Thread: Bad vibrations

Have a climb underneath and have a look at the rubber donut on the rear tail shaft, the extra load off road may have caused it to collapse. Other than that check there is no mud somewhere putting the drive line out of balance.

Originally Posted by Matplat

Hi all,

So I have been the proud owner of a 96 d1 tdi auto for about 7 months now, and sad as it may be last weekend was the first time I really got the chance to hit the tracks

It was pretty muddy after the rain so you can imagine what the underside of the car looked like before I got in there with the pressure washer!

The disco performed fantastically, I couldn't be happier with off road performance.... however the excursion has left me with some undesirable syptoms.....

Basically I can feel a vibration through my feet when accelerating/under load, it kind of feels like driving over gravel, once up to speed it is fine which is what has me confused.

The only other factor in the equation is that even before going off road something (in the drive line I think) was squeaking when under load, however this is probably unrelated.....

Could the vibration be anything to do with transmission oil requiring replacement?

Cheers, Matt

I've dropped a weight on the rear shaft before which caused bad vibrations as well. Also check the front drive shaft.

What do you mean by "dropped a weight" ?

Cheers, Matt

Originally Posted by Matplat

What do you mean by "dropped a weight" ?

Cheers, Matt

Prop shafts are balanced prior to installation and just like wheels, have weights attached. (although they look slightly different - normally flat rectangles)

Ok cool, what would I be looking for as in indicator that a weight is missing?

Cheers, Matt

Originally Posted by Matplat

Ok cool, what would I be looking for as in indicator that a weight is missing?

Cheers, Matt

A rectangular spot cleaner than the rest of the drive shaft....

Landover, got it in one mate!

Checked under the car and the rubber bush has **** itself, then drove home very gently.....

Righto, on further inspection something more sinister has manifested....

Because the rubber bush has crapped itself so badly, under load one of the driveshaft flanges has managed to make contact with one of the bolt heads attaching the bush to the diff, and the two have worn each other away....

Check it out here



Now my question is to all gurus, is it worth attempting to weld build up the missing material on the drive shaft or not?

Further to that, would there be any issue with welding the driveshaft without any pre or post weld heat treatment?

Thanks heaps, Matt