A clunk during accelerating, decelerating, or putting
an automatic transaxle into drive can be caused by excessive
play in the inner joint on FWD vehicles. A
clunking noise when putting an automatic transmission
into gear or when starting out from a stop usually
indicates excessive play in an inner or outer joint.
Be warned, though, that the same kind of noise can
also be produced by excessive backlash in the differential
gears and transmission. Alternately accelerating
and decelerating in reverse while driving straight can
reveal worn inner plunge joints. A bad joint clunks or
shudders.