3200 Propshaft Warning

mchristyuk

Junior Member
Messages
668
Chaps,

I thought I'd start this thread because I vaguely remember somebody suffering a driveline failure on their Maserati and it was because the bolts that hold the propshaft on to the diff had sheared.

Well.. I think mine was about 100 miles away from doing the same thing!

I noticed a slight vibration at speed towards the rear of the car had started recently. Thought it had thrown a wheel weight so whilst she was in getting some minor post MOT work done this week I asked my friendly mechanic to take the rear wheels next door to the tyre centre to get them checked.

Suffice to say he didn't have to remove the wheels. Whilst giving the old girl the once over he noticed that the propshaft was somewhat loose. The bolts that hold it to the diff were not even finger tight.

Now my car is coming up to 118k miles and was given a good going over last summer and it wasn't loose then. So if it's happened to mine in this short a time span then it could potentially happen to you...

We're a bit stumped as to how it could have happened as the bolts are well held in and it's been fine for years.. but happen it has.

Next time yours is up on the ramp get it checked!

Cheers

Mark
 

Almichie

Junior Member
Messages
799
I wish I'd seen this yesterday, mines just been MOT'd and I went under the car to look at the wishbones and to take a good look, as you do with the friendlier MoT station.

I didn't even think to look at the prop shaft...
 

warrench

Junior Member
Messages
61
Hi folks, reviving this one as am in need of some advice.... my 3200 manual recently stated making a griding noise that would increase with speed of the car as it was driven. The folks looking after it reckon it was the centre bearing on the propshaft giving out and replaced it with a used-but-still-in-good-condition propshat they had on the shelf. I know these can be ludicrous new but am wondering if anyone knew if it were possible to replace only the bearing? Also, any direction on what a second hand propshaft should go for? I’ve seen anything from £400 to £1500 online so hoping to get an experts opinion?
 

davy83

Member
Messages
2,809
Not an expert, but I also reckon the center bearing on my prop-shaft is gone. I got a second hand one from a breaker from a car with 30k miles on the clock for just under 400 pounds and I was very pleased with the price, and the prop shaft appears to be in great condition. Most second hand ones I had seen up to that point were more money and either no idea what miles they had done or had done lots of miles, up over 70k. I looked into replacing the center bearing and as far as I know it is all one assembly, and the center bearing is part of the prop shaft. Even if you could strip it down to get the bearing off (which may be possible) I could not find anyone selling the bearing on its own, so I opted for the full prop shaft. I am trying to find time to do it and plan to change it out fairly soon. I believe its very important to get the two sections of the prop shaft very very straight and it needs to be shimmed at the center bearing to make sure its straight. So make sure when you get this done that they set up the line on the two sections.
Note if you are going to get a garage to do this there is a bit of work involved as the ARB and exhaust (and possibly the steering rack) need to be removed to get it off the car. I have been rebuilding the back end of my exhaust, and the rear joint that you will need to break to get the center section off needed to be cut off with a grinder on my car. The front exhaust section is also likely to put up a fight depending on how long its been in place. I am hoping for an easy ride since I replaced the turbos and all the front pipe work just over 2 years ago so I think it will separate ok. Good luck with this because I lived with my prop shaft vibration for several years before a decent second hand prop shaft turned up.
 

warrench

Junior Member
Messages
61
Thanks for the feedback and good luck with the replacement Davy! I figured it'd be a bit of a job when having a poke around under the car a while back when I was exploring the idea of upping the power of the car. (Yes... I saw sense, and my bank manager sighed in relief)
Was an odd one as had a bunch of work done on the car (belts, front lower Sus arms and all new brake lines) and it didn't have an issue before but then it began making noise the day I picked it up. Figured when the brake lines were replaced that the prop was taken out and when put back in the underlying issue came to the surface.
 

warrench

Junior Member
Messages
61
Thanks for the offer! What would you be looking for in either of those? The shop reckons they had one but always prefer turning to the community here first