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Just pulled the driveline. Chasing out a noise. Dealer said flex plate. I haven't pulled the plate yet but what I can see it looks okay other than fresh scratches probably from the dealer inspection.
More info same basic question. what keeps the input end of the shaft from wobbling?
I have the drive shaft out of the tube. "Made in Germany" coupler on output end looks great. GM coupler on the input end has evidence of rotational contact with inner walls of torque tube. Metal showing through at contact points. The inside of the torque tube on the input end is scared from contact with the coupler.
I looked at the video.. that is def. NOT what mine looked like and I really don't think that's normal. I'd pull the torque tube apart and replace couplers/bearings while it's apart (I wouldn't be surprised if they are the source of the noise)
Pull on the shaft and see if it will slide towards you (perspective of video) about an inch. There's a bearing on the shaft that should sit inside a slot at the end of the torque tube. There's a bearing "slinger" on top of the bearing so you can't really see the bearing that well
If it slides in like I think it will then that will hold it fairly steady. It's not held absolutely straight on it's own.. there's a rubber coupler on one end and then the other end (on manual transmission cars anyways) rides inside a bearing on the crankshaft, so it's well supported to keep it straight once it's all together
Last edited by schpenxel; Jan 3, 2016 at 06:36 PM.
I looked at the video.. that is def. NOT what mine looked like and I really don't think that's normal. I'd pull the torque tube apart and replace couplers/bearings while it's apart (I wouldn't be surprised if they are the source of the noise)
Pull on the shaft and see if it will slide towards you (perspective of video) about an inch. There's a bearing on the shaft that should sit inside a slot at the end of the torque tube. There's a bearing "slinger" on top of the bearing so you can't really see the bearing that well
Did you buy a "rebuild" kit, or did you buy all the parts separate? I have a carbon driveshaft, but am waiting for a 6060 trans before I take it apart.
I did it the hard way and sourced all the parts myself... I found the bearings on Amazon and used some Lemforder couplers. Some people say you shouldn't use the BMW ones.. my belief is it's the cheapo BMW ones that are the problem.. Lemforder makes the OEM ones, so I think they are fine to use
If you need part numbers just let me know and I'll dig them up. It's 3 bearings total, about $35-40 a piece
Last edited by schpenxel; Jan 3, 2016 at 06:48 PM.
Trying to figure out if the outer surface of the bearing(13) mates to the rubber "O" ring(20) in the tube housing. On mine, before pulling the shaft from the tube, the shaft wobbled up and down allowing the coupler to contact the inside of the tube. I did not detect any play in the shaft, in and out or along the length of the shaft.
I'm telling you, the bearing goes in the opening where the o-ring is. I've had mine apart twice. That is why yours was flopping around like a loose noodle
This is technically a C5 torque tube but the design is the same
Last edited by schpenxel; Jan 3, 2016 at 08:07 PM.
This is very helpful. A rebuild kit is a no brainer. I'm concerned there may be damage to the bearing mating surface requiring me to replace the whole tube. schpenxel thank you for your help. Especially this cutaway image!
This is very helpful. A rebuild kit is a no brainer. I'm concerned there may be damage to the bearing mating surface requiring me to replace the whole tube. schpenxel thank you for your help. Especially this cutaway image!
Smack the thanks button on schpenxel's post FTW, that's the way to thank him.
This is very helpful. A rebuild kit is a no brainer. I'm concerned there may be damage to the bearing mating surface requiring me to replace the whole tube. schpenxel thank you for your help. Especially this cutaway image!
It looks so dirty that I doubt it's even worn. I'd expect to see fresh metal if it had been worn down
Install that shaft+bearing correctly just to see how it fits. It should be snug but the o-ring is what holds it.. so it will have a little give. If it's flopping around then it's worn.. otherwise, it's probably fine IMO
I'll find the part numbers for the bearing later. I found generic ones that are way cheaper than GM's
Nope. They should be flat. Them being flexed like that is why the bearing wasn't in the right place
The question is why... looks like there was a lot of pressure pushing back on the input shaft. I don't know enough about how the A6 versions work so I won't be much help there
Last edited by schpenxel; Jan 3, 2016 at 08:37 PM.
That explains why the bearing was not in the correct location and wobbling. This car is more of a daily driver than a racer of any type. I will be calling rpm transmission to get a rebuild kit.
That's probably the easiest solution. It's cheaper to just buy the parts individually yourself but obviously easier to just get them all from one place and be done with it.
Torque Tube Question
