Can lowering your car cause your driveshaft to "POP OUT"???

[philster]

Im ready to explode!!

Basically i was driving along at 30 mph and all of a sudden BANG!! no drive in any gear and a knocking sound whenever i pressed the accelerator. So i pulled over got a recovery truck to take me to a garage (subaru dealership mate of my dads so i thought would be cheaper) had to put it on a low loader because the bodykit covers the towing eye!
Anyway get it back 2 weeks later fixed new driveshaft fitted apparently (im not a mechanic but i presumed it was needed).
had it back just over a week and bang same thing again ABSOLUTELY RAGING! so another tow truck later and back to the garage, by the way i was charged 300 quid for the repair the last time...

the thing is this time they are saying lowered suspension is the cause of this and its basically my fault!

PLEASE PLEASE CAN ANYONE HELP ME i want to be able to tell them where to go and that im not paying that again and can someone verify that lowering your car does not cause your driveshaft to "POP OUT"???

cheers in advance guys

 

[Deleted member 13581]

Did they check the Gearbox?? It may have popped a gear, or something similar. Happened on my Golf and it sounded the same with a big pop and bang. Was noticable though as their was Gearbox Oil everywhere.

 

[philster]

no gear box oil which makes me think its the other end of the shaft. out of curiousity what does pop a gear mean?? that the cog has sheared?

 

[Deleted member 13581]

Cog burst the casing of the gearbox when it happened to me.

 

[philster]

well then why would no gears engage?

 

[Nath.]

IMO just low suspension shouldn't cause a shaft to pop out, I reckon you have worn bushes causing excess movement in the control arm that is going hand in hand with the low ride causing the problem

The reason you get no drive is because of the differential, it sends all the power to the wheel that has no traction or no shaft connected in your case

Same as a wheel spin going round a roundabout, all the smoke and noise comes from the wheel with hardly any traction and the spinning stops once traction is back

In your case the clonking noise is because all the drive is going to the drive shaft that has popped out and the shaft is spinning and clonking about behind the wheel hub. Even though you have gears engaged the shaft is not connected to the wheel

 

[philster]

is it definately the wheel end or could it be the gearbox end does the knocking noise mean it is at the wheel

anyway thanks a million all i needed is to know that lowered suspension wasnt the cause and that im not paying them a penny to fix it!

 

[Nath.]

The clonking noise sugests that the shaft was still connected to the gearbox but clonking about at the wheel end

As said IMO lowered suspension could be part of the problem, get the void bushes and ball joints looked at

 

[philster]

nearly everyone on here has lowered suspension but i seem to be the only seat owner with this problem taking the lowering springs out of the equation what do you think is the solution??(i say this as you seem somewhat mechanically minded)

 

[Nath.]

As said you could have excess movement in the suspension so get the void bushes and ball joints looked at for free play

Also I'm sure someone will put me right if I'm wrong but there should be a big "C" clip that holds the driveshaft to the wheel hub, if this is not in place the shaft could well pop out again

I spose a proper seat,skoda,VW or audi garage would pick that up straight away where as a scooby place may never have seen an Ibiza before

 

[philster]

would be very grateful if someone could verify this then i can ring them and tell them what they are doing wrong cuz i dont want to look like an eejit afterall they are the mechanics.

 

[DEAN0]

This could explain why the CUPRA models with have a different part number for the lower wishbone.

CUPRA models have lower suspension as standard.

I was told the CUPRA wishbone is shorter than the other models to correct camber ( and also I guess - reduce the driveshaft span )

Have a feel how much play is in the driveshaft - mine is a standard height TDi sport and the driveshaft moves about 8 - 10mm lengthways

 

[Altech]

Yep you should have a retaining circlip at either end of the drive shaft that stops it popping out. When I was repairing my old Ibiza I had to replace one of the drive shafts. If you don’t have the correct tools they’re very hard to put back together correctly.

Did the garage replace the whole drive shaft or just refurb it?

 

[philster]

Yep you should have a retaining circlip at either end of the drive shaft that stops it popping out. When I was repairing my old Ibiza I had to replace one of the drive shafts. If you don’t have the correct tools they’re very hard to put back together correctly.

Did the garage replace the whole drive shaft or just refurb it?

well they charged me 168 pound for the part alone the rest was labour so i dont think they would have refurbished it and then charged me for the part?
could be wrong but the invoice quotes "driveshaft" as the part put it this way they better not have!!

 

[philster]

This could explain why the CUPRA models with have a different part number for the lower wishbone.

CUPRA models have lower suspension as standard.

I was told the CUPRA wishbone is shorter than the other models to correct camber ( and also I guess - reduce the driveshaft span )

Have a feel how much play is in the driveshaft - mine is a standard height TDi sport and the driveshaft moves about 8 - 10mm lengthways

i can see what the play is like its 40 miles away but when i get it back i will and ill keep you posted

 

[muddyboots]

I'm of a similar opinion to Nathwarr - the lowered suspension could have contributed partly to the problem; lowering alone doesn't usually cause driveshafts to pop but if there are other problems (such as worn bushes / movement) then it could be a factor.

I doubt you've have solid grounds to accuse the garage, when they're working on a car you've modified outside of original spec

 

[keano20v]

i hope they cowboys put a surclip on the g box end mate but if it keeps on happening i would think there could be a fault with the diff

 

[redders]

on my 03 tdi sport theres no circlip on the hub end of the driveshaft the cv joint just knocks on the shaft and a snap ring holds the joint to the shaft maybe the snap ring as failed and not been replaced when the new shaft was put on?

 

[philster]

apparently they never replaced the shaft they replaced the cv??????

anyone know what the fook is going on!!??

 

[truCido]

apparently they never replaced the shaft they replaced the cv??????

anyone know what the fook is going on!!??

they charged you £300 to replace a CV.....don't go there again