Modern Motorsports Ltd Posted April 6, 2001 Share Posted April 6, 2001 Boy I must be tired, just spent 30 seconds trying to type my subject into the 'username' field wondering why it would truncate at 12 or so characters! Anyhow...one final done/3 to go and 2 wks left till I'm done this degree. Tuesday this week we had a field trip out near Colebrook road....had a few 100mph blasts on my way home that I really enjoyed as 99% of the last 8 mos. were commuting to/from school. I'm a couple hundred feet away from our place/home at an idle due to an oncoming vehicle and snap/thunk/thunk thunk .......what'da'hell? leave it idling and it doesn't go into park so well at all? damn.....turns out halfshaft flange at hub has parted ways with my hub flange!! instantly I think I know what my vibration for the last couple months has been! thought I'd thrown some wheel weights (still may have..) but obviously my halfshaft bolts loosesed off as only two snapped ones were to be found and even on the snapped half the nuts were still 'free' to turn so the other 4 must've gone holidaying on me. Now my question: the end 'flange' metal round plate that 'clips' over the shaft end came off as did a small 'button' like tab and one spring (~ twice length of a valvespring with twice the coil gap), I assume all this came out the end from under that plate...the spring is bent on one coil midlength. I have one spare pair of CV shafts so can swap in one fine one but am very tight for time right now (exams) so if I can slap a spring/tab/plate back on the one in my car and just rebolt it up I'd love to.........anyone had this apart? I can take a plate/spring/tab out of my spare pair if that'll work.......as well if one removes a halfshaft I assume diff fluid will be coming out at that height or no?? I really need to minimize this downtime/been parked since Tuesday and classes our now done but still tons to do (getting their!!) Thanks...... PS never even mentioned how incredibly lucky I feel!!!!! 30 seconds or 15 minutes earlier and I'd be replacing underwear and a halfshaft to say the least! PSS halfshafts/bolts were installed 25,000+km's, 16 months ago and torqued very tight with damn clean threads. this item has now made it to my more routine maintenance checklist..(I recall Scottie checking his regularly), my suspension is v. stiff and our roads suck so loose bolts are not rare on my rig even with liberal loctite use on other areas ------------------ Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted April 6, 2001 Share Posted April 6, 2001 I'm never really sure whether to use blue locktite, or red on a lot of things... maybe someone can help me out. The rule I've been using is anything less than 1/4" gets blue, over 1/4" gets red. (so that the bolt doesn't break when loosening) Obviously things like the flywheel will get red. If I was to put red loctite on wheelstuds, for instance, would I be able to get them off again? (I am going to be running bolt-on wheel adapters, and I'd like to make sure those inner connections don't come loose) The only time I have used Red loctite on wheel studs was on a caterpillar 789A Haul Truck. Then again that was a 5 ton wheel, and well you get the picture. ------------------ Richard Lewis - 1972 240z, Powered by a Nissan 2.8L Turbo Inline 6. Drax240's Turbo Site Beginners Turbo FAQ & Answers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted April 7, 2001 Share Posted April 7, 2001 Hi Ross You've pretty much already got the idea. The clip (plate) and spring can be put on from any other one. If I remember right, the inside of the boot was exposed when this happened and could have allowed some grit or dirt into the joint? On mine, I have to pull the strut out a an inch or so to put this plate and spring back on, so the same work I would think is involved with replacing the shaft as a whole. I can't imagine that there is no damage to the flange lip (how did you even find the spring when all this came apart????). If the car is only jacked up on one side, no fluid will come out that side of the diff. Good luck Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modern Motorsports Ltd Posted April 7, 2001 Author Share Posted April 7, 2001 quote: Originally posted by blueovalz: Hi Ross You've pretty much already got the idea. The clip (plate) and spring can be put on from any other one. I can't imagine that there is no damage to the flange lip (how did you even find the spring when all this came apart????). If the car is only jacked up on one side, no fluid will come out that side of the diff. Good luck Terry thanks for the reply Terry, I was hoping for some info before I repair it tomorrow. My boots etc are still in fine shape, spring/plate etc came off the end only and were sitting right their a few feet behind where it happened (I was at an idle!) I believe 4 bolts on the flange backed out and fell off leaving two in the end that were subsequently loosened and then finally sheared. Nice safety that nothing really happened until 2 loose bolts left considering what the car sees off on and on. So I'll see how easy the one shaft pops out, it it's uncooperative I might just crack the 'cap' off a spare and see if I can swap a spring etc what's missing into my present one....I'd prefer to install a new/full/known complete one and will likely do that. I did go looking for halfshaft bolts today (garage is not very functional right now...full of stuff from a large locker I emptied mid year) and after 5 minutes spotted a nice small white box on top of of ledge above my bench....labelled in large black letters "half-shaft bolts"! (this isn't normal for me finding things found 6 bolts/6 washers/6 nuts all cleaned/prepped so that was a plus Good idea on raising the one side slightly higher as well for fluid retention (some $30+ in fluid in their at least). I've done a lot with diffs but most always out of a car and drained so this was a new one. I will check out the flange on the old one, if anything I'd expect the flange holes to be somewhat elongated perhaps but not much other damage...will see. ------------------ Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modern Motorsports Ltd Posted April 9, 2001 Author Share Posted April 9, 2001 I replaced my 'dud' halfshaft yesterday and checked out the other one as well. 1.5 hrs total. Old 'dud' shaft had elongated bolt holes on the outer flange to the point of almost breaking out whereas the hub flange was fine/if anything only mildly enlarged but not discernable. I jacked the rear up plenty high and supported the car on the two rear ends of my frame rails with wood and jackstands under crossmember ends just in case. As my 'dud' halfshaft was already disconnected it had nicked a brake line in a minor way and put 3 good dents in my control arm as well as 2 good nicks in the bottom of my strut, all from coming free at an idle in gear. I found the end of my halfshaft was 'pinned' b/t my hub/flange and ebrake cable....raising my hub with a floor jack gave me extra room here to pop the flange on the diff (easy 2 cracks of prybar) and slide it out via this ebrake/hub 'hole'. Then for reinsertion: with hub/flange still up slide shaft back up through this 'hole' and get the end started in the diff and then tapped fully in. However with the hub/flange jacked up I couldnt' compress the shaft enough to get the CV flange to slide up/and seat inside the hub flange. Lowering the hub/flange 'lengthened' the 'room' for the overall CV shaft and I was then able to compress it enough to get the flange compressed and seated inside the hub/flange. All bolts were loctited and torqued damn tight. Other side was checked and found to be fine with only one bolt taking a 1/16 rotation tighter. FWIW, my old '2 bolts' that failed/both failed on their 1st thread. Looks like the others were gone and these two loosened until their thread was exposed and then snapped. Damn strong bolts IMO. I hope the above description will help a rookie who has to do this on their own at some point. If your halfshaft was still attached as most would be.....I'd leave the hub/flange at maximum low position to give you the most 'length' to compress/slide the inner shaft flange free of your hub/flange after you'd removed all bolts. As well check that the 3 'tabs' on the CV endcap are 'tapped' inward/tight so this cap can't come free/loose and allow dirt inside while you service your shafts/rear etc. ------------------ Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted April 9, 2001 Share Posted April 9, 2001 So Ross, do you use red or blue loctite on stuff like that? I'm afraid of using red half the time, thinking I am going to snap bolts trying to get things apart... ------------------ "Nothing is fool proof to a sufficiently talented fool." Richard Lewis - 1972 240z, Powered by a Nissan 2.8L Turbo Inline 6. Drax240's Turbo Site Beginners Turbo FAQ & Answers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modern Motorsports Ltd Posted April 9, 2001 Author Share Posted April 9, 2001 I've never (knock on wood) seen a use for red yet. Perhaps it should be used on TC/flywheel bolts etc but I haven't, I always use the blue(242). Except on small fasteners too small to 'neatly' used blue or ones subject to 'slow assembly' where I'll use the red(after assembly-292?) for 'after assembly'. I'm quite fond of it for small fasteners (internal shifter small fasteners etc). (I assume by red you mean the machine/dissassembly only high torque stuff). If I was very concerned about a fastener I'd be safety wiring it like racing bikes every day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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