More problems.... Prop Shaft (with pics)

Welly

Welly

335D Driver :-)
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As thread title, more problems for me.... Yay.

I changed my driveshafts the other day as they were the suspected cause of my knocking which I have had for a while....

Whilst they did make it a bit better - the knocking wasn't completely gone. :(

Anyway.....

Driving home from work today, I decided to test a theory of mine. Pulled the Haldex fuse out and drove the rest of the way home. No knocking, no shaking, no banging.

This clearly indicating that it is something to do with the Quattro system... Goodie.

Got home, backed her up on to my ramps and dropped the exhaust off. Noticed that the heat shield around the universal joint area looked a bit battered, which struck me as odd.

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Off came the exhaust and heat shield. And oh my. Pics below:

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Well, as you can see, the UJ has clearly been hitting the heat shield. There are gouges out of both the shield, as well as scrape marks on the UJ itself. That would explain the metallic grating sound I can hear...

Also, the UJ has clearly dumped it's entire amount of grease around the area. The grease looks old as well meaning it's been going for a while.

Finally, the guide rubber for the shaft has at least an inch of play in it, in all directions - not good.

So - new prop shaft needed. Yay.

Does anyone have experience with the volume of work required for this?

I will be doing a little work to the exhaust whilst it's off.

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Looks like the subframe needs to come down, and the downpipe will need to come off. A good excuse to uprate me thinks.... So not all bad.

Will be off the road for a bit now, as I will also be replacing front brake calipers, the rear dog bone mount and servicing the ******* thing.

Any thoughts/advice on prop shaft change gratefully received.... :thumbsup:
 
doood really glad you found the issue....gutted at the amount of work though

hope ya get it sorted fella..... im sure if you've fitted a head a prop wont cause many issues ;)
 
good thing your handy with a spanner, some of use would be getting ready to bend over
 
theyre not hard to get off tbh.
undo the 6 6mm allen keys at the rear diff end, undo the three 10mm double hex bolts at the gearbox end. undo the engine mount that braces the gearbox to the subframe. undo and drop the center bearing down. you'll now need to swing the engine/gearbox forwards a couple of inches to enable the prop to have enuf room to come out.
 
i have a propshaft spare not that hard to change you just have to put the car in gear or the shaft keeps spinning while trying to undo you wont loose any fluids from gearbox or heldex the prop ive go is a good one if needed
 
1animal1 said:
doood really glad you found the issue....gutted at the amount of work though

hope ya get it sorted fella..... im sure if you've fitted a head a prop wont cause many issues ;)
Click to expand...

The whole damn engine in the end - and then the head, again! That wasn't much fun either..... lol. And yet it was, all at the same time...

finesse said:
good thing your handy with a spanner, some of use would be getting ready to bend over
Click to expand...

I am still getting prepped for the bending over mate - it's still going to cost. Especially with the addition of the downpipe etc, BUT, I can't in good conscience drop the subframe and take the downpipe off, to then refit the gash stock item.
 
ahhh you fix one thing just to find something else to ****** fix straight after!!

absolutely loving the look of the s3 though, is that matte black on the bonnet and roof?
 
murran said:
theyre not hard to get off tbh.
undo the 6 6mm allen keys at the rear diff end, undo the three 10mm double hex bolts at the gearbox end. undo the engine mount that braces the gearbox to the subframe. undo and drop the center bearing down. you'll now need to swing the engine/gearbox forwards a couple of inches to enable the prop to have enuf room to come out.
Click to expand...

Don't have to drop the subframe down to get it out? Looks like the doughnut won't come through the the downpipe in place....?
 
what sort of price did you pay to have that done if you dont mind me asking? or did you do it yourself? i think it looks the shizz! is it hard to take care of?

sorry for all the questions, iv fallen in love with it
 
quattro1 said:
what sort of price did you pay to have that done if you dont mind me asking? or did you do it yourself? i think it looks the shizz! is it hard to take care of?

sorry for all the questions, iv fallen in love with it
Click to expand...

A company near me did the roof & rear spoiler in vinyl wrap for £80 - bargain, but not the best job I've ever seen. Not that bad, but just not great.

The bonnet is paint, had it done when I had all the chips and rust bubbles removed from the bonnet. They actually match very well considering one is paint and one is vinyl.
 
leave the donut on the gearbox at first.
theres 6 bolts thru the dohnut. three hold it on the gearbox drive flange. three hold it on the prop. loosen all 6. its a bit tight for space some of them you can get to if you use a 10mm spanner with another spanner hooked it the open end. shove a big screwdriver thru the gaps in the u/j at the back to stop it turning while your undoing things.
undo the three that bolt it on the prop. theres a center bush in that end of the prop so when you swing the engine forward you'll need to drop the prop out of the back end to pull the bush out of the locating pin.
 
[ shove a big screwdriver thru the gaps in the u/j at the back to stop it turning while your undoing things.

just put the car in gear while undoing the bolts makes life alittle easier
 
Welly, could you maybe do a little guide with a few pics when you replace the part you have talked about in this thread. I think this maybe the reason I get a knocking noise every time I change gear.

Nathan
 
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S3 Nattie said:
Welly, could you maybe do a little guide with a few pics when you replace the part you have talked about in this thread. I think this maybe the reason I get a knocking noise every time I change gear.

Nathan
Click to expand...

Yes mate, I can do indeedy. Will be a while though as I am a bit tight for time this week - will be doing over the weekend and into next week.

Waiting for new prop shaft to be delivered tomorrow, and the downpipe I've bought to arrive.

I took a chance on the XS Power downpipe - people say they don't fit well, but I want to see for myself.... If nothing else, will be good as a beating stick.
 
Also, forgot to mention....

Won a TT prop shaft on ebay yesterday. It's the same car that my front driveshafts came from so they'll be reunited! lol. 38,000 mile TT and the shafts from the same motor were in A1 condition.

£120 delivered. Sweet. :thumbsup:

EDIT:

Have also now bought a powerflex dog bone mount bush - whilst I'm there, I may as well.... lol.
 
Last edited:
Welly said:
Also, forgot to mention....

Won a TT prop shaft on ebay yesterday. It's the same car that my front driveshafts came from so they'll be reunited! lol. 38,000 mile TT and the shafts from the same motor were in A1 condition.

£120 delivered. Sweet. :thumbsup:

EDIT:

Have also now bought a powerflex dog bone mount bush - whilst I'm there, I may as well.... lol.
Click to expand...

not that you have a reason to ask but you could have bought mine!!! im going back to OEM asap cos the damned rattling through the car is doing my nut in...everytime i get in the A3 its so much more refined.....annoyed with mine now so gonna get one bought when i get some motivation
 
Welly said:
Not allowed :(.

The 'Pics of your mrs' thread got me in trouble in the end. Someone on here (I don't know who...:() is one of my woman's friend's blokes.

I got grassed up.
Click to expand...

Thats just mean!!! :-(
 
1animal1 said:
im going back to OEM asap cos the damned rattling through the car is doing my nut in...everytime i get in the A3 its so much more refined.....annoyed with mine now so gonna get one bought when i get some motivation
Click to expand...

Same here. Altough it got better after driving a week with it.
But it still resonates at certain rpm.
 
ikbenben said:
Same here. Altough it got better after driving a week with it.
But it still resonates at certain rpm.
Click to expand...

That doesn't fuss me to be fair, I have been driving it for a year with a fecked prop rattling about!

I want as little engine movement as possible, and therefore it's the choice for me, me thinks.

Easy enough to change back though to be honest, so if it becomes a problem.... I shall melt it with a blow torch.
:eyebrows:
 
audi upgrades
Welly said:
That doesn't fuss me to be fair, I have been driving it for a year with a fecked prop rattling about!

I want as little engine movement as possible, and therefore it's the choice for me, me thinks.
Click to expand...

True, but when it was just fitted the car shaked more then an old diesel :ermm:
Now it's much better but still anoys me as it's a daily driven car. At full throttle the dash rattles around 5000rpm.
 
ikbenben said:
True, but when it was just fitted the car shaked more then an old diesel :ermm:
Now it's much better but still anoys me as it's a daily driven car. At full throttle the dash rattles around 5000rpm.
Click to expand...

Hmmmmm - OK, I shall bear that in mind as that doesn't sound great.... lol. I will keep the THS bush that's there at the moment as well.
 
rattles at 5000rpm??? blimey you sure its not too tight? thought mine might have been :)

mine rattles at junctions 50/50 of time, when pulling away etc...thats it but its enough for me to want rid, chuffing thing
 
Mine doesnt rattle at all at any time. I think both of yours maybe tighten to tightly. Mine had a very very small vibration when I first installed mine but went away after 50 miles or so and feels just like standard now

Nathan
 
mine was only nipped Nath....... but i suppose it wasn't torque'd, might have to go and buy a torque spanner this weekend on the off chance it cures it
 
Good morning peoples.....

OK - the existing prop shaft is now off.

Not that much fun to complete, however not that bad. Was mainly fiddly.

Got the car up on four stands instead of the rear ramps to enable the prop to spin to get to the bolts.

Took about an hour to get it out start to finish. Getting the new one back in will be another story however....

Took some photos of the broken prop shaft - and I mean broken.

One of the doughnut bolts on the engine end transfer box was missing - these cause of my problems in the first place I believe. There is damage all over the shaft - but most impressively the damage at the end which had the bolt missing.

Not only is there substantial wear damage to the doughnut itself, but the locator pin's guide hole has become warped and twisted.... much like me...:eyebrows:

As usual, a picture says a thousand words....

My Hover car:
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This is what the locator pin should look like this is the end connected to the rear diff - which was fine.

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From here are pics of the front doughnut and prop end.

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Need a new one me thinks....
 
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Hope fully not. There is a bit of wear damage on the transfer box's outlet flange, but nothing drastic.

Hopefully there won't be any other damage other than to the prop - the insides of the transfer box are pretty hardy, as are the diff - I expect the prop took the brunt of the damage as it has flex in it.

Two rears on the rear lower arms, under the springs or there abouts. Front are simply on the chassis legs.
 
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1animal1 said:
rattles at 5000rpm??? blimey you sure its not too tight? thought mine might have been :)

mine rattles at junctions 50/50 of time, when pulling away etc...thats it but its enough for me to want rid, chuffing thing
Click to expand...

It's only under for about a week. I must say it gets better day after day.
Dunno if it's too tight.
 
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