F-Body Europe

Here are a few pics of the broken driveshaft. I haven't opened up the rear yet, but it should be interesting.

http://jackz28.com/driveshaft/driveshaft.htm

Hm ... only seen that on cars with slicks before ... usually, the wheels lose traction with that kind of torque ... recon it's really the rear diff ...

Your rearend must be seized up pretty bad! Think that had anything to do with the engine going south?

I don't think so. Everything else on the car seemed fine until I gave it to Dieter and his boys.

Jack,
DAM!!!!!! How did this happen????

Freakin' Roostersuckers!!!!!!

Ok, here's the story: I initially had some bad tapping from the engine, so I gave it to Dieter and his boys. They fixed John's car, so i thought they would be about the best people around here to take it to. It was there for several months, and I wasn't in that much of a hurry, it being Winter and all. So I get it back, and it's running great, but then the clutch started slipping. It kept getting worse, and then one day the car just locked up somehow. I didn't really know what it was, because I had never experienced this before, so I assumed it was the clutch. Once it came in, a couple of guys helped me put the it in at the craft shop and it went in pretty well, once we realized that we were supposed to take the bellhousing OFF the transmission FIRST. We get it all put back together, and after screwing with the bleeder valve for a while, we finally got it ready to go. I drove it around the parking lot, but it seemed like the tranny was still wanting to lock up (or so I thought). We put it back up on the lift, and I checked the tranny fluid. IT WAS EMPTY. I couldn't freakin' believe it. What kind of screwed up shop takes a tranny out and doesn't at least make sure it has fluid before they put the car back on the road? So I put the fluid in, and although it seemed a bit rough, I thought the car was good to go. At first I thought it was just the clutch, since it was new and I had heard some say it was a bit too much for street driving, so I went on about my routine. Well I drove it for about 2 days, and I was EXTREMELY cautious with it. After about 2 days, it seemed like the tranny locked up again, so I was stuck on the side of the road. Luckily I was near my wife's office, so I went there and called Dieter. He said he would send someone, so I waited for them. When they came, they thought they would be able to tow it, but when they tried, they realized it wasn't rolling anywhere, so they dropped me off by the gate, and said they would get the car later that day. I was like OK, and gave them the keys. This was Friday, the day before I went to Romania. I talked to my wife on Monday, and she said the car was still on the side of the road, so I was like WTF??? I called my buddy, and had him find out what the deal was. Well by the time he called them, they had already gotten it. They told him it was the synchros and some other bearing or something. Well, when I got back, the car was ready, and I shelled out some more major cash. The car was really running good, so I really didn't care about what happened before at that point. Well, after about 2 more days of driving it, the rear uni-joint snapped, and I sent pieces of shrapnel all over the road. I had this happen once before, so I just assumed that the guys who repaired the uni-joint just messed up or something. Well, I was only missing one of the little caps to the uni-joint, so I went to the craft shop, because I had remembered seeing a u-joint in one of the parts bins. The one I had seen was too small, but lucky for me, I found one the perfect size in the same parts drawer. So then my other friend and I went to the craft shop, and put it back together. It seemed pretty solid, but when I went out to the parking lot to test it out, it happened again, only this time we lost all the little needle pins from inside the two caps. Well now I was like crap, and we went to the junkyard to see if MAYBE we could find something. Well, as soon as we got there, we saw an Astro van, so I went up to it, and the DS was laying inside, with the u-joint intact. I took the two caps, because they looked perfect, and we went back. We put it back together, and this time we thought for sure that it was a solid setup. I went out to the lot, and she felt awesome. So we went our merry ways, and all seemed fine. So the next day, I was wanting to put some miles on the Z, so I went down the autobahn towards Ramstein. I just wanted to take the Ehof exit, and then go back home. Well, about halfway between the two exits, I hear this loud BOOM, and immediately heard parts flying everywhere. Well now I was ready to cry, but instead I pulled over to the side of the autobahn, and went back to retrieve the small portion of the DS that the Audi behind me had to swerve around to avoid running over it. That was when I knew that something else was seriously wrong. I walked to ROB, 'cause that's where my friend was, who towed me the first time. Normally I would have had my cell phone, but my minutes were up, so I left it at home. I really wasn't trying to be gone all day, either. When we got it into the shop, we lifted it up to check out the damage. The 2 small brackets that hold the caps on were all twisted, one of the bolts broke off inside the yoke, and the other 3 were all seriously bent to hell. So then we pushed it out of the bay, and attempted to tow it. It wouldn't roll forward and couldn't be pulled. At this point, I was seriously dumbfounded. I had absolutely no idea what the hell the problem was. One of the guys who works at the shop seemed to think it was the diff, so I was thinking, "He said POOP" not something else. Well, I got underneath, and tightened up the yoke, and then it started rolling forward. We pulled it out, and that is about all I have to say about that. So now I dont' know what the deal is. I don't really know what to do at this point. How does a rear lock or sieze up? I've never heard of this before, ONLY TO ME!!!

WHAT DO YOU GUYS SAY?

Was the drive shaft completely off broke at this point? Have you checked the fluid in the diff yet? In any case you have had a serious malfunction. If the tranny let go then you need to look at the rear end anyway to see if any thing stange has happened to it. I have seen before, working in the maintenance field, rear ends go out at a monents notice without warning(maybe a little noise according to the operator). Pull the diff cover off and look for anything strange(metal flakes, parts & chips off the ring or pinion). Hope this helps. If not let me know and I will take a trip down to confirm your troubles. It's not that far for me to travel.

OK, thanks!

When my rear went, I was lucky. I had a couple of teeth break off of the pinion (small) gear. I was on the autobahn at the time. The engine seemed to "miss" for a second and the check engine light came on. I went straight home. When I tried to back up in my driveway, I knew there was something serious going on. The whole car seemed to "jump" and "pop". Jacked up the car and ran it. (on jackstands) At this time I thought that it was the tranny as it just got replaced. (for no reason, mechanic thought that it was bad when it was actually the starter. Didn't want to listen to me. At least I got a free tranny...) Car was "missing". Shut it down and put it in neutral. Turned wheels by hand, at least tried to. Got to a point and it "stuck". Pulled off diff cover and a chunk of tooth fell out. The other two turned to powder. Thank God the rear didn't lock up going down the road.
To make a long story short, check your diff.

Forgot to mention, sorry about your troubles.
Good luck.

Thanks bro, I will probably check it this weekend. I'll be sure to take pics.

Jack raise the rear and turn it by hand. You should be able to turn the rear pinion by hand. If not you got rear end trouble. Ray the one with the black cobra can rebuild rearends and he very good and cheap. He rebuilt mine and many others while I was there. By he way the shaft looks you dont have tranny probs.

I better not. I just had the damn thing rebuilt.

I wasn't aware that he did such work. Do you have his phone #?

I have to find it but i will post it tonight. i had a friend get his rearend rebuilt in germany and they screwed it up real bad. they put them in to tight and his car did the samething yours did. if you dont get the shims right you are screwed

here you go jack 0160 585 0358 or 06383 926 702 or try his work06371 475565 ask for master sgt tillman. keep me posted. now he may be tdy right now but they will let you know.

Thanks dude, I will let you know.

Jack just post on Mighty Mustangs. He goes by the name 2fast4u.