[size=16px]2016 RDX 160,000km. Hollow clunk from RF low speed over small bumps and cracks in the road. Suspension is tight. Trusted mechanic couldn't isolate the noise. Is this amount of play in my cv shaft where it inserts to my intermediate shaft normal?[/size]

 

CV joint worn out. Do you hear cliking sound while slowly making turn with steering wheel at its extreme position?

 

no clicking at all when turing whirh wheels cranked.

 

If your inner CV joint were bad you would feel a vibration at certain speeds and more so when accelerating and when coasting improving or going away completely. If the outer CV joint is bad you would likely hear the clicking noise when turning. A hollow clunk over small bumps is more likely something in the suspension is worn out. Sometimes difficult to find even with a good mechanic on hand. The sway bar links can be under tension when checking them and appear to be solid but actually worn out. If you or a friend has a long heavy duty pry bar you could jack up the right front wheel off the ground some and pry up/down on the bottom of the tire and carefully check all the key points in the suspension for any movement, paying close attention to sway bar links and bushings, ball joint, control arm bushings and the bottom/top of strut.

 

No experience with this particular vehicle as my 2017 has ultra-low mileage.

BUT what concerns me is the vertical play in the rusted collar as you are moving the joint, the part that slides into the transmission. Mating splines are a tight fit, so what is rocking or loose?




Looking at the parts diagram, this is the same joint set-up (with three fingers and rollers) as on my old Honda CR-V that I once had. CV joints in a VW or in my Porsche are quite different using balls.

Anyway, nothing should be clicking, especially if it is well lubed.