Detached drive shaft!!!

[swright]

I have just got home with the car on the back of an AA low loader!! The nearside drive shaft decided it didn't want to be atached to the gearbox anymore. LOL!!

The car has become more and more jerky to drive the last week or so but i put it down to my engine mounts as they need replacing badly. But i pulled out of a junction tonight(Monday) to hear a nasty graunching noise and suddenly had no drive at all! After lots of swearing i had i quick look underneath to find the left hand drive shaft totally disconnected and sitting on top of the exhaust!! Thankfully all the bolts seem to be still in place and just seem to have worked loose. Il have a better look at it tomorrow and just hope no damage has been done to the threads on the gearbox side otherwise its out with the tap wrench and hope for the best[&o]

 

[zcacogp]

That sounds lucky ... you mean that the CV bolts came loose, so nothing broken and should bolt back together?

Lucky that it didn't happen at speed.

(Will - on here - had a driveshaft snap about 9 months ago under similar circumstances. I thought that he was pretty lucky as well!)


Oli.

 

[will lyons]

Thanks Oli ....[]

I have just had the wheel bearing on the same side replaced AND...... the bolts in the CV joints needed torquing up[8|]some were coming loose so as Oli advised me make sure the bolts are really tight You will need a long spline socket kit to reach ,it is easier if you rotate the wheel to move the one you are working on to the bottom so you can get it tight, it may well be worth checking the others to make sure they are also not coming loose

Wil

 

[swright]

Yes the bolts had worked loose. And yes, thank the almighty it hapend at slow speed!!!

Just been under and had a look(in the pouring rain) and the only damage is some slight wear on one of the bolts threads. Oh and two of them are missing along(probably sat on the back of the low loader!!) with the peice that spreads the load so im going to replace the lot.

 

[swright]

Do you think its a good idea to clean out the bolt holes and put some thread lock on the bolts before re-fitting?

Oh, and all the black gunky stuff that seems to have spewed out, i take it thats CV grease is it?

 

[knightma]

Had the same happen with mine but on the drivers side wheel flange. Just as I was doing a hill start there was a bang as the last bolt broke followed by no drive. Initially I thought it was the clutch or gearbox but a quick look under the car with the engine running and in gear revealed where the drive was being lost. Fortunately all the bolts were trapped by the rubber boot. As none had been lost I just screwed them back in by hand and limped home. A few months before I'd replaced the clutch which involved removing the gearbox and drive shafts. I was sure I'd tightened the bolts so they must be prone to coming lose. Advisable to check them every so often.

 

[will lyons]

Yes its molly grease. It would be a good idea to replace it,I'm not sure where Oli got his from but I think I am correct that he replaced all 4 CV joints on His S2 as far as the loctite goes I am not sure maybe someone else could advise on that one. the bolts are easily available, not sure about the joining bracket or what comes in the CV joint Kit try Bert at www.partsforporsche.co.uk or look on his website


Wil

 

[swright]

Hi Will. the CV itself seems fine. I'm just going to replace all the bolts and the missing bracket. Il go to the OPC at meadowhall sheff in the morning and see if they have any in.

Very good bunch of chaps there. I was fitting some callipers to my mates carerra last year and needed a new disc to hub bolt asap so gave them a ring. The guy on the phone said to bring a bolt down and he'd match one up for me and also stay open a bit longer than the normal Saturday half day closing time. Got there, he matched me the bolt up and when i said, 'how much?' He replied, 'Free of charge mate, don't worry about it'[]

Well impressed was i[8D]

 

[will lyons]

I have to admit Gavin is a top guy at OPC Sheffield I didnt realise you were so close I might have some in my spare CVjoints and possibly the connector if your stuck then PM me I will look on the shelf in the morning and see what is attached

Wil

 

[swright]

Thanks Will thats very good of you mate[8D]


Stu

 

[zcacogp]

Stu,

The bolts aren't anything special, I don't think - I suspect that if you go to a good bolt merchant with one then they will be able to match it up for pennies.

The spreader plate isn't essential. I did indeed replace all 4 CV's on my S2 about 2 years ago (Will, your memory serves you well), and the replacement CV's came with new bolts but no spreader plates. I re-used the old ones, but wonder why.

I got CV joint grease in a tub from my local parts factor. A couple of quid, about 6 years ago. It's not special stuff either.

If I was in the position you are in, I'd remove both drive shafts and dismantle the CV's, clean them in paraffin, re-assemble with new grease and re-attach to the car the other way around. CV's wear on one 'face', as the drive is almost always in the same direction (you drive forwards more often than you drive backwards), and therefore one drive 'face' will be worn, the other one will be almost brand new. If you re-fit the CV joints onto the driveshafts they came from, but put the driveshafts in on the opposite side they came out from (i.e. swap the left hand driveshaft for the right hand driveshaft) then you will be using the other 'face'. (It doesn't matter which way around the driveshafts go - you can swap the outer end for the inner end - rotating through 180degrees, and it will make no difference to the drive face. If you doubt me, look very carefully at the way they bolt up and think carefully ... )

If you don't have time to clean and re-grease, I'd certainly still swap them side-to-side.

I didn't use loktite on mine, but did them up pretty tight. They haven't slackened off with time (I checked them several times after doing the job.)


Oli.

 

[swright]

What fantastic advice Oli, thank you[8D]
Stu

 

[zcacogp]

Sir, a pleasure.


Oli.

 

[Fen]

You're supposed to replace the bolts if you undo them, or they always come loose; thread-lock excepted I guess, but I have to assume they are stretch bolts which explains why they come loose if used a second time, and also why you shouldn't reuse them and use Locktite. Use new bolts and you'll be fine.

 

[924nutter]

Swapping drive shafts from side to side can only be done on cars with the manual transmission, there are different part numbers for the automatic.

 

[swright]

Well it seems i wasn't so lucky after all. i went to put the new bolts in tonight and the CV joint fell apart in my hands. Ball bearing everywhere. I tried to put it back together but it was having none of it. So a new one is needed.

Is it the same CV for all 44's? Design 911 sell 2 types, non turbo and turbo. The turbo one being more expensive. Whereas all the other traders seem to sell CV joints that state they are for all models??? Are design 911 just trying to fleece people?

 

[frogisland]

Fen - yes 'stretch bolts', quite soft, easily over torqued, best not reused. BigDave may be along - he has now used a difference hex head bolt/socket head bolt which were alot cheaper than replacing a couple of dozen OPC bolts.

 

[zcacogp]

ORIGINAL: swright

Well it seems i wasn't so lucky after all. i went to put the new bolts in tonight and the CV joint fell apart in my hands. Ball bearing everywhere. I tried to put it back together but it was having none of it.

Ah, you big wuss! Re-assembling a CV joint is an intelligence test. Like the sort of thing they have on Krypton Factor. Actually, more like the sort of thing Aunties you didn't really like gave you for Christmas ...

Seriously, they can be re-assembled. Clean them in paraffin, dry them out, re-assemble (make sure you get the outer part in the right rotational orientation to the inner part - if you get it wrong, the joint won't move) and slather in grease.

Good as new.

As far as your question goes, I don't know. The obvious difference would be size - whether they bolt up right, but turbo ones may be visually identical but made of harder steel. Or something. So, sorry, can't help. (I do know that Max Schenker at Fraserpart was by far and away the cheapest when I bought mine, and his service was second to none.)


Oli.

 

[swright]

Well i was trying to reassemble it still attached to the drive shaft whilst under the car on my back!! (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!!)[] Chinese puzzle springs to mind

Il take it off tomorrow and do it properly.

Oh and the chap behind the counter said the bolts can be re-used but must be lock tighted but i went for new ones anyway just to be safe and have peace of mind.

cheers,
Stu