Hi, first time poster here... so please be gentle

I'm working on a 2002 C32 as a project car (subframe bolts sheered off / pulled out ).

Anyway, the previous owner disconnected the drive shaft from the rear differential (I had it towed home.. ha). He disconnected the back of the drive shaft and flex disc from the rear diff. i.e. the flex disc was still attached to the drive shaft when I got it. I tried to reconnect the diff to the flex disc/drive shaft just to be able to move it around the driveway, etc. but I could not get the flex disc holes to line up with the diff flange. The flex disc "seemed" too small to fit the diff flange... which puzzled me greatly... but the flex disc was in pretty bad shape so I decided to just get a new one and replace it while I'm under there.

Long story longer... I attached the new flex disc today to the diff flange first... and it fit perfectly! Yay. But when I tried to attach it to the drive shaft flange the holes do not line up with it! Boo. So the "old" flex disc fits perfectly to the drive shaft flange but NOT to the diff flange. And the "new" flex disc fits perfectly to the diff flange but NOT to the drive shaft flange. I tried turning it in different directions and even changing the way it faces but it always ends up the same.

What am I doing wrong here? Does anyone have any ideas or thoughts of wisdom on this? This is all new to me... so I'm at a loss at the moment. Thank you in advance!!

 

You need the Vehicle Id #? Hmmm... Ok then.

 

Continuing on... and some more info... for anyone that cares...

The old flex disc (that does NOT seem to fit the differential flange) I pulled off has the part # - 210 411 04 15

The new flex disc that fits the diff flange perfectly (but does NOT seem to fit the drive shaft) has part # - 210 410 06 15



The drive shaft part number (located forward of the center bearing) is - 203 410 4406

I disconnected the center bearing and pulled off the rear of the drive shaft (that attaches to the diff) to have a better look at it. I left the front portion of the drive shaft (that has the part number on it) attached. The back section does not seem to have any part numbers anywhere on the shaft. Is that normal? Or am I missing something.. again? This back part of the shaft also has some yellow paint markings put on it that reminds me of a used part for sale. Could someone have swapped just this end piece of the drive shaft out... but it's not the correct part?? I also noticed under the center bearing mount/fastener there is a great deal of damage to the bottom of the car at that spot. Which makes me think again that this back part of the drive shaft was replaced. Possibly? I'm not sure how to tell though??

Anyway, thanks for reading my rambling. Just trying to figure this out!!


UPDATE:

So after pulling the back half of the drive shaft off I finally found the part number near the center bearing - 203 410 0981 This seems to be a part number for a C240 and/or C320 and NOT the C32! The proper C32 part number being 203 410 4406 as mentioned above. I was also able to contact a previous owner who said they replaced this section of the drive shaft "cus it was broke". :p

Now I'm thinking I should just replace the entire drive shaft with the correct C32 part. Maybe? Or can I just replace the back half (with the u-joint & the center bearing)? Or will there be "balancing issues"??

Any thoughts on this?

 

So, I'm ONLY trying to replace the rear flex at this point (I'll address the front once I figure this 'puzzle' out).

And my bad... I purchased a rear flex disc with part number - 203 410 02 15

And, as I said, this "new" rear flex disc fits the diffy flange perfectly. But.. it does NOT fit the drive shaft flange that is currently on the vehicle! And the "old" rear flex disc I removed from the vehicle is visibly AND significantly smaller than the "new" flex disc

There is no way the "new" (and correct) rear flex disc would ever be able to fit the rear drive shaft flange that is on the car.

And thank you Plutoe for posting up the correct part numbers for me!

I hope this makes sense? Still confused??

 

Hello there. Very long stories. Thought I was 7 again listening to stories but this time being told by myself lol. Okay seriously now, long stories are informative as you have explained everything needed to diagnose you problem. Seems you checked everything. So you say the rear end half of the prop is for C240 or C320 and not C32. Problems with the rear diff flange and then mounting the actual disc up and prop and misalignment.
Lets try that scenario again shall we? Connect the stuff up again to where you had a misalignment issue, BUT this time, before you connect it up, check on the propeller shaft halves for small arrows. I read the CLK WIS says the shafts have an arrow that point toward one another so if you drop it apart it can easily be aligned correctly. See if you can find that and try aligning it. Then check if you can align the two flex disc to the diff and gearbox flanges. Hope you win.
Your other question. Yes and No. You can get the correct rear shaft but then you have to send the entire piece in for balancing. Or you get another complete unit already done and presto but whatever is favourable on your pocket man.

 

Thanks for all the responses... I finally got this sorted out