larsianer

when i try to move the front drive shaft, it says click, and the rear part of the drive shaft, dont move, so i think that my u-joint is bad, what you think???

cmriv

are you trying to rotate the shaft, or moving it back and forth?

larsianer

I am trying to rotate it..

cmriv

With all four wheels on the ground right?

homeofstone

There are not front and rear universal joints. Its has flex disc. There is a center joint and carrier bearing. If you pull the driveshaft for a repairs you should replace the front and rear flex disc, center carrier bearing and mount with bushing. I did this on my e500. It requires removing the exhaust system too.

cmriv

front and rear flex discs, replace when cracked/seperated AKA visual inspection, not everytime your drive shaft is removed... Your center support bearing, which supports your driveshaft will be noisy in the cabin, sounds like a internal transmission issue/ritational noise. Cant really explain the nosie more then that.... and that clicking noise in the video, if in fact your cars in park, is normal. the transmission is locked (in park) and you are trying to rotate the output shaft.... so it clicks...

homeofstone

Changing flex disc when the driveshaft is out saves time, money and labor in the future. The disc already have to be removed to remove the driveshaft so what point is there in putting an old part back with so much time invested in labor. Its the same as if a manual transmission is pulled out for repair you should always replace the clutch and pressure plate to save time and money in the future.

larsianer

I have new flex discs,i will try to remove the drive shaft today.but i think my u-joint is bad, i will try to explain in better english, when i try to turn the forward part of the shaft,only the forward shaft moves, the rear part of the shaft dont move, so i think it is some free play in the u-joint.the car has all 4 wheels on the ground.i can move the forward part of the drive shaft about 1cm,before the rear shaft engages.and the click sound is from where to u-joint are located.are there much work to change the u-joint, and do i need to balance the driveshaft after changing the u-joints.

cmriv

If it isn't broke, don't fix it... The labor that goes into replace a flywheel and clutch is incomparable to the labor that goes into replacing a flex disc. Considering you don't need to even remove the drive to replace flex discs on these cars make me wonder if you truly understand where i'm coming from. With that said, i personally have never upsold selling two new flex discs i'f i knew i was going to be removing and or getting the drive shaft out of my way, unless they are visibly damaged or noisy, which in this case is possible, so yeah replace if necessary. Just my personal opinion and two cents though.

cmriv

If your car is on the ground and in park you will not be able to tell if your flex discs are bad based on just rotating. The cars in park so in reality the drive-shaft wont rotate. And the minor back and forth play you are feeling/hearing is normal operation...

larsianer

Thanks for reply, i know that i cant rotate the driveshaft when it is in park, the problem is that i can rotate the drivehsaft part nr 1,and the part nr 2 dont move, before i have rotated it about 1cm..so that why i am thinking that the u-joint is bad.

btw:my flex disc have cracks beside the screw mounts, so they are bad.

Sorry for my bad english..

Lars

cmriv

It's all good man! no worries. Yes, if you see cracks around your flex disc where your bolts go through for sure replace it.

jbeech

Good grief, this is from 2015 and no resolution? Not even I sold the darn car because I gave up on finding the problem? Nothing?!?

Anyway, the u-joint once you have the drive shaft is easy to check. Twist the two shafts in opposite directions and check for play. Also, align the shafts closely, and feel for a flat spot near center. If it's there, replace the u-joint. Anyway, for my 2005 W211, the u-joint is staked in place so replacing it becomes a challenge. I opted to purchase a drive shaft second hand and have driveshaft shop cut off existing yokes and weld on ones which accept replacement u-joints (circlips or e-clips at each of the four u-joint needle bearing cups). All this 'just' in case there is a next time.

Last thing, unless you replaced the flex joints six months ago, 'I' would replace them like the other guy said, any time the driveshaft is in your hands because they're inexpensive . . . and do you really want to take up this job again soon?