll un-encumbered by the drivetrain, the play is "taken-up" over some distance, so to speak, and then you can feel the drive wheels re-engage at the other end of the "play-limit" as the slop is finally "consumed" (slop=play). The same thing happens in reverse if the accelerator is then re-applied, only much more quickly. This is difficult to explain, but if you've experienced it, you'll know exactly what I'm trying to describe. Since my car is currently in the shop having other problems attended to---worn something-drive, caused front end vibration---I have a 900s automatic loaner. It has 177k on it, and does not demonstrate this behavior at all. Of course it is an automatic, which may never be prone to such a problem. I once pointed this problem out to my dealer, and after a drive, he didn't seem terribly concerned. The thing is that I've never seen such a condition in another car in all of my 25 years of driving. That mechanical shock that must be incurred as the play is taken up and the drive train finally re-engages must be hard on something---CV joints, etc. I find myself having to "manage" the play in an effort to avoid this. My current theory is that is there is simply enough wear-induced, accumulated play in the drive-train to cause the problem. This being the case, the only cure would be a HUGE repair of the major drive train constitutuents, save the engine---hopefully. I've been hoping that only one or two things are worn enough to account for the majority of the play. My intuitively reached conclusion is that this is doubtful. Any comments? Sam
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