Drive Shaft Question

[RRoller123]

I had trhe driveshaft rebuilt a short while ago, and while I was under the car yesterday I noticed that this collar, just behind the guibo output side donut (indicated by the heavy yellow arrow) spins freely on the shaft. 2 questions: I assume that this is correct and that it acts like a race between the output of the guibo and the rest of the shaft? Should just spin unimpeded? Also there is a grease fitting that I need to ensure was filled. Maybe this is the source of the chirping / "crickets" sound that we had been discussing awhile ago? Any comments from those of you who are familiar with these items is appreciated!

[seabeelt]

Not sure that it should spin, I will check my parts car when I get home as the shaft is exposed through the floor and readily accessible.

[Fi8spider]

Hi Roller,
The light arrow is pointing to a lube hole plug for the splines on the front of tailshaft where they (the tailsft splines) sit into the front sleeve or yoke. There is movement in this splined area as the driveline lengthens and shortens as the diff travels up and down.

The heavy arrow is pointing to a cover/seal that simply protects the front splines from getting dirt in them and keeps the lube in, later spider models (like yours) and CC coupes have a large spring in them. It's normal for them to be able to be rotated but it should fit snug.

[RRoller123]

Excellent F18Spider, thanks for the reply! I was a little worried because the mechanic I use, although very good, has almost no experience with these cars (just mine!). The allow and I tend to work alongside him under the lift, which is great and I can keep an eye on things, but I didn't participate in this job. Good to know that it seems normal. I think I will crawl under there and make sure that the splines are well lubed with grease. Hopefully that will stop the chirping that I am getting irregularly .

[maytag]

I would not expect that to be the source of your chirping, but best make sure it is lubed in any case.

I would more expect the center support bearing to be the cause of your chirp.

I recently discovered that a very loud, almost mechanical "CLANK" noise was in fact the tin shield that sits behind the rubber part of the motor mount. This was particularly strange because the noise sounded internal to the motor, and definitely sounded like it came from the front of the motor. I was near ready to pull off the water-pump and find out what was caught in the impeller!

My point only being that sometimes the noises can come from something which seems completely unrelated.
Especially difficult to find when it is irregular, like yours.

[RRoller123]

Yeah, we replaced the CS bearing as part of the DS rebuild, but I had the chirp beforehand and also after, although it disappeared for about 20 miles after the rebuild.... I agree that it is unlikely that the sleeve is causing the chirp. I just can't face the idea that it is something internal to the transmission. That would be really bad. I have been hoping to avoid having anything to do with the transmission internals, other than changing fluids!

[Fi8spider]

Excellent F18Spider, thanks for the reply! I was a little worried because the mechanic I use, although very good, has almost no experience with these cars (just mine!). The allow and I tend to work alongside him under the lift, which is great and I can keep an eye on things, but I didn't participate in this job. Good to know that it seems normal. I think I will crawl under there and make sure that the splines are well lubed with grease. Hopefully that will stop the chirping that I am getting irregularly .

I recall the thread you raised this chirping sound in as I had a similar sound coming from my tailshaft after an overhaul. I loosened off the pillow block strap to body nuts and recentered it as I have the bushing missing from that area, it worked for me. (I really must get those parts sorted) Anyway, I'd be keen to hear how it goes after a bit of lube on the front splines.

In all honesty I did give it an almighty thrash (a-la-maytag ) right after the adjustment - I don't know if that helped loosen anything up but it certainly put a smile on my dial .

[RRoller123]

Thanks for following up! Yes, I did and still do hav ethe chirp but have been hesitant to adjust the pillow block positioning because I haven't figured in my head what the change should be and how to alter this variable a little bit at a time. Did you just apply some pressure to either side and see what the effect was? (I also have been redoing the dash and radio so I have been off the road for awhile). I would be curious about suggestions on how to go about attacking the PB adjustment.

On a separate note, I was under there and didn't see the bushings that we have been mentioning. Are these pads that the PB support bracket sits on? Separates the bracket from the frame? If so, mine are missing too!

[Fi8spider]

The pillow block is mounted on the crossrail(4191222), the cross rail is the part that I loosened off and moved around a tad to try and centre it on the studs either side of the tunnel as I am missing the spacers (4074482) and my rubber rings (4074483) are in bad condition.

Early tailshaft diagram however the pillow block and cross rail is the same as in your later model Spider.


From what I understand you're saying that your car is missing the same parts as mine and we both experienced this chirping sound from the tail shaft.

Could this be our culprit or am I just clutching at straws?

My noise has gone since I adjusted it, see how you go.

If I can get my hands on a spare cross strap I could match the missing parts up quite easily to make good my/our situation.
The mounting studs are an 8mm x 1.25 so finding or making a couple spacers and locating suitable grommets wouldn't be too difficult.

[RRoller123]

Thanks for the diagram, that is excellent. So it looks like the rubber mounts are basically rubber washers used only at the 2 points where the PB cross support bolts to the frame, there are none where the PB itself attaches to this cross support? I need to go under and take another look. I was in there this morning and pumped about 1/2 of a small tube of grease into that fitting. None came out anywhere. I will take it out for a drive hopefully later today after I get the radio back in and see if it is any better! It stinks having no work right now (waiting on 4 outstanding quotes) but at least I can putter with the Spider!