Inner CV joint - Advice needed!

Ben Harris · Post by **Ben Harris** » Sun May 09, 2004 7:26 pm

Somehow (don't ask how

), I've managed to dislodge something in the inner CV joint, on the left hand side of my 480, and now my driveshaft is loose going into the transmission, and is rotating slightly off-center. Since this little "accident" occured, I've now read various comments in VADIS saying that you must be extreemly careful to make sure that you don't allow the left hand driveshaft to come out completely, as there's a special "spider" (Volvo's words) in there, which can get disturbed easily. If only I'd read that beforehand!

Anyway - I've done some searching on the net, and I believe the "spider" is more commonly known as a "Tripod CV joint". I also think that's what's most likely to have happened, is one of the little rollers has probably come off, as described in section 7 below.

Has anyone taken this apart before, and could advise if this is likely to be the case? I know that to dismantle the inner CV joint on this side, you have to drain the gearbox oil. Is there anything more to it? - Should I attempt it myself, or get a garage to do it? The car's still driveable, it vibrates horribly whilst going along, but I could get it to a garage, if need be.

Help!

Ben.

Non-Volvo text, taken from general website:

INBOARD JOINT (TRIPOD TYPE)
1. Cut away the boot and clamps. In some cases, a boot-retaining ring is used instead of a clamp. Use a brass drift to drive it away from the outer housing.
2. If the joint is to be reused, be sure to mark the relative position of the rollers with respect to the tracks they go into. Reassembling the joint in the wrong track could result in looseness, binding, and/or premature joint failure.
3. Remove the outer housing from the tripod. In some instances, this might require slightly deforming the tripod retaining rings or tabs with pliers or a screwdriver.
4. Wipe the grease away from the end of the half shaft.
5. If a snap ring is visible at the end of the shaft, remove and discard it. Otherwise, move the spacer ring back on the shaft and slide the tripod assembly away from the end of the shaft so that the cir-clip is exposed. Remove the circlip and discard it.

6. On some cars, the roller bearings are not held on the tripod by snap rings. If the joint is to be reused, wrap tape around the tripod to prevent the rollers from falling off.

7. Remove the tripod from the shaft, using a hammer and drift to tap against the base of the tripod. Do not pound on the roller bearings.
8. Clean the splines of the shaft. Apply a light coat of grease before reassembly.

Ben Harris · Post by **Ben Harris** » Sun May 09, 2004 7:32 pm

Oh, and here's the exploded diagram from VADIS. I think it's part #62 that I've "upset"/damaged/dislodged.

Ben.

Ben Harris · Post by **Ben Harris** » Mon May 10, 2004 9:41 am

Don't worry - I've booked it into a garage (Volvo specialist) to have it sorted. Aparently, I'm not the only one to have done it - they did it themselves by mistake on a customer's car, without realising, so I don't feel quite as bad now!

But it's something to bear in mind for anyone fitting lowering springs, changing shocks, or (as I was doing), replacing wishbone bushes on their 480....
DON'T LET THE LEFT HAND DRIVESHAFT COME COMPLETELY OUT!

Ben.

MatBat · Post by **MatBat** » Mon May 10, 2004 9:47 am

Hmm, mine came out pretty far, but seems fine, no vibration at all. Maybe I was lucky, Will take EXTRA care next time though.

Ben Harris · Post by **Ben Harris** » Mon May 10, 2004 10:11 am

Mine was fine when I did the shocks, and I think it was because the wishbone was still holding the stub-axel, preventing the driveshaft moving too far. When I did the wishbone bushes though, I had to remove the shock and the wishbone, so only the driveshaft and tie-bar were holding the stub-axel. There was nothing stopping the driveshaft coming out even further!

Ben.

chris1roll · Post by **chris1roll** » Mon May 10, 2004 11:21 am

we must be very lucky several times over then, we have changed driveshafts on the srock cars, and removed tehm for spares, and its all gone without a hitch!

Have to say when i lowered mine the first time, I did exactly the same thing, and was well woried, but it went back in ok.

Ben Harris · Post by **Ben Harris** » Mon May 10, 2004 12:32 pm

Hi Chris,

Have you tried taking out the the driveshaft from both sides? From what I've read in VADIS, this only seems to be a problem/concern for the left hand side. Have you got any advice on what the inner CV joint is like? Is the diagram I found (above - not the VADIS one!) accurate, with the little tripod thing?

I've changed the shocks on both my 480's, and lowered one of them without encountering this problem, but this time I think I've just been unlucky!

Cheers,

Ben

pol · Post by **pol** » Mon May 10, 2004 1:23 pm

I've had both driveshafts off a number of times on different 480s and never had this problem. The driveshaft's arent disposable once removed or anything are they?

My only thinking is it may get damaged if not supported properly when removing your wishbones. Probably wiser to remove them completely than to leave them hanging in the gearbox.

I think it's an accurate diagram. Think I separated those parts when fitting a gator. But didn't have to bend any casing. Was held on with a circlip if i remember rightly.

pol

Ben Harris · Post by **Ben Harris** » Mon May 10, 2004 1:41 pm

Yeah, you're probably right. Oh well, I'll have to be more careful next time.

Am I right in thinking that to remove the driveshaft (on this side, at least), you have to drain the gearbox oil?

It's booked into the garage now, so they'll sort it out. I'm hoping I've not damaged anything, and it's just a case of one of the circlips having come off. The guy I spoke to on the phone seemed to understand what would have gone wrong, and his only concern was if the clips had got into the gearbox, as then then it'd need to be flushed through a few times to get all the bits out. I can feel my wallet getting lighter, as I type

Ben.

pol · Post by **pol** » Mon May 10, 2004 3:38 pm

Yep, got to drain the gearbox for the gearbox / passenger side only. I've re-used my gearbox oil each time as i'm told the volvo original gear oil is pretty expensive and should never really need replacing.

pol

chris1roll · Post by **chris1roll** » Mon May 10, 2004 4:34 pm

The drivers side driveshaft is much easier, cos you don't need to drain teh gearbox oil, and its held in place with a couple of roll pins on a splined shaft.

joe larue · Post by **joe larue** » Mon Jul 26, 2004 9:27 pm

is it drive shaft inner cv or gearbox bearings? help.

martinholmesuk · Post by **martinholmesuk** » Mon Jul 26, 2004 9:35 pm

oops, Mine fell out (sorta) on Sunday. Don't ask how

hmmm well i had the jack holding it all up and i was undoing the shock and then the bolt came out and all the auto oil came out

Thank god for Walls icecream tubs

but not so good for my mates drive. (Sorry)

MatBat · Post by **MatBat** » Mon Jul 26, 2004 9:40 pm

martinholmesuk wrote:oops, Mine fell out (sorta) on Sunday. Don't ask how hmmm well i had the jack holding it all up and i was undoing the shock and then the bolt came out and all the auto oil came out

Thank god for Walls icecream tubs but not so good for my mates drive. (Sorry)

Heh, I left you alone for 3 mins, to hear you calling for help.

Drive is fine.

martinholmesuk · Post by **martinholmesuk** » Mon Jul 26, 2004 9:46 pm

Way I see it.

I call for your help when it's cars.

You call for help when it's computers.

Works well

My car record is not so g8. I still doubt you could brake a computer in 3 mins

. Hey then again maybe you could?!?

Hmm Frankfurt to change a IP? Yea sounds good to me!

Ben Harris · Post by **Ben Harris** » Mon Jul 26, 2004 11:45 pm

Well, mine's back at the garage again, because I've discovered that even though the garage took it all apart and fitted a new "spider bearing", they still didn't manage to put the driveshaft back in centrally:

Video clip of driveshaft wobbling (1.84MB)
(the camera's being held perfectly still, as you can see from the way the gearbox isn't moving).

As it was only "repaired" 2 months ago, and cost me just over Â£200 for them to "put right" (which they haven't managed to do, as it's been like that since I got it back), does anyone know what my rights are if they turn round and try and charge me again? Do garages have to provide a warranty on work they've done?

Ben.

dragon · Post by **dragon** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 11:43 am

Sounds like a simple case of the repair not being fit for the purpose it was made for - yes repairs are warranted in law, don't know for what period, but you can refuse to pay if they try to charge you - but as with all things legal, they will probably refuse to give your keys back and you'll have to take it to court... so depends on what it's worth to you. Hope the garage play nicely in the first place

chris1roll · Post by **chris1roll** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 5:13 pm

If they are anything like our garage they should be licking your boots! They forgot to put a copper washer on the sump plug on edds 480 last week, so he had an oily patch on his drive.

They let him have all three oil seals - crank, oil pump, and camshaft for the 740, plus the cambelt, for free, changed his oil again, (with a washer this time!) and next time he goes in they will do his tracking for free.

Guess you can't say fairer than that really.

Volvo 480 Club Europe

Inner CV joint - Advice needed!

Inner CV joint - Advice needed!

whining 2.0i gearbox