Near Side Drive Shaft, Should it have play?

[Lofty79]

I was noticing slight pulsing whilst accelerating today and it was quite intermittent, but i noticed it.

Now when i stopped i checked the shaft by reaching down behind the gearbox and grabbing the shaft, now i could pull it up and down a little, diff doesnt move its definitely the shaft that moves in the housing on the inner cv.

Is it supposed to do this, or should it be solid? Theres no knocking, just a minor pulsing (or vibration at high speed)

I have one in my watched items on ebay, would just like a second opinion

Thanks Carl

[Lofty79]

nobody? My finger is hovering above buy it now

[Philled Pants]

You can expect to be able to move the shaft between the two CV joints - it's there to allow for the movement in the suspension and the change in the relative position of the hub from the gearbox. I wouldn't expect it to be terribly sloppy though.

Can you explain what you mean by "pulsing" though?

[Lofty79]

thanks, the play i am noticing though is not from joint to joint (left to right if you will) its actually able to move up and down aswell. I am assuming this is not supposed to be probably 10mm of movement up and down at gearbox end of shaft.

By pulsing i mean when i use throttle in 5th at say 50mph + i can feel a ....... well........pulsing cant think of another word, like a thudding you cant hear? that only feel whilst on the power, faster i go the more i feel it, from 60-70 mph its more of a vibration because of speed, and it levels out after that unles i floor it.

Def feels like a drive shaft issue

[Philled Pants]

OK, 10mm of movement up and down wouldn't concern me personally - that's based on previous car experiences.

In my experience I've never had a pulsing/vibration which was down to a faulty driveshaft - not to say it doesn't occur though!

I don't mean to insult your intelligence (don't know the characters on here yet!) but before you fork out for a shaft have you checked the old "full lock on a car park" trick to listen for a CV eating itself? Or checked for other vibration culprits - wheels weights fallen off causing imbalance, tyre bulges from meeting a pothole, wheels not on quite tight enough (been there a few years ago :think: )

[Lofty79]

Aye no probs, wheels balanced and unbuckled, no clicking on full lock either direction (however the play i notice is inner which wouldnt click on lock). Could do with finding another one with same engine and compare the play

Edited 26 September, 2012 by Lofty79

[Philled Pants]

Sorry - if I'd have read it properly I'd have seen "gearbox end" and yeah comparing it wouldn't be a bad idea.

I hope someone else is a bit more helpful and you get it sorted mate

[danny p]

Hi Lofty,

Did you get this sorted in the end? I seem to have developed the same problem :(

Dan

[Frisco]

10mm up and down play in a CV basically means it's funked which on the inner joint first shows itself as a rumble or vibration at speed. Sort of like an unbalanced wheel

[Lofty79]

Nice revival hahaha.

Shaft was fine, was a buckle in one front wheel only manifesting whilst on the beans that threw me

[danny p]

10mm up and down play in a CV basically means it's funked which on the inner joint first shows itself as a rumble or vibration at speed. Sort of like an unbalanced wheel

This sounds just like what has happened to my car I compared suspected drivers side fail to passenger side and there was a lot of difference so back to the garage. :( Any guide on cost of a driveshaft?

Nice revival hahaha.

Shaft was fine, was a buckle in one front wheel only manifesting whilst on the beans that threw me

The garage first told me I had a slight buckle on one of my wheels so I changed all my wheels around a few times but I had no luck. "Bite the bullet" time!

[Oet]

shouldnt be too expensive, try vwspares, get something decent inc decent cvs as you will only have to change them again otherwise.

[Oet]

rwbaldwin is looking at the thread too, he knows his stuff, am sure he will give some decent advice!

[danny p]

Will do pal cheers of advise! I try to avoid eBay parts if pos!

[Chris Coates]

I'll chip in here....

I found that whilst at over 50 my car began to sound a bit like sebulbas pod racer (google a video of youtube for the sound). I was concerned at first, but I noted that with someone a little heftier shall we say in the passenger rear seat, the sound got worse.

So I... Changed the passenger side rear hub. It didn't look like it had any play in it at all.

However... As soon as I changed it? The difference was like night and day. Perfect. And the sound went away. It also addressed a slightly odd brake disc wearing issue I had on the fronts. Seems the bearing on the rear was causing an imbalance on the rear hubs, which was carrying to the fronts and causing a slight warp on the front passenger side disc.

Changed it, and within 500 miles the uneven braking vanished.

Just a thought. If you get an odd sound/vibration under load/speed, get a heavy friend to ride around in each seat and see if the noise/vibration gets worse to narrow it down. Sometimes the whole 'check for play in the wheel' trick just doesn't work.