New Driveshaft for T5 California ?

[Ed Mardell]

Hi,

I've had terrible shaking through drivetrain which seems likely is driveshaft having sent the camper to garage (Already tried wheel balancing and its through entire vehicle). They are not sure which (nearside or offside) driveshaft it is so trying near side first it seems...

I have a parts number from VW but am struggling to get the correct one, let alone at a decent price as specs seem to vary on BHP and lists arent showing ours at 184bhp.
I am waiting a call from driveshaft UK who were confident they could get it based on VIN...nothing yet.

VW part is £340 + VAT and although we got a quality aftermarket part it had the wrong number of splines on it...?

We are looking for 7E0 407 271 S (not sure if FIVE or SSSS) - Complete Nearside Driveshaft. There was also a barcode of 102 68 588 A 1128

Has anyone had any good experiences with a supplier or can point us in the right direction ? 'Vincent' would be very grateful!!

Thanks

Ed.

 

[jts46]

Hi,

I've had terrible shaking through drivetrain which seems likely is driveshaft having sent the camper to garage (Already tried wheel balancing and its through entire vehicle). They are not sure which (nearside or offside) driveshaft it is so trying near side first it seems...

I have a parts number from VW but am struggling to get the correct one, let alone at a decent price as specs seem to vary on BHP and lists arent showing ours at 184bhp.
I am waiting a call from driveshaft UK who were confident they could get it based on VIN...nothing yet.

VW part is £340 + VAT and although we got a quality aftermarket part it had the wrong number of splines on it...?

We are looking for 7E0 407 271 S (not sure if FIVE or SSSS) - Complete Nearside Driveshaft. There was also a barcode of 102 68 588 A 1128

Has anyone had any good experiences with a supplier or can point us in the right direction ? 'Vincent' would be very grateful!!

Thanks

Ed.

Is this what you are looking for?

 

[Ed Mardell]

Is this what you are looking for?
View attachment 45495

Not sure on splines but mechanic said complete driveshaft and that also looks like 130 brake mentioned in advert ?

I'm not mechanical I'm afraid so only mentioning definite's I know !

Thanks

Ed.

 

[Ed Mardell]

Not sure how I edit on here but ignore 130 comment, its your footer not part of ad as it looked like on my phone !

 

[2into1]

If you've got any old tyres on there, particularly but not exclusively the cheaper brands, I'd consider they might be the cause. I went through the same symptoms on an early T5 and eventually tried a couple of cheapo replacements which I tried on the front then rear then bingo, vibration had gone.
Perhaps others who've had driveshaft failure could describe if the symptoms shook the whole van?

 

[Ed Mardell]

If you've got any old tyres on there, particularly but not exclusively the cheaper brands, I'd consider they might be the cause. I went through the same symptoms on an early T5 and eventually tried a couple of cheapo replacements which I tried on the front then rear then bingo, vibration had gone.
Perhaps others who've had driveshaft failure could describe if the symptoms shook the whole van?

We have brand new pirelli's on each corner and they've been re balanced again to be sure. I am told its usually a vibration through steering wheel when tyres/balancing.

I am seeing vibration start being noticeable from about 40...strong around 70, 80 and stops or reduced a huge amount when you back off accelerator. On a euro road trip it was terrible under load say accelerating up a hill in 6th.

Proving a nightmare to find part...everyone who goes off comes back with same part which our mechanic has tried and splines dont fit.

Ed.

 

[2into1]

I am told its usually a vibration through steering wheel when tyres/balancing.

Your new pirellis should eliminate the risk but in my case a rear tyre had gone out of shape (not visible) with age. Shook the whole van in a similar sort of speed range as you have. I trust it didn't start about the same time as the new tyres were fitted?

 

[WelshGas]

Hi,

I've had terrible shaking through drivetrain which seems likely is driveshaft having sent the camper to garage (Already tried wheel balancing and its through entire vehicle). They are not sure which (nearside or offside) driveshaft it is so trying near side first it seems...

I have a parts number from VW but am struggling to get the correct one, let alone at a decent price as specs seem to vary on BHP and lists arent showing ours at 184bhp.
I am waiting a call from driveshaft UK who were confident they could get it based on VIN...nothing yet.

VW part is £340 + VAT and although we got a quality aftermarket part it had the wrong number of splines on it...?

We are looking for 7E0 407 271 S (not sure if FIVE or SSSS) - Complete Nearside Driveshaft. There was also a barcode of 102 68 588 A 1128

Has anyone had any good experiences with a supplier or can point us in the right direction ? 'Vincent' would be very grateful!!

Thanks

Ed.

What year is the vehicle?
Where did you get the 184bhp, I’ve got a 4Motion 180 and it is 180bhp.

 

[Ed Mardell]

Your new pirellis should eliminate the risk but in my case a rear tyre had gone out of shape (not visible) with age. Shook the whole van in a similar sort of speed range as you have. I trust it didn't start about the same time as the new tyres were fitted?

Hmm its a hard one to call. It did come on after wheels (secondhand) and new tyres put on but...driving around town not obvious so wasnt really spotted until on longer trip. Wheels and tyres look ok and had then checked and rebalanced twice....would have thought out of shape or damaged wheels would have come up in balancing ?

 

[Ed Mardell]

What year is the vehicle?
Where did you get the 184bhp, I’ve got a 4Motion 180 and it is 180bhp.

I've had a look through paperwork and cant see where I saw it now. But all official docs do say 180bhp so fine it thats it. The problem was many sites I looked at only had up to 140 something and didnt mention the 180 brake.

 

[Rich20]

Seems a bit of a coincidence that it started after changing the wheels. Do you still have the originals to swap them back for a test run?

 

[WelshGas]

I've had a look through paperwork and cant see where I saw it now. But all official docs do say 180bhp so fine it thats it. The problem was many sites I looked at only had up to 140 something and didnt mention the 180 brake.

I would be very suspicious about these 2nd hand wheels. Have you tried stopping front to back?
TPS is the VW Spares company but they only sell to the trade.

This might help. You haven’t told us the year of the vehicle so you will have to check yourself.

http://www.oemepc.com/vw/lang/e

Click on Campmobile, select the year and then Front Axle/Steering.

 

[2into1]

....would have thought out of shape or damaged wheels would have come up in balancing ?

I'm not sure. I'm just sharing my own experience. I'd just bought the van in question and thought I'd bought a dud. Couldn't believe such a shake could be caused by a out of shape rear wheel (tyre).

It's a pity that someone who has had driveshaft failure hasn't described their symptoms. Hopefully one will come along.

 

[s2bear]

In case this helps and given this occurred after changing wheels:

I had a VERY similar problem after fitting some 2nd hand OEM manufactured wheels and brand new Pirellis to a BMW X6.

Turned out that two of the wheels were ‘not quite round’ yet it didn’t show up on the balancing machine. I’d had them balanced twice. I bought the wheels from a used car dealer (I should probably name & shame) who didn’t want to know and just put the phone down on me.

I drew the conclusion that the wheels had been in some sort of stack and I had to buy two replacements. Problem solved.

The issue may still be your driveshaft but I’d be inclined to try a set of wheels you know are ‘good’ before replacing it - better to waste a couple of hours on that than the wrong side of £500 to find you still have the same issue.

Good luck with this.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[andyinluton]

I thought normal symptoms of drive shaft failing was a lack of drive as the splines were too badly worn, prior to that they would be clonking as drive was taken up.

Can we have some more clues please - is the vibration the same at a given speed regardless of what gear you are in?

Have you got somewhere you can coast at high speed with it out of gear? if there's no load going through the shafts & it still vibrates I would be inclined to think its got to be the wheels.

Other posibilities I would suggest are a failing Flywheel or engine mount. Or even a slight misfire but would expect that to turn on the engine management light.

Euro car parts seem to list loads of different drive shafts with varying numbers of splines - the most expensive is about £250 cheapest about £80 & you can always get at least 50% off using a discount code. You should be able to count the splines on the old one?

 

[AlanC]

Our van (180BHP DGS) had a click that got slowly worse but only occurred on right turns. This was the O/S drive shaft which was replaced as a one-piece item by the local VW dealer. Been fine since then, but no vibrations.

Alan

 

[WelshGas]

The more I hear and read about the OPs problem then the less convinced I am this is a driveshaft. If it is then it is an unusual presentation.

 

[AlanC]

The more I hear and read about the OPs problem then the less convinced I am this is a driveshaft. If it is then it is an unusual presentation.

Unlike rear wheel drive, the front wheel drive shafts are quite short and I don't think they are balanced, happy to be corrected on this though. The longer rear wheel propeller shafts can have balancing weights attached and often have intermediate support bearings too.

The universal joints are prone to wear though, presenting as a click as in my case.
I was told the N/S shafts were less problematic than the O/S shafts. These may be longer as the gearbox is on the N/S of the engine.

Alan

 

[Loz]

Could be dual mass flywheel perhaps?

 

[Azteccamper]

What Loz says.

 

[Ed Mardell]

Thanks for responses. I'm not ignoring but had one driveshaft coming from driveshaft Uk at £190 which is better to see (may still be wrong splines as noone seem sure!) and I am also going to swap out to old OEM wheels once I get camper back from garage.

To pick up on a few comments...

** Dual mass flywheel was also mentioned a possible if not driveshaft..I am being told from guys I have used many years that its not always obvious when driveshafts fail but not certain its def that either

** No clicking of any sort of full lock issues. Drive perfectly around town but heading up to motorway speeds and especially under load (accelerating up hill 70-90 area) the worst. If I come off accelerator it stops hence thinking drive related.

** Engine mounts again was on my list but not mentioned by mechanics

** NO..the driveshaft 'expert' didnt count the splines before putting back on the vehicle to move it (been kept there)....yes not impressed either as rightly so people trying to supply the part have little to go on other than..its not the one that comes up for that part number !

Ed.

 

[westfalia]

I've had a drive shaft go on my van.

The only hint that i got was about 2 mins before it went, came to a halt, tried a few
gears, nothing, we weren't moving.
I think the splines are made of a cheese, probably comté.

My money is on it being the dual mass.
Let us know if the driveshaft fixes the problem.

 

[andyinluton]

Next suggestion - find a decent mechanic.

Anyone half competent would be able to say with 100% certainty that its the shaft if thieve had it off the van to inspect.

The shaft has a cv joint in the middle of it, if that's worn you get the clicking noise on full lock & would be able to be felt by wiggling the shaft whilst it was off the van

If its the splines that are worn you get no drive at all.

Neither of the above are consistent with your symptoms.

 

[andyinluton]

My money is on it being the dual mass.
Let us know if the driveshaft fixes the problem.

I m thinking aloud here - if it's the flywheel the vibration should change with engine RPM as well as vehicle speed. So doing 70mph in 6th change to 4th & the vibration should be different.

Also if its the flywheel, dip the clutch whilst doing 70MPH & let the engine revs drop to idle. If its the flywheel it should stop the vibration straight away.

I still reckon the wheels are a 50/50 chance.

Could the original poster please also confirm its not a 4motion van is it?

 

[westfalia]

I m thinking aloud here - if it's the flywheel the vibration should change with engine RPM as well as vehicle speed. So doing 70mph in 6th change to 4th & the vibration should be different.

Also if its the flywheel, dip the clutch whilst doing 70MPH & let the engine revs drop to idle. If its the flywheel it should stop the vibration straight away.

I still reckon the wheels are a 50/50 chance.

Could the original poster please also confirm its not a 4motion van is it?

I just imagined that the vibration was at slow speed/idling .