Drive shaft - what's happened here?

[Phil Peters]

Hi all,

I was under my car recently changing the gearbox oil when I noticed this piece of rubber roaming freely along the drive shaft:



I couldn't see any mention of this item in the Haynes manual but I think I've tracked it down on another diagram:



I assume its intended purpose is to protect the oil seal but how is this piece supposed to be held in place?

I have noticed a bit of a low pitched rumble / roar at higher speeds (65+ MPH) recently but I can't tell if it's because the gearbox oil has been changed or because something has deteriorated due to water ingress etc. All other rubber boots seem to be in good shape.

Cheers,

Phil

[citronut]

it is supposed to just be slid up against the diff outlet,

it should be just tight enough to stay there, if you look at the shaft right next to the diff it is very slightly thicker,

it is just to deflect dirt away from the seal

regards malcolm

[Brian]

I have had this situation in the past.

Just slide the seal to the required location, then use a cable tie to keep it in place.

[Phil Peters]

Thanks for the advice chaps, much appreciated.

Cheers,

Phil

[adamskibx]

I have had the rubble noise on two BX's including a very minor rumble on my current one, and I suspect but am happily corrected that it is the long o/s driveshaft intermediate bearing as these are not in the oil system so can run dry.

[KevR]

Could be the intermediate bearing as suggested, or a wheel bearing on the way out, Could also be your fifth gear going walkies as mine did recently. Worth removing the gearbox end cap and checking that everything's nice and tight as it should be. I ignored mine and instead of just needing tightening up, it stripped the gearbox output shaft splines so I had to change the gearbox.....

[Phil Peters]

Hi all,

A belated reply as I've been keeping an ear on the rumble noise over the last few weeks.

Drive shaft seal now back in position and duly cable tied; thanks for the advice on that one.

I noticed my tyre pressures were down slightly but after rectifying that I'm still hearing the same rumble / whine noise as before. I don't notice it driving around town but at speeds of 60+ you can really hear it and you can also feel a bit of resonance in the footwell.

The car has a complete service history from new and having had a dig through the paperwork, the previous owner (ex Citroen mechanic) tightened up the nut on 5th gear back in 1998 at 95k miles. I'm now on 152k miles so perhaps this needs doing again. Is there a specific torque value for this?

I am also suspecting front wheel bearings could be the culprit as there's no record that they've ever been changed.

[Stinkwheel]

Wheel bearings would be the first suspect in my book from what youve described above.

[KevR]

the previous owner (ex Citroen mechanic) tightened up the nut on 5th gear back in 1998 at 95k miles. I'm now on 152k miles so perhaps this needs doing again. Is there a specific torque value for this?

Probably but I don't know it - just needs to be tight.... You need a specific 28mm (I think) 12-pointed socket as it's not a normal nut.

Does sound more like wheel bearings though. They're always a bit tough to diagnose on drivewheels as it's harder to isolate the feel/sound of the bearing from the drag in the transmission.