Folks,

I have a noise on my driver's side drive shaft, sounding very much like a poorly U/J.

There is none of the "clattering" on full-lock associated with failure at the wheel end. Hence, I wonder if this is something to do with the inboard U/J. Or the bearing.

The noise diminishes when gentle left-lock is applied. The wheel bearing was replaced not too long ago. It does not sound like a wheel bearing, which makes a distinctive rumble.

Has anyone had any experience of fixing these? Can an average transmission specialist replace the necessary bearings? Or is there some mechanical exotica involved?

r

The inner joints don't usually make a noise when they wear but they do cause vibration, usually noticable on a long journey when the get hot and the grease melts.

Could be the centre bearing although I had one of those disintegrate without telling me, just suddenly lost drive when it slid out of the gearbox.

I have always replaced mine with secondhand ones without problem.

Peter

Many thanks.

I've not studied the books yet, but is replacement of the bearing fairly straightforward?

r

Don't know about the bearing, I fitted a secondhand shaft.

Peter

I replaced my 2.1TD offside shaft centre bearing just using a home made puller and tubular drift. The centre bearing is an interference fit on the shaft, backed up with a bush. The bearing size is rather non standard (at least as far as my supplier search went) at 35x62-16 + metal seals and so I bought it from Citroen, p/no 324706, together with the bush p/no 324810. Other models may use a different size bearing, so best to check.

The longest part of the job was getting the shaft off the car and refitting it after repair, which of course involves draining and refilling the gearbox.

Ken

PS 35x62-14 metal sealed bearings are readily available on ebay such as http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FAG-6000zz-Serie...=item1e7190be88
Makes me wonder if the Citroen Service description of the bearing 35x62-16 is wrong - it wouldn't be the first time.

Thanks, Ken.

However, I wonder if the 2.5 is different. Can anyone confirm?

r

Hi rg, having checked the cit services site it would seem only the BE g/box has a different bearing - not fitted to the DKE. The same p/n listed by Ken is used on all shafts for HP18, ME5T & MG5T g/boxes.
robertm

Many thanks.

I'm a bit confused here - so the 2.5 shaft shares the same bearing as the 2.1?

Hi rg

I would describe it as there being 3 shaft variations.
Lightweight (for BE3), medium weight (other boxes Mk1 & early Mk2) plus heavyweight for the later Mk2's.
Medium and heavyweights are interchangable as the differences do no affect the ends, lengths or bearings.
It is the outer shaft that varies.
Mediumweight outer shaft is solid & heavyweight is hollow tube.
The larger diameter of the hollow tube means the CV boots are different as well.

In my opinion for a 2.5 it is best to use the hollow shaft version.
The unsprung mass is quite a bit lower so the suspension is a bit better behaved over potholes.

John