when a CV joint is on it's way out it makes a light knock usually when you pull out of a junction turning left or right or when accelerating while steering is turned to it's lock or close to it and goes quiet as you straighten up

they can do this for thousands of miles with no sign of getting worse but the do get worse eventually and the CV joint will have to be replaced or the whole drive shaft

if you convinced this is what your hearing take it back and let them do the work it can be quite expensive

 

Thanks for the reply mate, it sounds like a clattering noise, like a heat shield is loose if you will. Only happens when turning under acceleration too, no other time. Think ill give them a ring tomorrow and see if they'll have a look.

 

let us know what the outcome is

 

I had a driveshaft failure a week ago; the car has done 166,000 miles, and I had no warning at all - this happened almost outside my house at walking pace on a tight right lock - the previous week I drove from Poland to UK at speeds up to 110 mph, and I'm very glad it happened at home.

There seems to be no aftermarket CVs for the 8G so it was a trailer to Chiswick Honda and the following day and £448 later, the car is now back giving sterling service!

With that mileage I felt it better to replace the complete shaft as the price difference between just the outer CV and the whole thing was only 75 quid; factor in the labour to change the joint and it was a no-brainer......

 

when you say you had a drive shaft failure with no warnings how did the drive shaft fail ?
i'm curious did the cv joint break apart or something similar ?

iv'e had a few wear out in my time on different cars but have given plenty of warning on tight steering locks and iv'e had cv joints dry up with no damage to the cv boot but when they dry up the squeel there nuts off at speed

iv'e also had the bottom ball joint break that pulls the drive shaft out of the gearbox but that is not really drive shaft fault related

iv'e never really heard of drive shafts failing with no warnings apart from stripping the splines in the hub i'd be interested in knowing what went wrong

 

Quite literally no warnings! Usually when CVJs are getting worn you have that rattling on full/tight locks indicating wear, whether through lubrication failure or contamination of the joint, and this type of loss can normally be put down to a ripped gaiter. By the time you hear the rattle it's too late to do anything other than replace the joint.

If you check for damaged boots and find one before the grease has all been thrown out you can sometimes get away with repacking with grease and putting a new boot on but eventually the joint will wear as abrasive contaminants can get into a damaged boot as well as the lube leaking out.

I know I had a boot replaced on that joint over two years ago as I have an OCD-like inspection regime, especially before our trips across to Poland..... This year I picked up on a worn-out serpentine belt, so it works well for me!

I can only surmise that some grit/dirt got into the joint at that stage and had been quietly eroding the CV, I had absolutely no symptoms of failure - no worn CV noises, or clunks when taking up drive, and no rattles when driving on poor surfaces either. There was still plenty of grease in the joint but it did have an unusually metallic sheen to it

The car has covered 166000 miles and the outer CV separated on a full lock when turning into a car park at under 10mph, so I can only put it down to good ol' Wear and Tear......... There was still plenty of grease in the joint but it did have a strangely metallic sheen to it..

 

thanks for the reply
it's a strange one ( not the reply ) it sounds like the bearings must have worn down enough to slip their cage it's something i have not come across before

166000 miles is probably enough to do that

 

Just to update this, Arnold Clark took in the car and fixed the noise, turns out it was the CV. They found another issue though with the vibration which I had assumed was related to the CV but now could be anything. They have been trying to pin it down this week but it is now going into a transmission specialist so we'll see Currently driving a nice brand new Fiat 500 as a courtesy car... It isn't that bad too if anyone is looking at a new car I've heard some horrors related to AC but their preston branch has been top notch sorting this for me.

 

Car is now sorted as of last friday, needed a whole new axle in the end. Thank god its all fixed, car is a joy now!

 

Axle = driveshaft?