Driveshaft trouble

[ahaynes]

So I'm to reinstall the driveshaft in my 87 milano gold after it and the engine have been out of the car for a long time. The front and rear engine mounts are all bolted down as well as the rear crossmember but the front half of the driveshaft appears to be too far forward. Its one of the old style ones without a pinch bolt. The reason I blame the front half is because the rubber in the center support has to flex in order to reach the bolts that its mounted to the unibody with. I tried pushing engine back as far as it would go but there is still a substantial gap between the two drive shaft halves. I also took some measurements to make sure I wasn't dealing with a bent frame but everything checks out as per the manual. To bolt the driveshaft together like this would force the donut to flex a lot. Im really confused as to where this gap came from as this is the same driveshaft that came out of the car.

[Greg Gordon]

Whoa...hold on! If your car doesn't have a pinch bolt something is amiss. All GTV6s and Milanos have the pinch bolt to allow proper fore/aft alignment. The older Alfetta's don't. Either you are missing some parts, need to look again, or you have an Alfetta driveshaft. Also the GTV6 driveshaft is shorter than the Milano's, but both have pinch bolts.

I have a good driveshaft tech article here: http://www.hiperformancestore.com/guiboDSclutch.htm

However my site is down at the moment, but it will be back up Tuesday at the latest.

Greg

[aldo]

Greg,
That link, not working?

[Greg Gordon]

Hmm, I mentioned that in my previous post, my site will be down until tomorrow. At that point the link will be working. For some reason, my site has a chronic problem with extended weekends. It's almost never up for an entire holiday weekend. I don't really know what to do about it, I am not a computer guy. My wife gets upset about it though. It sure does reduce the value of those google ads.

Greg

[ahaynes]

Hmmm....according to this thread milanos would, in rare cases, come without a pinchbolt. Sorry if it sounded like this was supposed to be a normal thing. The pinchbolt is supposed to be at the front, yes? Here's a picture up through the bellhousing.

[1166]

It looks like you need a new front dounut. As for the space, you may have the small centering bearing not seated properly. If you install the shaft as two pieces, sometimes it is very difficult to get that bearing aligned properly. The bearing I speak of centers the driveshaft with each other in the center of the dounut area. It should slide together easily, work the 'outer shell; with a pick until it slides together easily, OTHERWISE you will overcenter the outer part of the bearing and the shaft will not be centered.

[Greg Gordon]

I think if there is a Milano (and that means a U.S. Spec car with a V6) out there without a pinch bolt, it's because someone switched parts with another car. As far as I know every GTV6 and Milano came with the bigger driveshaft and the pinch bolt. Of course with these cars nothing surprises me any more. I could be wrong.

Greg Gordon,
hiperformancestore.com

[1166]

Milanos came with 2 styles of driveshafts. The GTV-6 style w/ a pinchbolt & splines AND the Alfetta style (with a center dounut same as alfetta center dounut) and FIXED length.

[oz3litre]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1166 It looks like you need a new front dounut. As for the space, you may have the small centering bearing not seated properly. If you install the shaft as two pieces, sometimes it is very difficult to get that bearing aligned properly. The bearing I speak of centers the driveshaft with each other in the center of the dounut area. It should slide together easily, work the 'outer shell; with a pick until it slides together easily, OTHERWISE you will overcenter the outer part of the bearing and the shaft will not be centered.

[SamW]

OK, I guess I have never seen the Alfetta style before because that center donut looks nothing like the GTV6 or the Milano's I have seen. I will agree with both the above 2 posts about having to get the bearing lined up right to slid in the donut. I had this issue on the rear donut where the bearing actual slide off the pivot area and did not go into the donut but the donut did mount up between the two sections correctly (unlike the above picture where the two parts have not joined correctly). I ended up with a bad rattle and have since installed the donut on the side with the bearing first to make sure it slides in correctly, then attach the other side. I think if you take this apart and try that approach, you will be ingood shape!

[ahaynes]

Okay, just to make sure I understand correctly, is this the part you guys are talking about? I need to bring the two parts of the driveshaft apart then orient this part correctly so the two halves slide together easy right? Thanks, for all the help by the way.

[1166]

You are correct.

[oz3litre]

The one I had trouble with is on the transaxle end, but it is the same thing by the look of it. I was only replacing the rear coupling and didn't have the whole driveshaft apart.

[ahaynes]

Okay, so I took the two halves of the driveshaft apart from eachother. Turns out the bearing had been jammed further onto the thing sticking out of the driveshaft that it was supposed to go. I managed to pry it back and nothing apeared to be damaged. Bringing the two halves of the driveshaft together it slid in on the first try! Everything is bolted down now and all seems to be well. Thanks again.

[oz3litre]

I'm glad you fixed it and that we were of help in solving your problem. The bearing is split so it has a bit of spring in it to enable it to be taken off. That's how I was able to put the replacement one on. I was very lucky to get one because I don't think you can buy new ones anymore.