JUST BOUGHT A A4 2.4SE NEED ADVISE

[sirmarky]

I have not been on here for ages (sold my old a4 and missed it)
I have just won a 98 a4 2.4 se on ebay and it needs a driveshaft or outer cv joint for the
drivers side as it's a non runner due to this and I need to collect it !
I was going to do a 'road side' repair on this as am I right in thinking the shaft can be removed
even with the wheel on ?
Also the guy im buying it off said the mechanic who fitted the passenger joint previously, told him a standard joint wont fit and it had to have a 'quattro' joint fitted so it cost a lot more ?
I dont want to drive 100 miles with my tools to find that it's the wrong part !
Am i correct in thinking that a4's often snap the drive shaft itself ?
Any help with part numbers or info would be greatly appreciated

mark

 

[aragorn]

There are two sizes of outer CV, depending on the bearing used.

V6's should have a 85mm bearing, and so the larger of the two CV's

Quattro or not has ****** all to do with it, you just need a joint for a V6 A4.

I very much doubt you'll get the shaft out with the car on its wheels, you'll probably need to remove the pinch bolt at the top of the strut, and pull the strut out.I did a CV boot on our old car and this was the easiest way to do it. Having said that, i knew the pinch bolt was free, and yours may not be.

Easiest thing to do would be to swap the entire shaft, rather than messing trying to swap the joint itself at the roadside. Ebay may turn up a spare shaft, just make sure its from a FWD car if thats what yours is, or the inner joint wont fit. You'll need a comprehensive tool kit, including a 17mm hex key and big breaker bar for the hub nut, and a XZN/Spline set to undo the driveshaft from the gearbox. And a nice wodge of luck to get that top pinch bolt out. If that bolts siezed you'll be stuffed, as you'll probably need to drill it out and fit a new bolt afterwards, not a fun job to do in the middle of nowhere.

 

[sirmarky]

thanks for that , i remember doing a full passenger side driveshaft on a 2004 a4 1.9 tdi , i did that with the wheel on and suspension still connected.
i'd like to fix it at the road side (im a mechanic by trade !) to save recovery costs and was worried about taking the wrong part to the car.
by the way the car is a front wheel drive only.
thanks
mark

 

[aragorn]

Well with mine the shaft wouldnt clear the "cup" on the gearbox stub that the inner CV bolts onto, and as such you cant push the outer CV out of the hub.

FWD V6 should still have the big outer CV.

 

[pjw]

I just did a quattro outer CV with a mate on a 2.8, and we didnt pull the strut. Just popped a balljoint, disconnected the ARB drop link and the lower strut bolt. Then you can swing the hub out enough to swap the cv joint.

I would ask for a photo if possible, as you may get there and find that the splines on the shaft are actually whats knackered, then your outer cv will be useless. Ive been to a lot of cars in the past with problems declared, and 75% of them are worse or are something else on top.

As for fitting, the outer joint comes straight off easily and the new one goes on easily enough too. I would use big *** thick tiewraps to hold the boot on for now then when you get home get some jubilee clips on as the clips in the box never go on properly - if your in a rush in the cold they will only get on your nerves.

Good luck

 

[sirmarky]

TRUE , i guess the splines could have gone , might get a full shaft to be on the safe side.
hope it's not the gear box though ! i havent actually seen the car but it was super cheap & tax/tested...
Has anyone had to replace a gearbox due to loss of drive ?
Im thinking on the lines of a roadside repair , then drive home ... if all fails suppose i could rely on the RAC !


mark

 

[aragorn]

TBH i've never heard of a broken tranny in all the time i've been on here.

If its taxed and tested i'd be phoning the RAC and playing dumb.

 

[murran]

if its a manual you can get the shaft out without disturbing the suspension.
if you get the car supported on a stand.
get the wheel off.
undo the shaft at both ends.
then get your trolley jack under the ball joint on the straight lower arm.
jack it up so your compressing the suspension till your almost lifting the car off the stand.
you'll find you can just drop the shaft out past the driveflange over the top of the subframe and out from underneath.
done lots like this at work.

 

[jcb]

If its taxed and tested i'd be phoning the RAC and playing dumb.

Ha, a classic trick.
I was "given" a Mk2 golf with 1 month tax and test, a shagged clutch and a coolant leak.
picked in up in London and drove it as far as Northampton before I ran out of petrol and had to pull in to a service station.
Clutch exploded just as a depressed it coming into the carpark.

Rang the RAC and had a coffee.
lifted me home to Newcastle from there!!

 

[pjw]

Put it out on the street, by pushing or whatever, and get RAC to tow it home for you.

Worst it will be is a driveshaft, just test it goes into all the gears easily otherwise i would either walk away or budget in for a gearbox, and probably clutch. Might cost you more than its worth spending if thats the case.

 

[sirmarky]

hi ,
thanks for the replies , the car has been parked on the road for im guessing a couple of weeks.
now , a mate at work said "what will you do if you get there and the discs are rusty , mr rac man will know you aint just broken down"
this worries me , that i might be stuck 140 miles from home with a broken car !
i took to the idea of taking 3 pairs of vise grips and clamping the shaft and getting the grips to snag on the bottom arm , then in turn i should be able to drive the car a few yards to clean the discs and make it look like its not snowed in !...

are the rac that keen on this type of thing ? im paying them £13 a month for membership , and have been for the last 2 years...

 

[aragorn]

You could just claim its been "snowed in" for a week, and it broke when you came to drive it away...

Which would explain the rusty disks quite nicely.

 

[sirmarky]

oh yes , good idea !
just me i worry too much .....
is there much i can expect to be different with this car (2.4 1998) to my old 1996 a4 2.6 ?
im hoping its a little more modern !
loved my old a4 but the interior was showing its age..

 

[aragorn]

Interior will probably be identical, they didnt change until the facelift in mid-99.

 

[pjw]

Whatever you say to the RAC man, dont worry. By the time hes turned up hes going to help you. Imagine the amount of people who know totally nothing about cars at all who phone them.

Worst comes to worst theyll tow it to a garage and you could just pay them labour to fit your parts while you tab and drink tea.