Cardan shaft replacement, aka drive shaft replacement.

NEW - LINK TO ALL PHOTOS FOR VIEW/DOWNLOAD
Original and edited photos uploaded in above link.


I had a chance to work on replacing my cardan shaft, as the one in the car gave me the famous symptoms of 'midget in console banging with a hammer'.
Important things to remember:
- replace flex disc at same time (worn out shaft bearing will cause wobble that in turn stresses the rubber disc out when you drive - I inspected mine and there were cracks when looking closely)
- take your time, no rush
- follow each step in sequence
- read each step completely before doing the work for that step. There are things that will speed your work once you are aware of them.


If you do not normally work on cars, no problem. Expect about half a day worth of work, but will be able to save a lot of money vs going to shop to do this (probably about $1200 - $1400 total).
If you work on cars already and are a DIY person, expect about 2 hrs worth of work.


REPLACEMENT PARTS INFO:

1. Drive shaft - purchased from www.coloradodriveshaft.com - cost: $475 including $100 charge for core (you get that money back after you return your old/bad part). Nice thing is that they provide a pre-paid and pre-addressed label for UPS, which you put on the shipping box you receive to ship old part back, and they do hi speed balance the shafts as well. They state that their shafts are much sturdier than originals, and will not fail, but I have no way to verify that.

2. Flex disc - purchased from ebay - cost: $90 shipped.

3. Rear drive shaft bolts - I did not replace mine with new ones, just made sure to tighten them up nice (tightened to 10 ft-lbs more than in spec)...seemed all fine, even with their coating. Service manual calls for replacement of these bolts though, so the call is yours.


I hope this will help the next one with this issue.





QUESTIONS/ANSWERS SECTION:

1.
Q: A question - was there any concern with centering the center bearing in the tunnel? Porsche has a special tool for this (basically looks like a big foam block the fits the tunnel and the driveshaft to make sure it's running true and straight. My plan if I need to do this is to mark the location of the mounting plate under the car, and reinstall it in the same spot (and bolt up the bearing assembly to the same spot on that plate.)

A: I address porsche tool (to align bearing) in picture 11 and 12.
If you have the tool, great. If not, you can still do it.
Without tool, you have to ensure that you bolt the bearing to bracket as the last thing in this DIY. You make sure you affix the bracket back into same location you took it out of (making marks around edges and bolts).
Tighten the 6 bolts to spec (in pics).
Then you put in the two bolts for the bearing but make sure they are nice and very loose. Then, reach up into the space and move the shaft and bearing in up/down then left/right motions (move it in all directions).
Observe where the bearing settles by noting where the bolts stop on bracket. Do this a few times and you will see that they will settle same spot. Remember, the bracket is what aligns the bearing up/down. The porsche tool does not align that. Also, after you have tightened down the rear and front of shaft, and after the bracket is in, the only way for the bearing bushing to go is sideways. Since it has 2 bolts, the sideways motion is not that much. By reaching and moving it up, you allow the bushing to settle in its natural position (least strain). After you note where the bolts rest, take a flat screwdriver and mark the bolt positions on the bracket (do this so that during torquing down you do not affix to improper position - important as this is where most screw ups will occur).

After marking the bolt positions, take your socket and gently start tightening both bolts few turns each. When they are snug, make sure they align with the marks you made and continue to torque down until they no longer move out of their positions. Then just torque down to spec (in pics) and you are done. Bearing aligned and job finished.

Thanks again.

 

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Subscribed, this is a great DIY! I have 69k miles on OEM shaft and plan on being proactive & doing this when it gets a little warmer this spring. Thanks a lot for taking the time to take all these pics and documenting every step for us!

 

np. Glad to see it up here to help out.

 

Thanks, this is something I will be looking to tackle after I complete my move in a few months. Kind of want to be proactive on this.

 

My view on the 'proactive' aspect on this part is this:

You already have the part in the car, so might as well keep using it until broke.
It would be nice to have the parts at home when you do observe the symptoms.
So if it was me doing proactive work, I would ensure I had a replacement shaft, flex disc on hand, but not do any work until the time comes. If you end up selling the car, you can bump up the price and sell shaft too with disc.
However, if you see the symptoms (and they will be evident - vilolent shaking/banging from under center console under acceleration), get home asap, park the car and then do the job. For all you know, you may never have an issue.

So that is my 2 cents on that topic.

 

From what I've been told, they don't just "go out." I've yet to feel anything and my car is 7 years old. I drive pretty hard in daily basis as well. I hope to get another 1~2 year out of it before it goes. Regardless, this is great!

 

the way it happened to me was one day all was great, I could gas it and everything felt OK.
Next day, trying to turn right onto a busy road and bang bang bang!!!!
So it does just go. As soon as I heard that, I got off the gas, and drove home gently.
Then took it out again in the evening to try to replicate, and sure enough, same thing, once on gas a decent amount, heard same thing. It seemed OK if I was not getting on the gas a lot.
Next day, went to work and after on the way home, even slight application of gas was causing it. Babied it home and that was it until I replaced the shaft.

I do not think there will be an early warning. It will start, and once you hear it, be prepared to get it replaced in the next couple days. Ignoring this warning will get you a tow ride home worst case.

Glad to see it will help.

 

Thanks for sharing. I've spoke to couple service advisors from different regions and that what they all told me. Anyways, I hope you already got coolant pipes replaced. This is a must IMO.

 

Great DIY.. are the photos available anyplace where we could access them for printing full size?

A question - was there any concern with centering the center bearing in the tunnel? Porsche has a special tool for this (basically looks like a big foam block the fits the tunnel and the driveshaft to make sure it's running true and straight. My plan if I need to do this is to mark the location of the mounting plate under the car, and reinstall it in the same spot (and bolt up the bearing assembly to the same spot on that plate.)

A thought for those who may want to buy a shaft before it's needed.. that pretty much will cost you an additional $200 since you won't get the core charge back.

 

the photos I uploaded are the size that I took. You can save each by left clicking on it to view, then right click and choose save file as... option. Save them all to one folder and you will have the pics for future reference.


I address porsche tool (to align bearing) in picture 11 and 12.
If you have the tool, great. If not, you can still do it.
Without tool, you have to ensure that you bolt the bearing to bracket as the last thing in this DIY. You make sure you affix the bracket back into same location you took it out of (making marks around edges and bolts).
Tighten the 6 bolts to spec (in pics).
Then you put in the two bolts for the bearing but make sure they are nice and very loose. Then, reach up into the space and move the shaft and bearing in up/down then left/right motions (move it in all directions).
Observe where the bearing settles by noting where the bolts stop on bracket. Do this a few times and you will see that they will settle same spot. Remember, the bracket is what aligns the bearing up/down. The porsche tool does not align that. Also, after you have tightened down the rear and front of shaft, and after the bracket is in, the only way for the bearing bushing to go is sideways. Since it has 2 bolts, the sideways motion is not that much. By reaching and moving it up, you allow the bushing to settle in its natural position (least strain). After you note where the bolts rest, take a flat screwdriver and mark the bolt positions on the bracket (do this so that during torquing down you do not affix to improper position - important as this is where most screw ups will occur).

After marking the bolt positions, take your socket and gently start tightening both bolts few turns each. When they are snug, make sure they align with the marks you made and continue to torque down until they no longer move out of their positions. Then just torque down to spec (in pics) and you are done. Bearing aligned and job finished.

Thanks again.

 

great write up man!! thumbs up!!! i love DIY guides and always try to post DIY as well.. helps everyone in the community!

 

Hey, is this DIY for getting a totally new assembly with the worn bearing/guide? I bought a replacement guide and the front shaft. Am I going to be able to fix this?
Thanks,
Robby