"Thunk" when changing from Park to Drive, or Reverse to Drive

  • Thread starter Thread starter Dan Albrich
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Dan Albrich

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I did try and search for this, so feel free to point me at a thread if I missed it. My 2018 Clarity at about 90K miles runs good generally, possibly save the new "thunk" sound if it matters. My old cross-climate 2 tires were past 50K miles and starting to slip a bit on wet ground-- assumed that was it. I went to Costco and bought another set of the cross-climate2 tires since I liked them last go-round. The front tires are not slipping on the wet ground now, but I still sometimes get/feel a thunk sound. This when changing from (P)ark to (R)everse or (D)rive. At the moment it's pretty subtle and doesn't do it every time.

I realize this post is not the tire thread, but the reason I mention tire replacement is that the car was doing something similar-feeling when one of the front wheels spun a bit on wet ground. You'd hear and feel a thunk when it finally grabbed. What's happening now, only when switching drive mode (P,D,R) feels somewhat similar.

So if this sounds familiar and it leads to something that needs repair that would be good to know. I bought the 8 year HondaCare warranty so I've got until Sept 2026 remaining. Also OK to say, not something to worry about if that's the case.

-Dan

PS: I still take the car like clockwork to the dealer because I'm in-HondaCare. I have a A012 maintenance scheduled on Friday. I'm sort of afraid to ask them any questions because they always recommend hundreds of dollars worth of work, and I believe them to be dishonest. So it's a little more complicated than just ask the dealer (which presumes you have a reasonable, professional dealer). We do have several asian auto-repair places in my town that I do think are reasonable.
 
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Could be the transmission itself or a mount/bushing is weakened so it thunks/moves when the pressure/spin/etc from the trans changes direction. I wouldn't think this would be tire related at all.

Take it in and let them diagnose. You already know, but don't feed them. "There's a weird sound when i leave my parking spot". keep it vague.
 
Coming from a heavy automotive background and given I get this thud/thunk as well, my first instinct is the engine mounts. Engine mounts or trans mounts.

I cant help but wonder how much stress engine/transmission mounts on EV/PHEV are under with the instant torque from the EV motor pushing the car forward and the instant reverse of that torque during regen. I get a thump under decel/regen as well sometimes. I will be inspecting my mounts soon. I'm at 115k on my 2018 Clarity.
 
That's a good point. -- motor mount. The dealer normally does a safety check as part of their service, but I did ask them to specifically check the motor mount please. I've driven a lot of cars over my lifetime and some of them in relatively poor shape. I had a 1967 Plymouth with a big V8 and the motor mount broke. And yep, did a thunk sound for most acceleration. If you babied it it wouldn't thunk but likely a dangerous condition. They did ask me to do a transmission service not mentioned on the codes (A012).
 
Conelite said:
Coming from a heavy automotive background and given I get this thud/thunk as well, my first instinct is the engine mounts. Engine mounts or trans mounts.

I cant help but wonder how much stress engine/transmission mounts on EV/PHEV are under with the instant torque from the EV motor pushing the car forward and the instant reverse of that torque during regen. I get a thump under decel/regen as well sometimes. I will be inspecting my mounts soon. I'm at 115k on my 2018 Clarity.
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I've gone down the route of replacing every single mount, CV axles, eventually went to honda and they refuse to acknowledge anything is wrong. My only hope is that the transmission blows up before 100K. The transmission is most likely the issue when people experience clunking IMO.
 
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When I bought Clarity, I did some mental math (back of the table napkin kind of thing). My after rebates cost was $24,700. I figured Clarity would save me about $1000/yr vs my old gas-only ride (subaru). So in my mind I figured I need to drive it for 10 years and then I'm overall paying like equivalent of $16.5K for a comfortable economy car vs say cost of a new Civic. That was my hope/expectation. Anything more is better and not expected. Sept of 2026 I'll of had the car 8 years (purchased in Sept 2018). But yeah, I think I'll make that 10 year mark without any unusual expense. To hedge my bet I paid $1550 for 8 year / 120K HondaCare (reason I say 16.5K paid, I'm including the HondaCare).

Hopefully whatever is going to go wrong happens while I'm still in the HondaCare time. It's always a bit of a gamble with any car. My Subaru twice lost its head gasket with two repairs for that totaling over $7K. So you can have a hard time even with a gas-only car.
 
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