Hi everyone. For some time now when setting off and turning right in my 420GSi R8 I get a noise which is somewhere between a creaking and tapping noise maybe 6 or 8 times in quick succession then it stops as you straighten up. Car drives perfectly straight and I’ve just replaced discs, callipers, pads and hoses so it’s not binding brakes.

Any ideas or anyone had a similar problem? Sorry, really hard to describe the noise.

Matthew

It being evident when turning suggests a worn CV joint to me.

Thanks - I’ll check that first - makes a lot of sense

MatthewL wrote: ↑Mon Jul 01, 2024 10:15 pm Thanks - I’ll check that first - makes a lot of sense

Yeah, probably the outer CV joint at the wheel. Perhaps a split boot and you've lost some grease, it was split and the garage renewed it but didn't put enough grease back in or smear it over the inside of the boot as recommended, or it's just old and worn (aren't we all?)

I'd say if you're stationary and you turn the wheel and get that noise, it could be related to the ball joint on the front lower suspension arm (again, rubber may have split and allowed grit to get in there, or it's run dry of lubrication) or the track rod end ball joint (same reasons).

I bet it's the CV joint though.

You may have to wind down both front windows and take a corner slowly, listening for whether the sound is coming from your side or the passenger side of the car! I doubt both CVs have perished at the same time.

Thanks Johnny. Have done that now and it’s passenger side definitely and no noises with the car static so outer cv joint makes sense. Trying to save money so I think I’ll try to change it myself. I know on my XR3 you open a little circlip and the end drops off - hoping this might be similar? I’d rather avoid emptying the gearbox of oil by pulling the whole drive shaft out if I can.

It's an internal spring wire ring which lives in a annular groove in the splined section.

Right - that sounds similar so I use expanding pliers to open it out and the cv joint should slide off the shaft?

MatthewL wrote: ↑Wed Jul 03, 2024 7:29 am Right - that sounds similar so I use expanding pliers to open it out and the cv joint should slide off the shaft?

No, unfortunately not. So the snap ring only just squeezes into the CV joint shaft hole with a swift knock. If you take the whole driveshaft off, this probably just means gently dropping it, outer-CV side down, onto a wooden surface so everything clicks into place.

Unfortunately, removal is a bit trickier. The snap ring expands inside the CV joint shaft hole, into a matching groove. So you've got the joint and shaft locked groove-to-groove with the snap ring, which is quite hefty.

When I was rebuilding mine, I had the luxury of the shafts being off the car, hence why I mentioned dropping the shaft to get a new CV back into place. I remember how tough it was to get the original / worn out CV joints off the shafts. I was holding a shaft in my left hand so it hung vertically down, then I was bashing away with a steel hammer on the inner rim of the cv joint until it came off. You're basically trying to provide the separation force which causes the snap ring to shrink in diameter (it has a split/gap in it) and allow movement between the joint and shaft.

Remember eye protection!

It was a good job I intended to replace the joints, as I pretty much destroyed the original CVs, at least on the back face. They came off... eventually.

If you're doing that on the car, it's got to be knuckle off first so the shaft is hanging down, then I'd recommend trying to hold the shaft with one hand and hitting the back of it with the other (via a hammer, obviously). You may be successful, or you may just get really annoyed.

You have to hold the shaft pretty well, as the only thing retaining it is the rubber of the inner CV joint. The tripod joint within does not have any lateral stop, and so you could stress the inner CV boot so much it might split. Those inner CV boots are "super hero" and are impossible to source with the same quality these days, so don't damage them. Everything these days is made from soft, perishable rubber that lasts maybe a year or two before you need to replace them again.

You could try getting the whole shaft off the car to work on, but guess what? There's a split ring that holds the inner CV to the gearbox output shaft too. In this case, you need a crowbar with a slim enough flat end to get between the inner CV front face and the gearbox casing. Lots of force and you need to jiggle it whilst doing it, so lots of "tries" in subtly different locations around the inner CV may work.

It's a game. I had the luxury of being able to work on driveshafts off the car as part of my restoration effort. I have NEVER replaced CV joints with the shafts attached to the car.

I did mine off the car too, which allowed me to clamp the shaft in the vice on my heavy work bench. I didn't clout the
back of the CV joint directly, I used a scrap piece of 2x1 timber, end-on. Getting it back on after changing the boot was
the real pain, as I was trying to compress the snap ring to get the shaft started in the hole.

It's worth mentioning that care is needed if pulling the inner joint out of the diff. If it's allowed to drop as it loses the
support of the bore, the splines may nick the differential seal, after which it will leak. So keep it supported! If you use
care as you disengage the inner snap ring, you will clearly feel it disengage, while it is still supported in the bore, at
which point you can rearrange your grip to keep it central for final withdrawal.

Oh my word! This is my daily driver so I’ve got to be successful once I start the work. Doesn’t sound a helpful design. I’ll study what you e all said and try to work out what’s best to do. Assuming it’s easy enough to refill gearbox oil… removing the whole shaft sounds the better option.

I’ve got too many nearly or not working cars at the moment and not enough working ones. Montego needs carb refitting and high tickover sorting, XR3 electrical issue affecting running - needs a little wiring to finally fix after replacing every other possible part, e36 323i cabrio needs soft top adjusting, new tyres and selling. And my w126 Merc is still in bits 4 years on. Not enough time!