I'm at 92k, which is rather low for driveshaft issues.
Sent from outer space...
I'm at 92k, which is rather low for driveshaft issues.
Sent from outer space...
Call me Giya (sounds just like Karmann Ghia) | '05 ZHP Coupé AT - Sparkling Graphite Metallic | Project thread
Wear Italian, Kiss French, Drink Russian, Drive German
^That does seem like really low mileage for driveshaft issues. I have a rumble in my E36, but I believe that it is related to a tired dual-mass flywheel. With the AT in your ZHP, I don't see that to be the problem with your car. Wish I could be of more help.
-Brettski
Well, perhaps I have the answer to this mystery. But before I can confirm it, I need some feedback from you guys. I got the drive shaft completely out, which let me closely inspect the cv joint at the back end of it. While it does move, it is far from fluid. I have a pretty hard time moving it about by hand, even in small increments. It takes some force before it moves, and when it does, it moves abruptly. Although I am not sure if drive shaft cv joint is supposed to move differently from an axle cv joint (which is usually pretty smooth), given the thought to what the drive shaft is doing when it causes the cv joint to flex, I would imagine that it should move way smoother than that, at least in the small flex range. Surprisingly, when I popped the joint cover, there was plenty of grease on the inside and everything appeared pretty nice and clean. The rubber boot that connects to the shaft is fully intact and there's no corrosion anywhere. So I am not sure what would cause the joint to fail beside just some manufacturing defect.
If this is indeed the culprit, then the rest is easy.
So here are my questions to ya'll:
What should I expect from a joint like that in terms of movement?
Should it be hard to move by hand?
Any other feedback?
Call me Giya (sounds just like Karmann Ghia) | '05 ZHP Coupé AT - Sparkling Graphite Metallic | Project thread
Wear Italian, Kiss French, Drink Russian, Drive German
All of the U-Joint caps should move, rotate or pivot very smooth. The caps are filled with little roller pins that if one fails it will rapidly deteriorate others contained within that cap and the apposing one. Once that happens it throws the drive shaft out of balance especially under load. One of those things you need to replace because of the symptoms. If you attempt to dismantle it you may not be able to get it back together.
Dinan; Hign Flow Intake System, & Strut Tower Brace
Turner Motorsports; Underdrive Power Pulleys
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Purchased CPO on 12/23/2006 with 28,090 miles
What your'e describing is the U-Joint, at least on the drive shaft. The CV joint has 6 pretty big ball bearing-like balls. Here's how it looks on the inside:
But they do fail, although not as early as 92k. But hey, considering what these things go through, it's not surprising that some would fail sooner than others.
Call me Giya (sounds just like Karmann Ghia) | '05 ZHP Coupé AT - Sparkling Graphite Metallic | Project thread
Wear Italian, Kiss French, Drink Russian, Drive German
If that's what your talking about, I refer to those a Spindle Bearings and yes the don't fail very often. I actually worked in a GM facility that manufactured them for 7+ years. The Ball Races in those are induction hardened and the bearing balls are like 68 Rc (hard shit). Their basically throw aways if something goes wrong. Most of the failure involves some type of contamination like water. Any manufacturing issue would have happened early in its life. I know the ones I was involved with we're tested for weeks without lubricant and never catastrophically failed. It sucks that I can't tell you more than bite the bullet and try one.
One last note, something weird about them but historically it's the opposite side from what you think.
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Dinan; Hign Flow Intake System, & Strut Tower Brace
Turner Motorsports; Underdrive Power Pulleys
Koni Sport, Bridgestone; Potenza RE-11, Coby Wheel
Stewart High Performance Water Pump
Hawk High Performance Street 5.0 Brake Pads
Brembo Rotor
The purposeful face of a formidable athlete:
The spine-tingling 330i Performance Package.
Purchased CPO on 12/23/2006 with 28,090 miles
Well, here's the update. I got my driveshaft re-manufactured by a highly recommended shop called Driveshaft Specialist (Thanks Derbo/Kalim for recommendation). The shop is located in Texas but also has an affiliate in LA. They ship you a new re-manufactured shaft and you ship them yours. Great customer service and turnaround time. Basically, they've placed every moving part on the driveshaft, which includes a new U-Joint, new CSB, and a new CV joint. After that, the shaft was balanced with all new components on it. Following the re-installation, I am happy to report that the vibrations are completely gone and the car feels fantastic. While I was down there, I also replaced the transmission mounts, which appeared normal until I took them out. As it turns out, they were significantly deformed so the transmission was likely out of alignment--causing stress on the driveshaft and its components. So go figure, more than likely it was the cv joint failure but my advice would be to replace the transmission mounts before taking off the driveshaft and going the re-manufacture route.
For a while, I was tempted to just buy the cv joint kit and install it myself, which would have cost me about $150 (as opposed to $428). However, had it not solved the problem, it would have been a huge bummer to have to drop the exhaust to get back at the driveshaft again. So I made the call to get the whole shaft re-done, re-install it and never go back there again.
Call me Giya (sounds just like Karmann Ghia) | '05 ZHP Coupé AT - Sparkling Graphite Metallic | Project thread
Wear Italian, Kiss French, Drink Russian, Drive German
Nice work and good advice. Glad to hear it's solved.
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Randeaux/Rando/John/jr - '06 Cic ZHP; Southern California
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