Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 22:15:54 -1000
Reply-To: Mick Kalber <hotlava@interpac.net>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Mick Kalber <hotlava@interpac.net>
Subject: 89 Syncro driveshaft detached
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
I need some input here... I left Hilo going north up the Hamakua coast on my way to Kailua-Kona yesterday... about 25 minutes out of town, just as we got to the bottom of the first of three deep horseshoe turns through gulches in the area, I heard a loud clunk... like I had run over something that had hit the bottom of the van... or maybe something had broken below. As I slowed down rather quickly, there were a series of sharp metal on metal sounds like the driveshaft was catching on something. Scared me to death... I tought the front diff had gone out or something. Any subsequent moving of the van created the same driveshaft catching metal on metal sound every eight or ten feet. Naturally I stopped the car as soon as I could get safely to the shoulder which was at a very precarious position in the bottom of the gulch where vehicles don't slow down much and visibility is poor at best. It was raining steadily. I could see nothing amiss below the van so I assumed the front diff (or something nearby) had broken internally.
Anyway, called a flatbed tow truck and had the van trucked back to Hilo to my mechanic's shop... about 32 miles or so. Cost me $87... I was glad it wasn't more. Today my mechanic told me the left driveshaft had come apart from the CV joint. Bolts were so twisted they had to cut them off to repair... probably from the catching noise I experienced. Somehow the bolts had managed to work their way loose... question is why? Tow cost me more than the repair (thank God!).
Why in the world would this happen? The only background I can give is that we recently rotated the tires, back to front and vice versa... not crossed, no spare added. All tires are Michelin MTX's and are evenly worn with about 3/8" of tread on each. Funny thing was, last week after we rotated them she pulled to the left, against the crown of the road... badly enough for me to be concerned about an alignment problem. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to check out the pull to the left prior to my trip. But, oddly enough, there was no mis-alignment prior to the rotation. So we have now re-rotated (un-rotated?) the tires to the original positions and... guess what... no more pull to the left. Hmmm. Also, checked tire pressure upon return... all were at 38 except the right front which was at 40 for some reason.
The CV and shaft had been disconnected twice before... once when we installed a new VC and the other when we rebuilt the gearbox (rear). So, the initial suspicion is that they weren't put back together tightly, right? But that was about five months ago! My mech says if that were the case we probably wouldn't have gone more than a few days before it came apart. Over the past five months I've driven over many very rough roads and not experienced any problem whatsoever.
So, first, could the tire rotation have anything to do with the shaft/CV working it's way loose? Seems pretty weird to have been that, but we can't think of anything else. And why would the tire rotation cause a strong pull to the left? Anybody have any thoughts? Concerns me for future trips, especially here where there are only a few qualified mechanics and lots of places to get stuck far away from them. Yikes.
BTW, my mech is a very experienced VW guy who races VW's and works on them full time in his own shop with his son and two other guys. He's worked on four of my vans over the years and I trust him implicitly. We talk over ever detail of every repair. He's taught me a lot of the little that I know (if that makes any sense).
TIA Volks!
Baffled in Hawaii...
Mick Kalber
89 Syncro Westy "Daddeo"
Tropical Visions Video, Inc.
62 Halaulani Place
Hilo, Hawaii 96720
808-935-5557
808-935-0066 (fax)
hotlava@interpac.net
www.volcanoscapes.com
Mick Kalber
Tropical Visions Video, Inc.
62 Halaulani Place
Hilo, Hawaii 96720
808-935-5557
808-935-0066 (fax)
hotlava@interpac.net
www.volcanoscapes.com
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