Rattle when pressing clutch in 1st gear

[Entropy314]

I get this rattle when shifting between first and second and it lasts for about half a second or so. The sound only happens when i am in motion at slower speeds and right after i push the clutch in (never when the car is in gear with clutch engaged). the best way that i can describe the sound is putting a ping pong ball in a shoe box and shaking it around (not quite as loud but you get the idea). if i shift out of first at around 4000 rpm there is very little of the noise, and the noise will be there if shifting out of 2nd at slow speeds but not as long/bad. after doing a bunch of reading the main culprits seem to be a throw out bearing or the giubo. from all the video's i've watched it doesnt sound like the throw out bearing (ie people get grindy/squeaky noises when pressing the clutch in standing still) and my giubo looks fine (although i should get back under and see if i can wiggle it around). any thoughts?

[Entropy314]

I went for a spin to record the noise, difficult to say where the noise is coming from but i want to say the back. I just replaced the diff mount, it made this noise before and after so it's not that. Cooked differential? When i took it out today it seemed to clunk when i put it in gear, also sounded like it came from the rear.

Video of the noise here

[Pat Gautier]

I have the same thing on my car. Been that way since I bought it with 30k miles 5 years ago. It now has 100k and I think I may have found the culprit. Another thread I found talked about a circlip coming off on the inner CV joint on the rear half shafts. The circlip holds the inner CV joint onto the ends of the half shaft. If the circlip is missing, it will give the CV joint some play and cause the clunking I am experiencing. To test this, with the car on the ground, grab the half shaft and try to slide it back and forth along it's length. If it moves, theoretically the circlip came off and needs to be replaced. In my case the left half shaft moved (where my noise seems to be coming from) but the right was tight. I can slide the left back and forth and it seems to make the same sound I hear in the car, so I thought I had found my problem. Bought a boot kit which comes with a circlip and took it apart only to find the old circlip still in place. Replaced boot and lube anyway and put it back together. Problem is still there. Latest thought is the CV is shot so bought a new half shaft. I'm in the middle of the debacle of replacing that. I have a thread on that and will update it when I get all sorted out. At any rate, check your half shafts for play. Could be the start of an excellent adventure. It was for me

[Rcs476]

Check both upper and lower shock mounting points... basically everything that may be loose will make the same noise in these cars (with the exception of metallic noises).
Check fuel tank pads, check ebrake cables.

I just spent the last two weeks replacing fuel tank pads (not even sure that the fuel tank was making noise, but when I hit it with my hand, it would and still does, no noise while driving at all though), replacing a broken (rattly as hell) fender liner, fender vent (behind the pass fender liner accessible though trunk, that was broken and flopping), removing bumper weights, adjusting ebrake at the wheel and at the handle... my final rattle however was the lower drivers side shock mount bolt... it was loose. The main ones for me were the rattly fender liner that I didn't know was broken and the shock bolt. They sounded extremely similar though the materials making the noise were very different.

Does the noise happen at all over bumps?