240 General: Drivetrain clunk - driveshaft donut?

[Jungle_Jim]

Hi

As my 240 sails effortlessly past 200,000 miles, I have noticed a bit more drivetrain whine and clunk in recent times.

There is a distinct clunk as the drivetrain takes off from stationary, and this remained after replacing all the trailing-arm bushes top and bottom.

There is also a certain whine I've noticed - for instance going down a long downhill road in neutral at about 30-40mph.

Plus there's a rumbly chattering audible as you drive off from stationary, which doesn't seem to change pitch as speed rises, though is eventually inaudible once at cruising speed alongside windnoise and all other sounds.

And - the car is usually parked on an incline with handbrake and in 1st gear. When you start the car, and it goes from being held stationary by handbrake and drivetrain to being held by the brakes, there's always a something of a clunk in the drivetrain as pressure is released by pressing the clutch.

A mechanic with a pit had a look yesterday, and confirmed that all the new bushes are tight as they should be, and that shock mounts aren't rattly. He thought the shocks might be a bit 'weak' but I don't think are making noises.

The one thing he did mention was that in his opinion the rubber donut in the centre of the driveshaft was probably a bit soft. He couldn't confirm if there are sounds coming from this or its bearing while in motion. I don't think there's a burning rubber smell to suggest the bearing was seizing inside the rubber donut. I have no idea whether this piece starting to fail would cause that clunk when moving from stationary.

So the question is: is this rubber donut and its bearing a typical thing to fail around 200k? Or what other things could be candidates for rumbles and slack at this mileage?

Thanks in advance.

John