Technical Wheel wobble

[Daveof49]

Just taken croma on a 4 day break to Wales and she has rewarded me with a new problem.

I have started to get an intermittent wheel wobble especially when travelling in 4/ 5th gear at around 40/50 mph. Then it wears off. Also although it may be my paranoia but it also feels that there is a drop in power when this happens.

Looking through the forum Drive shafts have been mentioned but if it is one or both driveshafts going would it not be a continual fault?

It reminds me a bit of when a spark plug is starting to break down on a petrol engine you get that slight misfire the makes the car shake/wobble a little.

Have just had the glow plugs changed by my garage - another story, but can't believe that it could have anything to do with this.

An ideas anyone?

 

[Daveof49]

Forgot to mention in previous post when going over speed bumps there is a a quite loud creeking from the front drivers side. Could the wobble be caused by worn bushes?

 

[cjlar]

Sorry Dave, it looks as if an inner drive shaft is worn. Received wisdom (and a bit of personal experience) suggests that you you replace driver's side one first followed by passenger side(Dealer suggests starting with cheapest first) It seems to be guesswork and hopefully,good fortune
HTH
CJLAR

 

[Daveof49]

Oh B.....KS. Not more money

Do you have any idea of the cost of replacing driveshafts. Is a DIY job?

It would be interesting top know how much us Croma owners have spent on repairs and working it back to cost per mile driven over the term of ownership. I think we may well decide to call it a day if we we knew !!

 

[tarquin1867]

Before spending owt, have a look and see if there is any grease piled up on the lower engine shield under the drivers side central gaiter . This happened with mine and as I didnt find it for several weeks after the "40MPH Wobble" started it was passed the point of no return. If its only just started you can check if the boot cover is split on loose and refill the joint with CVgrease. This may save you having to replace the outer shaft .
Have a look through the posts on this using the "search threads" tab on the main page and you will get a run down on the whole sorry problem!!!

 

[cricklewood]

i had exactly the same symptoms, the o/s boot cover had come loose. repacked with grease and problem solved.

 

[Doofer]

I got an MOT advisory for an inner steering rack joint (is this the same as an inner drive shaft? I don't think it is). Vectras are known to eat these, and the symptoms are shake and some steering play (not severe, but you could waggle it a bit without the wheels moving) , plus knocking over bumps.

It was fixed this month at a very helpful local garage, who ordered pattern parts for a Vectra with the same engine (1.9 diesel). They said one was totally gone, the other wasn't far behind, so I got both done at once. Now it's like driving a new car. The bill...

Check and adjust tracking: £25 (essential after doing this, as the adjuster is on the part that's replaced).
Labour to replace both joints: £74.25
Parts: 2 @ £21.73 = £43.46

Total £142.71 + VAT = £171.25.

 

[Hellcat]

That would be the track rods. There are inners and outers.

 

[Daveof49]

Checked the boots, all seem ok so it looks more and more like the drive shafts.

Has anyone carried out the changing of said driveshafts and what exactly is involved?

Can anyone suggest where is the best place to buy new ones?

Oh what I would give for a Haynes manual,. sigh

 

[tarquin1867]

Will pay you in the short run to take the middle boot off on the drivers side shaft and have a look how much grease is actually in the joint. Repack with 140 gms of CV grease (moly) and replace the gaiter and give it a try. The outer drive shaft is £300 and both shafts are £500-(gulp) from a Fiat dealer(Mangoletsi in Cheshire). Refurbed shafts are available on the web but the shaft with the" tulip" end(female) is not a refurb part and I only replaced the outer shaft. The independent who did the job has asked his mate who works for Vauxshall dealers and they have had some trouble and now include the checking of the grease amount in the "full service" at there garage!!

 

[Doofer]

Oh what I would give for a Haynes manual,. sigh

Have you got eLearn? It's a workshop manual on CD, as supplied to the Fiat dealers. It's generally downloadable for free. If it's not on the downloads section of the site I'm sure someone here can dig it out and upload it somewhere.

 

[Daveof49]

Yes I do have the eLearn disc which is ok but nothing as clear as a good old Haynes manual.

I was thinking of taking the boot off and packing with grease so will give this a go at the weekend ,weather permitting and see how it goes.

My local car spares shop don't stock this drive shaft so have asked my local independent for a quote to supply and fit, should be interesting .

If anyone knows of a supplier and whats involved in DIY I would be grateful for your words of wisdom.

 

[Hellcat]

Find a motor factors who can recondition them. Ours were fully reconditioned for £100 and it was 24hrs turn-around.

Removal was a case of remove the hub bolt, put car on full lock, pull the shaft out the hub - so I'm told. Easy job though.

 

[Daveof49]

My garage has also suggested getting them re conditioned so am now looking into this. The garage reckons only about 1 hours labour so I am getting a quote to recondition and fit. However will still pack them with grease this weekend if the weather is kind to me.

 

[tarquin1867]

My independent who did mine had a problem replacing the clip around the gaiter as it was on its last legs . Might be a good idea to get a "Jubilee clip" of the right size before you start ;-)