ZX Driveshaft Problem?

anelson2000 · Post by **anelson2000** » 28 Oct 2004, 17:59

Hi,
I've had my '94 1.9D ZX for a few months now and recently on a long motorway trip (middle of the night, middle of a storm - like all problems) it developed a shudder. It's hard to describe but at over 60 when you put your foot down you can feel a vibration through the wheel; frequently you can feel it through the floor and hear it as well. I first thought balancing/tracking which I got checked out (no problems there) so whipped off the wheels, lo and behold the cv boot on the front o/s had split and was dry. I've packed it full of grease again as a temporary measure but I was wondering if anyone had any ideas as to what the noise might be!?
Thanks in advance,
Adrian

NiSk · Post by **NiSk** » 28 Oct 2004, 18:43

If you've run the CV joint dry (i.e. without any grease) for any distance at all, you will have ground all the moving parts with road dust (about as lubractive as valve grinding paste). I doubt very much that relubricating the joint will help - your juddering is the drivshaft trying not to rotate centrally - and it seems to be succeding!
//NiSk

rashmore · Post by **rashmore** » 28 Oct 2004, 21:00

The CV boot on my 1.9D came loose - rather than split so looked ok. wasn't until braking became interesting and got intermittant loud grinding noise in passenger side that became apparant.
Regreased and tie wrapped boot back on, but damage was done. still used for a good 6 months, but intermittant loud grinding above 60ish. Had new set of recon driveshafts put on as boots on both sides had a tendancy to pop off at will requiring frequent monitoring
Yet current zx not a prob..... touch wood

anelson2000 · Post by **anelson2000** » 28 Oct 2004, 21:57

Nyargh! Thanks both for getting back to me. Any ideas how much I should be looking at spending for recon driveshaft/fitting of? It SOUNDS like it should be expensive but I am drastically poor

Thanks again,
Adrian

JohnD · Post by **JohnD** » 28 Oct 2004, 23:37

If you can DIY you can replace the driveshaft for around £70.

Stuart McB · Post by **Stuart McB** » 29 Oct 2004, 01:01

I had a good phone around for a drivers side shaft on my old ZX TD, £72 is what I found. But saying that I ended up putting a good second hand one on that came off a guy on the for sale site. All I did was clean it and fit it with new gear box seals and gear oil. No problesm or noise. This way I paid £40 and got 2 drive shafts a drivers seat and some other bits thrown in. I'd go for second hand if you can find a known good scarpper.

anelson2000 · Post by **anelson2000** » 29 Oct 2004, 01:51

Cool, that's not as bad as I thought it would be - I must admit I am a Haynes manual mechanic - how easy would you say it would be to DIY? (answers in spanners out of 5

)

Stuart McB · Post by **Stuart McB** » 29 Oct 2004, 12:03

Well you seem to have some knowlede of mechanics so I would rate this job a mere 2 spanners for any difficulty.

Post by **RichardW** » 29 Oct 2004, 12:41

But you do need a 35mm socket and big tommy bar. Getting the bottom ball joint apart on ZXs can be interesting too. Depending on where you are, someone may be able to lend a 35mm socket.

rashmore · Post by **rashmore** » 29 Oct 2004, 14:47

I paid around £70 each re-cond'ed for the old zx but had them fitted - was having cambelt done so no point me getting oily. plus if exchange old one in may get cheaper ?
I paid about £6ish for a 35mm socket.
Easy enough to do - no need to split ball joint tho, just undo the three bolts holding ball joint to the arm and then pull strutt assembly outwards thereby allowing drive shaft replacement. depends if three bolts are normal nut and bolt or torque (star) bolts as may need an extra pair of hands - tho having said that old shaft is knackered so not bothered about damage to CV boot.....
Remember to replace gearbox seals to save hassle in future, take a couple of hours assuming everything comes undone ok [:)]
Shouldn't effect but for piece of mind tracking check is FOC

anelson2000 · Post by **anelson2000** » 31 Oct 2004, 16:30

Nice one! Thanks for everyone's help, I shall give it a go!
Thanks again.
p.s; great forum, darn good idea.