MikeG20 said:

I must catch time first to do that experiment, because i have Mareas shafts.
Everything is possible, except wooden stove hehe
Yes, if you replace tripod, you should replace bowl also because it could be slightly damaged inside

Click to expand...

Ah ok! I thought that you already had the Marea shafts in your Bravo.

So, problem solved! I bought an used but almost new left drive shaft from a shop in East-Germany and a new joint at a Fiat specialist. They also fitted the new parts. All problems are gone and it "only" costed me 400 euro. Better than 1400 euro at the Fiat dealer.

Two photo's of the "operation"





Old drive shafts were very, very bad. I didn't had to run it more than 1000km, otherwise it would have broke with all the consequences...

You replaced left, shorter drive shaft?
I thought that right longer one i making problems.
So you changeduther joint so called CV joint , whole shaft and tripod joint on gearbox side?

Do you have some photos of old shaft to see what is wrong on it, what made those simptoms

I talked about this problem with my expert friends and service mechanics.
Problem is in the grease. Original Fiat (Tutela) grease through time becomes like oil and then slowly leaks out from cv boot, three lobe joint stays dry in his cup and then vibration starts.
I saw that on my car, everything was in grease around boot.

They said it would be necessary to replace grease every 30-40 000 km. Or try to use some kind of Valvoline joint grease that is red colored but i dont know exactly what type/name is it, but probably it is better and wont turn oilish

But interesting is that 1.9 mjet has same version of shafts and those things doesnt happen, or am i wrong?

MikeG20 said:

You replaced left, shorter drive shaft?
I thought that right longer one i making problems.
So you changeduther joint so called CV joint , whole shaft and tripod joint on gearbox side?

Do you have some photos of old shaft to see what is wrong on it, what made those simptoms

Click to expand...

Mike, sorry, offcourse I meant I bought a RIGHT drive shaft, not left.
On the left drive shaft the garage placed a new tripod and bowl on the inner side.

I don't have pictures of the shaft, and the shaft stayed at the garage, but the tripod "wheels" were almost broken loose from the stick they are fitted on.
There was so much friction on them.

Besides, the grease was everywhere. The complete bottom of the engine is no covered with grease. Despite that the boots were not damaged, the grease has come out trough the pressure under the clamp. I can now fully confirm the story you have been told.

Concerning the drive shafts of a 1.9 mjet: same problem. Also Alfa Romeo drivers in the Netherlands do have a lot of complaining about the drive shafts.

Thanx for info, that was very helpful
Now some things are clearer.

LSP said:

Mike, sorry, offcourse I meant I bought a RIGHT drive shaft, not left.
On the left drive shaft the garage placed a new tripod and bowl on the inner side.

I don't have pictures of the shaft, and the shaft stayed at the garage, but the tripod "wheels" were almost broken loose from the stick they are fitted on.
There was so much friction on them.

Besides, the grease was everywhere. The complete bottom of the engine is no covered with grease. Despite that the boots were not damaged, the grease has come out trough the pressure under the clamp. I can now fully confirm the story you have been told.

Concerning the drive shafts of a 1.9 mjet: same problem. Also Alfa Romeo drivers in the Netherlands do have a lot of complaining about the drive shafts.

Click to expand...

Where did you buy the drive shaft/ parts ?

tjetninja said:

Where did you buy the drive shaft/ parts ?

Click to expand...

The passanger drive shaft came out of east Germany, but was from an Bravo that has been demolished.
The left CV Joint is from a Croma, which was in stock at Fiat specialist Geuzendam, Almelo.

It is, very, very hard to find a drive shaft in Europe for a Bravo t-jet 120/150 sport. You can try on this dutch website:

Left drive shafts:
http://www.onderdelenlijn.nl/voorra...derdeel=aandrijfas-links-voor&status=gebruikt

Right drive shafts:
http://www.onderdelenlijn.nl/voorra...erdeel=aandrijfas-rechts-voor&status=gebruikt

Very important: You really have to look for a shaft comming out of a Bravo with the same engine! Only the shafts from a t-jet 120/150 HP are the same!

So problem is when grease comes out, tripod damages inner side of the cup.
In my country prices are for new original part: tripod 110 euros, cup 350 euros, for refurbish cup price is 180 euros, non original tripod 60 euros.

Tripod is the same as on 1.9 mjtd Alfa GT.
So im waiting confirmation is the whole shaft same as on diesel verions with M32 gearbox

All info and pictures from excellent Bertol Fiat service in Croatia

Hi gents

I have a Bravo T jet 150 which has developed a bad vibration on acceleration most noticeable at 40 to 60 mph.It gets even worse when going uphill.There is no knocking or banging and it isnt a wheel balance issue.Havent had it checked yet but it certainly feels like a Driveshaft or joint issue.

What do you think? Any advice gratefully received.

Yes. You need to check shafts, take them of, check inner side of cup for wear and tripod. If you dont need to change anything, you will just renew grease, and that isnt expencive at all

MikeG20 said:

Yes. You need to check shafts, take them of, check inner side of cup for wear and tripod. If you dont need to change anything, you will just renew grease, and that isnt expencive at all

Click to expand...

Thanks very much Mike for the advice which I will follow.

Finally caught some time to check shafts on my Bravo.

I also had some vibration during acceleration.

Dis assembled both shafts, and i found next: on the right (longer) shaft, cup wasnt damaged inside but one bearing on tripod is worn and have slight clearance. Outer CV joint is like new.
On left shaft, cup is slightly damaged inside (passing with finger on inner surface you can feel dent) and two bearings on tripod have too big clearance. I thing that tripod damaget cup because of worn tripod bearing.

Right cup-no dent:



Left cup-with dent:



Comparation-right cup is from Bravo t-jet, left is from Stilo jtd 115HP
Almost the same, same inner side, same tripod, but different number and size of teeth (25 tjet, 34 jtd) that goes inside differential.

I was so disapointed with that.





So if you buy used shaft, check those teeth and try to pass with finger on inner side of the cup, every corner. You shouldnt find any dent
Try to check shafts every 30-40 000km, renew grease because new grease prevents tripod and cup damage. Try to use hi temp grease (eg. some that liquifies at 250 deg. Celsius) like Valvoline or Lucas like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lucas-Oil-X...t=UK_Hand_Tools_Equipment&hash=item56626947ae

Thats the only way to prolong lifetime of shafts, because normal grease liquifies and runs out of boot.
And dont spare grease, i put almost half of kilo in both cups

Great explanation Mike! This topic is getting more and more usefull for Bravo driver's.

LSP said:

Great explanation Mike! This topic is getting more and more usefull for Bravo driver's.

Click to expand...

Thank you
It is usefull for all cars with this type of shafts (jtd), as mentioned, on diesel happens same thing

i just replaced the right driveshaft on my 150 tjet

bought from ebay for 135 GBP plus 40 GBP shipping to Cyprus
this is the part number
71792552 or 51794995
fits left or right

i had very bad shaking, the problem is reduced very much after i changed one driveshaft, i want to replace my bad tires and see how it goes before i decide to replace the 2nd driveshaft

Finally i ended my story with driveshafts. I took off driveshafts and i got them forged: inner side of cup was grinded, then coated with harder metal (some kind of welding procedure) then again grinding and then forged in very high temperature furnace. Al that with new non original tripods costed 200 euros (150GBP) . But vibration was still present, then i took of outer left cv joint and replaced it, i bought brand Pascal for 30 euros peace (25 GBP), on box says Made in Japan!!




Before i change CV joints i heard knocing sound comming from wheel side while driving and turning left, sound was harder while accelerating

Now, there is no knocking or vibrating. So check also CV joints,when took off, they must not have any free play while moving it with hand

Thought I check the car today and found this.

Is this a new driveshaft job or can it be fixed. Oil was pretty much all over the place.

Thanks

Might just be a seal. Hard to judge without taking it out.

Taking it down on Monday.