All AWD owners are or should be aware of the costs involved regards the infamous Propshaft. £750 will get you a new one or £250 will buy you a repair kit (for one bearing only). Having every invoice on my car i knew that the prop had been repaired once to the tune of £380. At the time of repairing my own car i had researched this matter until i was fed up with it and decided to tackle it myself. Mainly because the tinkling noise and vibration was starting to piss me off to say the least.
you will need a jack, two ramps, flat surface to work on, Tub of good quality grease (i used Silkolene Pro RG2 high melting point grease) £15. A few tools that will be obvious once you have a look under your car and read this 'How to'.
Here we go then....
Firstly, raise your car off the deck...all of it, or you will struggle! Point to note: ALL 4 WHEELS MUST BE FREE TO ROTATE.
Be especially careful where you jack from and where you put your axle stands.
Next (using a buddy) get your buddy to rotate a wheel, ensuring hand brake is off and car is in neutral, as you lay underneath, working from front to rear and undo the CV bolts for the propshaft. Front CV, Rear CV and then center support bearing, in that order. It is vital that you do not undo the center support bearing until last as this will make removal of the CV bolts almost impossible. The prop is not heavy, i just layed it on my chest when i removed the center support bearing and then slid out from under the car with it ontop of me. Prop removed you will see this...
Front CV Transfer box output face
Rear CV with Torque tube (highlighted yellow)
Next you need to check the condition of the support bearing seen below...
Your bearing should rotate smoothly with a knats ££££ amount of free play. Anything more and your bearing will need overhaul, which means sending the entire prop to a bearing company.
I researched these bearings and found only two company's that recognise and could replace the shaft with the correct bearing. All bearings have numbers stamped on them and it is this that the company needs to cross reference with it's own make of bearing. Off the top of my head your looking in the region of £50-80 and that is for the bearing only!
Anyway, if your bearing is ok then continue on. Using a blunt spoon (only joking!) a large flat head screwdriver, gently tap off the end cap then pull back the gaiter to completely expose the CV bearing.
Then using carburettor cleaner, give the bearing a good degunge. Mine was bone dry so i just spayed some WD40 and then proceeded to strip down the bearing, cleaned it all up until it looked like this...
Ignore the circlip (highlighted yellow) as you don't need to remove it. Becareful not to damage the cork gasget (3 red arrows)
Proceed to do exactly the same with the rear CV as i garantee this will be in the same sorry state as the front and you may aswell kill two birds with one stone.
Tea Break ......................
............................................Tea break over
Assembly
Assemble the bearing dry ensuring you take your time and do not force any of the balls into the cage. Be patient
Using copious amounts of this stuff vvvvv (use a good quality high melting point bearing grease)...
...pack as much grease into the end cap and gaiter as you can....Then tilting the bearing at an angle work as much grease as possible in the bearing race ensuring all metal surfaces are coated.
Then using two bolts fit the end cap and align the holes...When you fit the end cap and push it home you want grease to be spilling out of every orifice. If it doesn't, take the cap off and pack more grease into the bearing. You will never fill it 100% so don't worry.
It is vital that the bolt holes line up with the end cap or you won't be able to line up the holes on the face of the transfer box output and Torque tube input face.
Refitting to the car is the opposite of removal. Take your time, you do not want to strip a bolt at this stage!! Re torque the bolts to whatever they should be (i used FT, thread lock and my good judgement)
Clean all your tools away, drop yer car on the floor and take her for a road test.
No more tinkling, vibrating or any prop noises whatsoever. You should have time at the end of the day to go for a nice drive to a good pub and treat yourself to a beer and think of all that wonga you've just saved.
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