Some of you may have been following some threads I posted
about a very odd driveline vibration in my '85 XJ6 which
only would manifest itself upon deceleration at exactly
18mph but was not present at any other time. Well, after
rebuilding the transmission mount in its entirety to no
avail, I yanked the propshaft down, and, armed with three
new u-joints and a new center bearing, freshened the shaft
up. What I discovered was that the rearmost u-joint was
frozen solid if I tried to move it on one of its axis (sp?).
It was fine in one direction, but wouldn’t budge in the
other. And of course, upon removal, the needle bearings were
cooked and all rusty inside. I fitted u-joints made by GMB
which have zerk fittings on them, and charged them all up
with Red Line synthetic grease. Put everything back
together, positioning the center bearing fully to the right,
as it was before, and viola! no more 18mph vibration and the
driveline is now as smooth as silk at any speed. I didn’t
have a problem before, although the faintest hint of a
vibration or ‘‘rumble’’ was noticeable on the highway, but it
wasn’t pronounced by any means…I probably became sensitive
to it since I’m in the car more than anyone else.
Anyways, moral of the story is that had I not dropped the
driveshaft, I’d have never discovered the one frozen
u-joint, as it seemed ‘fine’ with everything in place on the
car, so if you suspect anything at all in the propshaft as a
cause of a vibration or rumble, make sure to remove it
completely to properly diagnose!
In reply to a message from zundfolge! sent Fri 12 Nov 2010:
Aaron,
Thanks for posting the denuement to your rumbling episode,
I’m glad it’s sorted. I’m preparing myself (mentally) to go
through the driveline of my series 3 to find a similar, but
continuous, rumble.
I suspect U.J’s or propshaft bearing, I shall bear in mind
your post.
PS - My computor abbreviates thread titles - yours came up
as ‘‘Drivel’’!
Mick Hilton, France.–
The original message included these comments:
Anyways, moral of the story is that had I not dropped the
driveshaft, I’d have never discovered the one frozen
u-joint, as it seemed ‘fine’ with everything in place on the
car, so if you suspect anything at all in the propshaft as a
cause of a vibration or rumble, make sure to remove it
completely to properly diagnose!
In reply to a message from zundfolge! sent Fri 12 Nov 2010:
Thanks so much for posting the final fix. I spend most of my time
here these daze browsing only for ‘‘final fix threads’’ as so many
posts now are simply repeats of older quiries.
Hopefully, tis as well much, appreciated by those who type their
fingers to the bone (obviously not so much me anymore) whilst
trying to help others…–
The original message included these comments:
Some of you may have been following some threads I posted
about a very odd driveline vibration in my '85 XJ6 which
only would manifest itself upon deceleration at exactly
18mph but was not present at any other time. Well, after
rebuilding the transmission mount in its entirety to no
In reply to a message from TMack sent Sat 13 Nov 2010:
Mick…LOL, well I suppose it could have been ‘‘drivel’’ to
some folks, haha.
Ted…Always happy to post ‘‘fix’’ results here. Lord knows
I’ve gotten enough advice and help from everyone here, so I
definitely feel my duties to contribute back!
Now, what’s left to do to the old girl; New drive belts,
recharge A/C with 134a (ugh…but the compressor leaks and
I’m not going to go broke putting R12 back in every year).
And, amazingly, I guess that’s everything!
In reply to a message from zundfolge! sent Sat 13 Nov 2010:
Yep, its just about always the rear joint too. The red rust is a
giveaway if its got that far but the shaft needs to be dropped to
be sure to feel all 3 for play and/or binding.
I have seldom ever found an issue with the centre bearing when
looking for driveshaft vibrations.–
Paul (NZ), 86 Ser.3 4.2
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