19 replies to this topic

[Gsybeach]

Hi,
I have just discovered that I have massive play on the driveshafts where it enters the diff. I can move it left/right about 20mm.
Anyone know what might have caused this?
Could it be driveshaft popped out or knackered diff???  Driveshaft.JPG   47.17K   33 downloads

[edsmini]

looks like the driveshaft has popped out. i would doubt if the diff would be knackered, when i had my mini the driveshaft popped out (**** my pants in the process as it went to one wheel drive)i had to move the rear trailing arm inward to reduce the amount of endfloat.
take the driveshaft out and make sure the circlip is on the end of the shaft?
if you are trying to get the shaft back into the diff and it is resisting quite heavily, what you need to do is put a small amount of thick grease around the circlip to hold it centre on the groove to help with getting the shaft back into the diff.

have you driven it alot and this is the first time it has happened?
have you got the rear of the car as low as possible?

Hope that makes sense?

Cheers,

Ed

[edsmini]

meant to say that the driveshaft should only move side to side no more than 5mm total. your photo is not very clear, i can see something around the driveshaft near the bearing, but i cant make out what it is

Ed

[Gsybeach]

Hi Ed,

Thanks for the information.
If I grab the shaft near the rubber boot I can pull the shaft out from the bearing/diff about 10mm when car is on the ground, but about 20mm if it is jacked up. It feels pretty loose but I can't remember if its normal or not....it doesn't look right to me.
I never felt anything wrong with the car and it still seems to be driving both wheels ok, however track marshalls reckon they started to hear a knocking noise as I went passed. Not something I noticed with my helmet on being sat next to the screaming motor!

I've never taken the drive apart before as I have never had problems in the 3 years I have been driving it.
I assume I need to remove the drivers side trailing arm? Does the shaft just pull out from the diff/bearing after that?
Where would I normally find the circlip and do I need to take the diff cover off?

Many Thanks, Ben.

[edsmini]

when you push the drive shaft into the diff by hand is there a gap between the cv joint and the bearing? or is there a 10mm gap?
if there is no resistance i would imagine that the circlip is either broken or never been fitted.
when fitting a driveshaft into the diff, there is quite a bit of resistance (piece of wood and a big hammer to persuade the shaft into the diff.

it sounds like the driveshaft has the correct amount of sideward movement.

the driveshaft might just need chapped back into the diff, you can do this by slipping the gaiter off the cv joint to allow you to get a piece of wood on the edge of the cv joint to hammer it back into the diff.

its hard to explain, its always ten times easier if the car was in front of me bring it to scotland and i will have a look lol

Hope that helps and let me know how you get on

Ed

[edsmini]

if the shaft is coming out of the diff, it will wear the bearings inside the driveshaft pot.
as you will know when you strip the drivers side trailing arm out, make sure you put the washers back in the correct order to make sure the trailing arm goes back to the same position.

Ed

[edsmini]

you wont need to take any part of the diff to pieces, the driveshaft just clips into the diff

http://img.photobuck...ointGaito-1.jpg

you can see in this image where the circlip goes.

Ed

[Gsybeach]

Great thanks Ed.
I didn't get a chance to take the trailing arm off today....I'll do that on Monday.
I did measure the play properly though and it is 15mm on both shafts when jacked up and 10mm when down....not quite as bad as I thought.
Do you have an email as I can post a short video clip?

Thanks Ben.

[Gsybeach]

Hi Ed,
You were right, I just took both driveshafts out and the right one had the circlip missing. The left one still had a circlip but it looked like a piece may have broken off.
Before I replace the circlips and reassemble, what should I do about the missing circlip. I can only assume it is still in the diff somewhere???

Thanks, Ben

[drayton min man]

Hi Ben

Just to put a spanner in the works, there are two types of drive shafts with different pot joints, mine are the same as Ed's which are internally sprung loaded but im not to sure about yours, do they feel as they are sprung loaded?

Anyway mine have been machined down and there are no provision for any circlips, i did question this with Chris at Zcars and he said that providing the end play was correctly set the spring loading within the shafts keep them in position!

As yet i havn't been off the drive so we will wait and see.

Geoff

[Gsybeach]

Thanks Geoff,

Mine do have provision for the circlip. They are the same as the photo Ed posted.
I'm just trying to source some new circlips but struggling to find some:-(

[Gsybeach]

Anybody know where you can find the 25mm circlip that holds the shaft in? They seem hard to find

[2000lukey]

It's a snap ring, they normally come with a new inner cv kit, not sure if it's a separate part available to order from ford? But I expect so. If you get stuck pm your address as I may have a couple of old ones kicking about.

[Gsybeach]

Thanks,
I got the part number off Zcars and they were kind enough to send me one, however it seems to be too small. It's 1.5mm thick whereas my old one was 2mm thick. I tried fitting it but it didn't lock the shaft in place (too thin I think). Don't suppose you have one 2mm thick do you?

[2000lukey]

I have one for you, 2mm thick you may have to tweak the od diameter to work for you, but it will be fine.