Well...

Fiat have confirmed it is a faulty part. They don't know why it has failed in this way and such are unwilling to supply any more of these parts. Sounds like our old shaft is going for reconditioning then!

Hellcat said:

Well...

Fiat have confirmed it is a faulty part. They don't know why it has failed in this way and such are unwilling to supply any more of these parts. Sounds like our old shaft is going for reconditioning then!

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Wow --- heads finally come out of the sand!!
Just as a point of order, did the three legged bearings come off the end of the shaft or did it remain on the shaft and just come out of the female part( tulip). Could be that as it is held on by a C spring clip this may have been missed off. If it was still intact on the shaft it can only be that the shaft is too short in the first place. Might even be for a Stilo?!!
My mind is still boggled by this.

tarquin1867 said:

Wow --- heads finally come out of the sand!!
Just as a point of order, did the three legged bearings come off the end of the shaft or did it remain on the shaft and just come out of the female part( tulip). Could be that as it is held on by a C spring clip this may have been missed off. If it was still intact on the shaft it can only be that the shaft is too short in the first place. Might even be for a Stilo?!!
My mind is still boggled by this.

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The spider was still attached onto the end of the shaft - but 2 of the bearings had been pulled off. I'm still confused as to how it could have came off. I don't have the part to compare though, and didn't want to dis-assemble it (and the original).

It happens over here as well!! I am getting the long shaft replaced with a "recon" unit from F**t for 176 Euro plus labour. New unit costs 268!
Dealer tells me that returned units are binned after examination as they know they are substandard! The low price is subsidised by F**t as a gesture of goodwill.

Hellcat said:

The spider was still attached onto the end of the shaft - but 2 of the bearings had been pulled off. I'm still confused as to how it could have came off. I don't have the part to compare though, and didn't want to dis-assemble it (and the original).

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I`m not surprised by this as the bearings are only pressed on to the spider as they are not meant to be outside the female tulip during operation. If ,as yours did it was able to "rotate" in fresh air then it allows the centrifugal force to throw them off the spider and into orbit.
The whole idea of the spider/tulip gubbins is to allow the wheel to move in its arc when it is loaded down or goes over a bump/corners without putting strain on the transmission. It also removes "torq steer" which occurs with cars that have different lengths of drive shafts due to the gearbox being on one side of a transverse engine.
The shaft that escaped can only have been too short to do what it did, it was for another car in the fiat range I`m sure of it.

cjlar said:

It happens over here as well!! I am getting the long shaft replaced with a "recon" unit from F**t for 176 Euro plus labour. New unit costs 268!
Dealer tells me that returned units are binned after examination as they know they are substandard! The low price is subsidised by F**t as a gesture of goodwill.

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Good to hear you can get a full shaft for 268Euros. Mine would have been £500+!!!! without fitting. Have you any way you can see if the new part is marked up GKN (part no)non-recon on the large diameter of the wheel end joint, normally in the track where the gaiter fits ont the shaft. If it does i`m going to get very cross with Fiat as they are made in GB and if they are charging more here than in Ireland I feel that i`ve had mi pants down!!

tarquin1867 said:

Good to hear you can get a full shaft for 268Euros. Mine would have been £500+!!!! without fitting. Have you any way you can see if the new part is marked up GKN (part no)non-recon on the large diameter of the wheel end joint, normally in the track where the gaiter fits ont the shaft. If it does i`m going to get very cross with Fiat as they are made in GB and if they are charging more here than in Ireland I feel that i`ve had mi pants down!!

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Getting it tomorrow, will keep you updated

Refund agreed with Fiat on Monday. Original shaft handed in to the motor factors that 11am. That same shaft; reconditioned both ends; collected Tuesday 11am. Now fitted back to the car.

Total cost - £97.

Hellcat said:

Refund agreed with Fiat on Monday. Original shaft handed in to the motor factors that 11am. That same shaft; reconditioned both ends; collected Tuesday 11am. Now fitted back to the car.

Total cost - £97.

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Well now i`m totally confused!! what was wrong the time it escaped? Hope its the end of your problem but its a poser and no mistake. Probably be thinking about it when they come and take me to the home for the permanently bewildered!!

tarquin1867 said:

Well now i`m totally confused!! what was wrong the time it escaped? Hope its the end of your problem but its a poser and no mistake. Probably be thinking about it when they come and take me to the home for the permanently bewildered!!

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They said it was a faulty part - I got no details beyond that so I'm afraid I can't confirm if the part was incorrect, or if it just failed.

The numbers for Tarquin are (10184574GKN GKN 27 120201 NON REVISIONABLE)

HTH
CJLAR

cjlar said:

The numbers for Tarquin are (10184574GKN GKN 27 120201 NON REVISIONABLE)

HTH
CJLAR

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Same as mine!!! Will be sending a stiff e-mail to those nice lads at Fiat UK and Mangoletsie in Cheshire about this. Feeling that mad I think I will claim for vaseline as well. Feel well "shafted".

The wobble is coming back! Has anybody replaced the inner shafts or do I have to renew the other outer shaft?














Bugger!!

Ours hasn't completely gone away, which is bad as I've got a 6 hour drive to Kent coming soon - and 6 hours back!

If my Marea's aircon was working I'd take that over the Croma but 6 hours in a hot car is worse than a case of vibration white-finger!

Mine is also returned but only at 45mph on a R/H bend. L/H bend -- no probs. When I asked my mechanic he said some of his Vauxhall mates have had the similar and unless you change both the drivers side components it will always cause a prob. He suggests that as it is now a wear problem on the inner surface of the "tulip" which may be slightly conical. This would explain why it only happens on a L/H bend. keeping it packed with grease is the best way of reducing this wear.

OK Final chapter (for me!!) Have now replaced lefthand side short shaft (160 euro) only to discover very worn and dry Hardy Spicer on outer shaft. Ordered and delivered overnight from F**t UK (245 euro) Both fitted today (50 euro). Both exchange
So: That's all four replaced since June, so unless I reverse everywhere I hope my wobble has buggered off!! Now to fix my credit card

I feel your pain brother, i feel your pain.

If you have read the other threads you will see that there is an issue with grease or the lack of it. If/when you get a service done ask them to check the tightness of the CV Gaiter clips and check grease is present and gaiters are not split.