VW Sharan lost drive completely

[armstrongracer]

This is a weird one. 


I have a manual gearbox Sharan tdi (2012).  I changed the RH front shock absorber over the weekend, was fairly straight forward especially since I did the LH shock last weekend so knew the sequence well.  So after checking everything one last time and removing axle stands I started the engine and turned wheel full lock in both directions to check for binding or clunks as I'd also replaced roll bar tie rods and track rod ends.  All good so far. Then I put car reverse  gear to exit my driveway.
Nothing! No reverse motion, put it in first, nothing gain. No drive in any gear, no grinding, no clunks, no stalling. Clutch feels fine, it changes gear fine just no drive. I'm completely stumped, all I did was change a shock absorber and jack the car up.  Any ideas greatly accepted.  Remember also its a normal manual 6 speed box so cant think of any reason for this, car ran perfectly before.

[rhyds]

Hello and welcome to the Forum

I don't know the VW Sharan specifically, but from what you describe I would suspect you've somehow disconnected the driveshaft while doing the suspension work. Have a careful look around where the shaft enters the gearbox/diff and make sure it hasn't popped out of place or that the CV joints haven't fallen apart.

[valhalla]

I think the Sharan still has the inner "tripode" joints like the smaller VW's. These are notorious for pulling out if the suspension is swung outwards from the wheelarch with the driveshaft still attached to the hub/bearings/carrier assy.

Imagine the outer (visible) part of the joint has three grooves machined inside it at 120degree displacements. The tripode is like a 3-prong CV, with rollers attached to each prong, but those rollers can move along each of the outer-housing grooves without hindrance; hence you get a nice sliding-joint that can also take a bit of angular movement.

You can, just, rebuild these....but......you need to be able to pull the gaiter open off the shaft and look up inside it. If this sounds difficult and/or messy, it is.... I'm guessing one of your rollers is loose inside the rubber gaiter, and that gaiter is a special one to fit the tripode outer housing.

If I were you, I would swallow my pride, and buy a new driveshaft from someone like J&R Driveshafts, and have the peace-of-mind that you will not have any further seizure/damage down the road; you have been graunching this around for a few minutes now, and that is going to have machined a bit of swarf inside the gaiter. 

[OldGit]

'Graunching' - love that word, I think it originates from Yorkshire and means 'expensive'

[valhalla]

May 21, 2023 23:15:43 GMT 1 OldGit said:

'Graunching' - love that word, I think it originates from Yorkshire and means 'expensive'

My Sister and I used to use it a lot in the context of my Mum's gearchanges on the A40 Farina. No synchro on 1st, so a guaranteed laugh from the backseat every time a junction was approached.

[armstrongracer]

Cheers Valhalla, that makes absolute sense.


When I first tried to put everything back together the 3 bolts from the lower ball joint wouldn't line up with the holes in the wishbone, they were sitting 1-2 inches outside the wishbone so the drive shaft assembly was appeared to be longer. I just assumed that it was splined into the diff so wiggled and pushed it back, so effectively the "spider" has come out of the CV housing.  I have a few questions.

1. To fix this, does the whole driveshaft assembly have to be removed from the vehicle and repaired on a bench.

2. Video's I've seen of VW cv rebuilds indicate that a press or special puller are required to dismantle the inner CV joint or can this bit be pushed back in by hand.

3. Can the bellows clips be re-used or am I best served by purchasing a rebuild kit with new bellows and clips.

The exact vehicle is a 2012 Seat Alhambra 2.0tdi 177 hp,  but a lot of suspension parts share part numbers with Gen 2 Sharan, Passats, and some Golfs.

[valhalla]

May 21, 2023 23:45:59 GMT 1 armstrongracer said:

Cheers Valhalla, that makes absolute sense.


When I first tried to put everything back together the 3 bolts from the lower ball joint wouldn't line up with the holes in the wishbone, they were sitting 1-2 inches outside the wishbone so the drive shaft assembly was appeared to be longer. I just assumed that it was splined into the diff so wiggled and pushed it back, so effectively the "spider" has come out of the CV housing. So, I have a few questions.

1. To fix this, does the whole driveshaft assembly have to be removed from the vehicle and repaired on a bench.

2. Video's I've seen of VW cv rebuilds indicate that a press or special puller are required to dismantle the inner CV joint or can this bit be pushed back in by hand.

3. Can the bellows clips be re-used or am I best served by purchasing a rebuild kit with new bellows and clips.

The exact vehicle is a 2012 Seat Alhambra 2.0tdi 177 hp,  but a lot of suspension parts share part numbers with Gen 2 Sharan, Passats, and some Golfs.

1) It can be done in-situ in the wheelarch, but you will need to split the lower suspension arm from the hub-carrier to give enough movement back outwards to, first pull the spider out and drop the roller back onto the respective pin, and secondly then smoothly re-engage the three pin/roller units back into the outer housing grooves

2) This can be pushed back by hand, you just need to be able to line the inner spider and roller to the outer joint accurately, then it's a sliding-fit. To this end, it might be easier to fully disengage the outer CV from the hub, to allow you to have a straight line on the inner joint.

3) If you can find a bellows & clip, then I would purchase one of these. As I mentioned, this is not a usual CV-joint gaiter; the tripode unit has a gaiter which is molded-rubber with three "ears" that follow the outside profile of the outer joint. The main thing would be to try and avoid damaging the existing gaiter, and use a universal banding-tool with stainless band to re-clip the two diameters. The joint might need cleaning-out of old moly grease, so that you can confirm that the various bits of joint that have come into contact are not damaged in any way, then reload the joint with fresh moly grease before assembly and sealing it back up with the gaiter.

Given the hassle of doing this job, and given that J&R will likely sell you a shaft outright for circa £75, I would not bother trying to mend this, myself. I have pulled these joints apart accidentally in the past, but I have seen the problem before continuing with the repairs; I have never pushed a joint like this back together after the components have rotated relative to each other. The risks involved in this joint seizing some way down the road, possibly at high road-speed, would not justify the savings to be made, but if (like me) you are in the middle-of-nowhere, then you might go down the repair route if only to drive the vehicle out of the workshop and put it out of your misery until the new shaft turns-up.

[armstrongracer]

Cheers,

I'm in Ireland and post Brexit I don't think J&R will supply me because of the paperwork etc.. My fastest way back on the road would be to get boot kits which are off the shelf, re-grease and rebuild the CV's. Also I'm without transport (even my motorbike is blocked by the immobile Alhambra) an need to get the thing back on the road asap.  Auto-Doc have a good video showing CV dismantle and rebuild which actually features the same driveshaft on my vehicle. The main problem I can see would be getting inner CV out working on my back in my driveway.  It all looks so easy with the vehicle on a lift at shoulder height.

[remmington]

Normally CV joints only "fall apart" - when they have excessive wear in them - something to think about!

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But if it makes you feel any better - I done what you have done - several times over the years...

[Joepublic]

Grab the shaft and push / shove both inner and outer end - you'll soon see which end has dislocated

[armstrongracer]

Was thinking of doing a quick diagnostic before buying boot kits.  Should be easy to just lift the wheel with a jack, put vice grip around the shaft to lock it and rotate the wheel. If wheel spins with shaft locked its the outer CV and if not, by a process of elimination it must be the inner trilobal CV. Which is more likely.

[armstrongracer]

Thanks for your help, found the issue,  Suspect the CV cage had broken up but was retained inside of the housing and still working (just about), when I pulled the axle to get the upright off in order to change the shock it probably all just came apart. See picture below of shrapnel inside the bellows:


I have a question:  My car has the rarest of the 3 types of inner CV joint fitted to the Sharan's and Alhambra's (see picture).  How does this version come off?  Do I just lever the cap off where it attaches to the gearbox and pull the splined end out of the gearbox.


Cheers.


Attachment Deleted             Attachment Deleted

[remmington]

May 25, 2023 14:58:59 GMT 1 armstrongracer said:

Thanks for your help, found the issue,  Suspect the CV cage had broken up but was retained inside of the housing and still working (just about), when I pulled the axle to get the upright off in order to change the shock it probably all just came apart. See picture below of shrapnel inside the bellows:


I have a question:  My car has the rarest of the 3 types of inner CV joint fitted to the Sharan's and Alhambra's (see picture).  How does this version come off?  Do I just lever the cap off where it attaches to the gearbox and pull the splined end out of the gearbox.


Cheers.


View Attachment             View Attachment

I just buy new or exchange driveshafts for these.

[armstrongracer]

I did, that version of gearbox side CV joint is as rare as hen's teeth, got very last axle from Auto-doc, hopefully their stock control system is up to date. CV joint rebuild kit of that type is on back order. Waiting anxiously for a tracking number..

[remmington]

May 25, 2023 17:19:39 GMT 1 armstrongracer said:

I did, that version of gearbox side CV joint is as rare as hen's teeth, got very last axle from Auto-doc, hopefully their stock control system is up to date. CV joint rebuild kit of that type is on back order. Waiting anxiously for a tracking number..

I struggle with AutoDoc - they always send me the wrong parts - I don't buy off them now. I learned the hard way...

They are cheap thou!