Oppositelock
    • Register
    • Login
    • Search
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Users
    • User Guide
    • Key Stuff
      • Best Of OPPO
      • Overland
      • Planelopnik
      • LaLD
      • Classifieds
      • Shoppo
      • OPPO Discord
      • TOS
    • Support OPPO
      • Merch Store
      • UPPU Stickers
      • Paypal Donate

    The Art of Breaking Down in your own Driveway

    Best of Oppo
    volkswagen
    10
    15
    130
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • SilentbutnotreallyDeadly
      SilentbutnotreallyDeadly last edited by

      There I was...quietly rebuilding a set of rock steps between the house and our laundry shed...thinking that M'lady should be home soon. And then she suddenly appeared at the back door. She is home! Good. But I didn't hear her drive up to the house...

      That's because the car never made it. M'lady was driving my car (VW Transporter dual cab syncro) because her own (Subaru SF Forester) was in the shop due to recalcitrant coolant issues and a leaking rocker cover. And my car is now broken...
      IMG_20201118_181128189_HDR.jpg

      Just as she has come through the front gate, there was a bang from the back end. When that bang was quickly repeated, she pulled up. At this point, the VW is 180 metres from the house and at one of the few points along the driveway where getting around a dead car is not straightforward. She spots a piece of the car hanging like it shouldn't and walks the rest of the way to find me.

      When we get back down there, I find that the off side rear drive shaft has parted company from the rear differential at the inner CV joint. Basically, the bolts have fallen out.

      Six M8 bolts (with fancy torx heads), in a three pairs of two arrangement managed by three arc shaped washers, hold the inner CV to the drive flange of the diff...normally. Not this time. This time, I had just two paired washers and three bolts, all sitting precariously in a now somewhat disheveled and very sandy CV joint that was now lying in the track.

      All three remaining bolts were fine as were the two remaining washers. Just very greasy and quite sandy. More grease was sprayed in an arc from the trailing arm, right up to the underside of the tray and down over the exhaust and spare tyre.

      Clearly, all six bolts had backed right out of the diff. Since those six bolts had been last fitted by our mechanic 14 months ago, I have them a call to find out if a) the Forester was fixed; and b) give them the GOOD NEWS.

      IMG_20201118_181237454_HDR.jpg

      I went to find the jack and some tools while M'lady went to find me some water (I was thirsty!). We met again at the VW. The mechanic called back with some suggestions on how to get us moving sufficiently to get us off the driveway and (tomorrow) back into town.

      Whilst I was wrestling with the CV joint and the remaining bolts, M'lady went off in the forlorn search for the missing components.

      I finally managed to line up one bolt hole after abandoning the remaining washers and the fibre gasket that sits between the face of the CV joint and the drive flange of the diff...and a certain amount of creative cursing.

      My mood was substantially improved when M'lady wanders back with two more bolts and the missing washer... outstanding! They had been just metres away having apparently fallen out of the joint when it first hit the driveway. Another very fortunate silver lining to an annoying afternoon

      IMG_20201118_181629216.jpg

      We never found the last bolt... probably because of its resemblance to not only the many pieces of short stick littering our driveway but also the occasional droppings of the native Wood Duck that frequents the farm dam...

      After a period of time occupied with cleaning sand from greasy bolts then reinserting them in their even greasier location, accompanied by the sound and feel of crushing sand...I managed to get the CV back in place.

      IMG_20201118_181019567_HDR.jpg

      I'm not sure how these bolts managed to walk themselves out of their threads. Mechanic assured me that they'd been loctite-ed in (no evidence of that under the grease) and done up tight. Even so, I'm feeling pretty confident that this one is on them to sort out...

      So tomorrow we go back to the shop to swap cars, test out the Forester's repaired cooling system on M'ladys twice weekly commute to the next town and hope that it's sorted enough for an 800 km weekend roadtrip that starting on Friday afternoon...two days from now.

      One thing I'm grateful for though is that this happened in our driveway and at driveway speed rather than 5 km back down the road towards town at 100 km/h. I wouldn't have been able to quickly repair it with my own tools and time and the damage would have been horrendous anyway...[shudder]. Small mercies!!

      Ours is not to reason why...merely to point and giggle.

      pip bip Vondon302 sony1492 VincentMalamute davesaddiction 5 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 11
      • BritsnSwedes was MINIGTI
        BritsnSwedes was MINIGTI last edited by

        Recently Broke a spring backing out of the garage in such a way it would have slashed the tire if it had happened at speed.

        85 Jaguar XJ6; 98 SAAB 900 convertible
        13 MINI
        16 Volvo V60CC
        76 TR6

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
        • pip bip
          pip bip @SilentbutnotreallyDeadly last edited by

          @silentbutnotreallydeadly well there's your problem, they are most likely a one use only bolt (knowing the way VW group do things)

          hopefully you make it safely into town and enjoy your weekend.

          2014 Chery J3 - (18/7/20) meh.
          2011 Geely MK 1.5L (1/7/21)
          πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦

          SilentbutnotreallyDeadly 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 5
          • Vondon302
            Vondon302 @SilentbutnotreallyDeadly last edited by

            @silentbutnotreallydeadly Sometimes lucky is better than good. In the driveway and you actually found the bolts. Could of been so much worse.
            Cool truck too!

            SilentbutnotreallyDeadly 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
            • SilentbutnotreallyDeadly
              SilentbutnotreallyDeadly @Vondon302 last edited by

              @vondon302 it's definitely the little things that you don't appreciate at the time.

              Ours is not to reason why...merely to point and giggle.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
              • SilentbutnotreallyDeadly
                SilentbutnotreallyDeadly @pip bip last edited by

                @pip-bip I have been wondering about that...

                Ours is not to reason why...merely to point and giggle.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • Shop-Teacher
                  Shop-Teacher last edited by

                  Wow. That super sucks. But like you said, could have been a lot worse.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • Taylor Martin
                    Taylor Martin last edited by

                    Sounds like you and Ya'lady get away pretty scratch-free. Still, hope the rest of the repairs go well and the transporter gets back on the road soon. Where are you road tripping to?

                    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcBfY9Nzta8JPOP0O7pjI8g

                    SilentbutnotreallyDeadly 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • sony1492
                      sony1492 @SilentbutnotreallyDeadly last edited by

                      @silentbutnotreallydeadly Diffs have a way of vibrating bolts loose, both half shafts and drivelines.

                      Glad yours was still hangin on enough to bodge together again.

                      92 Miata, 84 f250 IDI, Locost

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • MUSASHI66
                        MUSASHI66 last edited by

                        Wife breaks her car, wife breaks your car... I’m seeing the common theme here πŸ˜‚

                        2019 FIAT Abarth 500 | 2000 Toyota Tundra V8 AC | 2021 TREK Roscoe 6

                        SilentbutnotreallyDeadly 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                        • SilentbutnotreallyDeadly
                          SilentbutnotreallyDeadly @Taylor Martin last edited by

                          @taylor-martin down to the Big Smoke for a family birthday

                          Ours is not to reason why...merely to point and giggle.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                          • SilentbutnotreallyDeadly
                            SilentbutnotreallyDeadly @MUSASHI66 last edited by

                            @musashi66 yeah...both cars are nearly twenty years old? Because it could surely never be M'ladys fault!

                            Ours is not to reason why...merely to point and giggle.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                            • VincentMalamute
                              VincentMalamute @SilentbutnotreallyDeadly last edited by VincentMalamute

                              @silentbutnotreallydeadly Knowing VAG, I'm surprised those were Torx and not triple squares.

                              Keep your lady away from all of the cars and see if they stop breaking. Evidence!

                              ...meh...

                              SilentbutnotreallyDeadly 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • SilentbutnotreallyDeadly
                                SilentbutnotreallyDeadly @VincentMalamute last edited by SilentbutnotreallyDeadly

                                @vincentmalamute so was I but the bit fell in so it must be true!

                                Ours is not to reason why...merely to point and giggle.

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                • davesaddiction
                                  davesaddiction @SilentbutnotreallyDeadly last edited by

                                  @silentbutnotreallydeadly Moved to Best of OPPO. πŸ˜‰

                                  manual . RWD . LS3 . MagneRide . Brembos ... 4 doors + 5 seatbelts

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                  • First post
                                    Last post

                                  83
                                  Online

                                  1.3k
                                  Users

                                  50.5k
                                  Topics

                                  721.7k
                                  Posts