Worn out driveshafts?

[Niels Svane]

Hi, merry christmas and all that

My girlfriend and me were driving home for christmas with 100 kg's of presents and two cats. After 100 km the car began shaking increasingly - especially the steering wheel and right front wheel. When going round corners the car pulled in the steering wheel too.
When using the accelerator and lifting the foot from the pedal, the car jerked, and pulled in the wheel.

At the end of our trip the car also made loud banging noises and was really unpleasant to drive.

Does these symptoms fit with worn driveshafts, because I have a suspicion in that area?

Tomorrow I will inspect the steering linkages and suspension, and hopefully find the problem

 

[David M]

I would also check wheel nuts for tightness.
Jack the wheel off the ground, grab the wheel and push / pull it? There should be no slop or movement. Check the tightness of the hub nut too.

 

[JonathanT]

A worn drive shaft will give increasing knocking noise when turning in one particular direction. It should be possible to find the slop in the linkage and compare with the other side. Don't assume it's the right one - could be the opposite ! Hope you get sorted for the New Year

 

[Niels Svane]

Thankfully I have access to a lift across the road where the car is presently parked, so the shafts can be renewed if needed
But a new job awaits at the 15th so it has to be sorted fast

 

[Niels Svane]

It seems to be the left hand side thats knocking somewhat more than the right. So I'll get two replacements next week
Then it is in serious need of a wash and polish, and removal of surface rust.

 

[benchseat]

Driveshafts don't normally fail quickly. The normal symptom is a sensation through the steering wheel/knocking noise when turning sharp corners. My experience has been that this lasts for many hundreds of miles, slowly getting worse, before final failure.

I did once experience the symptoms you describe and it turned out that one front wheel was (just) held on by its (last remaining) wheelnut. Another few miles at speed could have been fatal.

Another suggestion : if the problem is on both sides, possibly something has happened to the final drive in the gearbox. Seems more likely than the simultaneous failure of two driveshafts.

Or possibly engine mountings (see harbourseal's post below). There are three, one on each side about halfway along, and the one at the front of the gearbox. I once had a gearbox mounting go and this led to nasty vibrations, particularly when changing load (from throttle-open to coasting). It doesn't stop the vehicle (until the gearbox falls off, that is) but puts additional stress on the driveshafts and suspension. Which is where we came in . . . .

 

[Piet]

One thing that can happen is that either the outer OR the inner joints run out of grease/thick renault oil because a lot of it has either leaked out through a hole in the boot or because the worm drive clips (on the inners) are loose or just not seating properly. As the existing grease gets hot it runs out of/away from the working surfaces due to centrifugal force and is not replaced by surrounding grease so the joints get effectively dry and hot and starts knocking. You can find all is good for short trips/commutes but starts to knock during a long trip. It can be frustrating because after a rest the noise goes away, until everything heats up again (in the case where there is still some grease/oil). If this is the case it can be fixed by attending to leaks or rplacing boots and making sure more renault grease is put in.

 

[harbourseal]

Hi Niels,
I don't think your driveshafts are failing.
I suspect that one of the silent blocks that hold the engine in place is failing.
Put a jack underneath the engine and lift it up and check the silent blocks. For cracks and space.
Good luck.

 

[Niels Svane]

Thanks for the input
The engine mounts and gearbox mount are all in good shape. The left driveshaft boot is leaking grease and I still think this must be the culprit from the sensation in the steering wheel. The nuts on all wheels are tight, the suspension and steering linkages are fine, and the steering column and box has no apparent problems.

Thus I think it may relate to one of the driveshafts.