[Horrorhype]

So last week I posted about an intermittent noise coming from under the car, at first I thought it was the heat shield but as I was driving through Wimborne on holiday there was a complete failure above the heat shield

We got it jacked up at a friends house and rotated the front wheel, which turned the front half of the prop shaft as expected, but the rear shaft was stationary. There is play in the front shaft up and down and a gash in the shield.

I assume the shaft joint or the bearing or the carrier has completely failed as there wasn't movement in the shaft front to back.

Is this worth repairing as I was worried it could have damaged the differentials (either the joints or the gears)? Would need to take the exhausts off to even look at it and the car is on my friends driveway, I'm back in the midlands 😅😅 Gutted as it had just passed MOT last month

 

[David C]

That pic should give you an idea of what you're looking at.
"12" is the central joint that links the front & back halves of the propshaft near the central support "17"

Several potential failure causes there from just bolts coming out to splines shearing off of the shaft.

 

[Horrorhype]

Ok so worst case scenario I need the whole assembly 8N0521101J ? any idea how much time / tools needed to remove and replace as it looks like a right ballache

 

[Charmadize]

Taking the old prop out and a new one back in isn’t too bad of a job, it is just heavy and cumbersome and of course you have to have to whole car up on stands.

I’ve no idea how much a replacement is though, as the diagram from David shows, it depends where it is broken.

 

[Stustt]

Hopefully the carrier bearing just suffered with wear and too much play which eventually put too much strain on the splines so they stripped.
I'd see if you can buy a new bearing assembly and a good used shaft.

 

[torqueit]

You just need to dig in and see what's broken. Typically, it's a joint or bearing and not a big deal. If for some reason you need a whole prop shaft, just get a used one.

 

[desertstorm]

My doughnut at the back of the engine ended up getting shredded when a bolt broke and I had to replace the prop shaft complete. Bought a second hand one off fleabay for £50 and that runs fine. You have to take the exhaust system off and remove some aluminium heat shields first. The propshaft is reasonably easy to remove then. A new propshaft from the dealers is likely to be well expensive.
Best to to buy a complete prop front and rear as they are balanced as a complete item including the centre bearing. Any prop that is split the balance may not be good. The front flexible coupler should be replaced as this is the one that usually fails. A Febi item works well.

2003 AUDI TT MK1 QUATTRO 1.8 T MANUAL PROPSHAFT 8N0521101 | eBay

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