95 A6 Driveshaft rattle

[urq]

I'll second Tony's BTDT ... I've dealt with 6 quattros in total, with total
mileages pushing say 800K miles (conservatively) ... never needed to replace
a CVJ in the propshaft.  Now center u-joints and carrier bearings, sure.  Be
sure the play you're noticing is between the drive shaft and the flange on
the rear diff ... I'll be the play you see is actually inside the rear diff.


I too have heard a bit of a clang and slight play as you switch the
direction of torque ... but that isn't something that will be happening as
long as the engine is driving power to the wheels.  

Of course if you find nothing else, it isn't going to hurt anything to
replace the CVJ ... just be careful to keep the propshaft in as close to a
straight line as possible ... Bentley for the older cars warns against
allowing the center joint from straying far from straight ... but I don't
remember a spec on angle deviation ... 

Steve B
San Jose, CA (USA)

-----Original Message-----
From: quattro-bounces at audifans.com [mailto:quattro-bounces at audifans.com] On
Behalf Of Tony Hoffman
Sent: Friday, March 27, 2009 9:57 AM
To: beattyr2003 at cox.net
Cc: v6-12v at audifans.com; quattro at audifans.com
Subject: Re: 95 A6 Driveshaft rattle

That is exactly what you do. There are usually six bolts that hold the
rear of the driveshaft to the rear differential. Pull them, and pry
the driveshaft from the rearend. Then, pull and replace the rear CV
joint. I'd probably do the boot, while you are in there. The CV should
be held on with some sort of spring clip, although I'll have to
confess to never replacing the Joint on a Quattro that new.

Tony



On Fri, Mar 27, 2009 at 7:05 AM,  <beattyr2003 at cox.net> wrote:
> 1995 A6 with 260k miles.
>
> Getting a rattle from under the car and after a bunch of poking around,
finally figured out that there is play in the main driveshaft where it
attaches to the rear diff.  When rotating the driveshaft it will rotate a
bit before the rear diff starts to move.  So I am thinking the rear U-joint
(or CV joint?) is bad and needs to be replaced.  When I was under the car, I
didn't get the impression the rear was removable from the driveshaft, but
there are repair kits out there.  So does that mean you disconnect the shaft
from the diff and replace that section of the joint?
>
> Anyone got any BTDT on this?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Rob
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