silver03Z06

help! New pop or clicking sound from rear area as I am letting out the clutch in forward or reverse. Once engaged, the sound doesn't seem to continue.. This just started. The car has 3700 mi on it, and had been recently only lightly driven (winter in Pa). Any thoughts on what this noise might be?

Pat07c6z

Did you check your axle nuts?

silver03Z06

yes, just had them torqued to spec. They only tightened slightly to achive the correct setting. Could this slight tightening be the cause?

outnumbered

If you are taking off very slowly it could be the lash in the drive train.

When my nuts were loose, Man that sounds weird , the only time you could here any symptoms is under very hard acceleration.

Exterminator

So you don't hear the sound while driving slowly after the clutch is let out?

silver03Z06

No, it is only when I am starting out from a dead stop.

Z06_505

Mine starting doing the same thing right after I tightened the axle nuts. Loosen them to see if it goes away. If it does, I'm told if you remove the nuts and clean everything, the sound will disappear. I took mine in to the dealer and they put on two new axles.

Exterminator

It's no surprise that tightening your nuts would actually make your rear end pop!

shintaaar

same problem here... car have 15k miles on it and that clicking sound started around 11k miles.. never checked axle nuts but guess i need to soon.

silver03Z06

I had my private mechanic check the car this afternoon, and the noise is coming from the left axle shaft. I had the same problem in the same axle shaft in my c5 z06. Shaft was defective at 20k miles. Shaft was replaced before an upcoming road course event, problem went away.

XCELLR8

Pio

Mine just started doing it, going to the dealer on Monday, not going to take any chances. My car was built April last year so it has the weak rear end.

I can't wait to see what rear they put into the SS / Blue Devil.

Webfoot

Me too. If GM strengthens the driveline for the SS, hopefully the parts will be compatible with the Z to make it more durable.

Pio

Upon Rangers advice, I went to the Good Year tire center and ensured everything was tight to spec. The right side axle nut was lose - its very easy for any person with a torque wrench and the correct bolt to check it, just pop off the center cap and make sure its at 118 ft lbs.

Also, if C5 axles fit the new Z, I hope they follow the trend for the (hopefully) stronger SS parts...

outrunum

have a 16 z07 and have had loud pops during hpde also have buddy that has 2015 and experienced same thing not all time but sporatic. another 2017 owner experienced same thing at last event. he took to two dealers who had no answers????

edmundu

That is original spec, GM had since revised that to be 160 ft lbs.

carefulnow

This is due to the splines being completely dry. When they mesh into the hub and turn, without any lubrication they will "clap" and cause this 'cracking' or 'popping' sound you describe, but only from a stand-still.

You can pull the hub far enough off the spline just by disconnecting the upper control arms and tie rod, and pivoting the entire spindle assembly down (take the axle nut off first, obviously.)

Once you've exposed a fair bit of the splines on the INBOARD side of the spindle/hub, spread a small amount of grease (I use mobile 1 synthetic grease) over the splines. It's a bit tight to reach but it can be done, use an applicator if needed. Then slot the shaft into the hub, in and out a few times, and clean up any excess.

If you dont want to do this yourself, a *competent* shop should be able to do this in about an hour, perhaps a little more, unless the mechanic has never seen a C6 corvette before... in which case you probably want to find a shop that works on Corvettes... Just be wary of re-bolting the upper control arms as it's aluminum you're threading into, can be rather easy to strip if the bolts are started clumsily. This is a good time to switch to a camber kit (with studs for upper control arms) and loctite the studs in there, be aware you will need an alignment if you do put a camber kit on the car.

Torque axle nut to 160 lbft (new spec) and try again.

[I had exactly this issue a long time ago and the above fixed things.]