anhtuan904

The 411 on my situation:

I was making a turn and as i accelerated.... POP! goes my drive shaft! The shifter actually popped up a few inches when it popped leaving me thinkin at the moment it happened it was my tranny crapping out. I have a 95 sc400 that actually just broke the 200K miles mark. After the incident I realize my engine still running but my car will not accelerate. Me and my brother push the car back to my house when we notice a clankin noise under the car. Today i finally got the chance to put my car on stands and find my drive shaft snapped in two about a foot back from the beginning of the the shaft towards the front. At first i thought most likely the car was not moving because the tranny died(not even thinking the drive shaft broke at the time). So now I am left with mixed "feelings" on what I need to do. My question for anyone with any experience on this is:
1.What can cause a drive shaft to snap?
2.Would a tranny be the culprit of snapping a drive shaft?
3.Is there any way for me to check for myself if the tranny is still good BEFOR i replace the drive shaft?

Thanks for your time and help, tips, advice, and suggestions will be very appreciated!!

Thank you for your time.

LSEGHATCH

Cause: Could be anything seizing up on either end (tranny or rear end) but most the time it's due to worn out u-joints or at least that's where failure is most common.

Only way to check if your trans is good AND IM NOT SURE IF THIS IS GOOD OR BAD, would be to disconnect anything connecting to the trans and then starting the car up to see if it shifts into any of the gears.

LEXXIUM

iTrader: (1)

When was the last time you checked your differential fluid?
U joints are most common like Hatch said, but it could be a number of things though.
Did you get on it when it happened?

anhtuan904

I see, when you say disconnect everything do you mean basically disconnecting it from the car? or just pulling off the D/s? When the situation first happened on the road i was able to 1. start the car, and 2. shift into other gears other than park, and 3. was able to get a response from throttle in park, reverse, and 1st gr. Would it be safe to go ahaed and replace my drive shaft while not knowing how my tranny is?

anhtuan904

LEXXIUM, Actually i just recently bought the car not to long ago and i have yet to check the diff. fluid. I may do that after i get off of the comp. oh and what did you mean by getting on it?

Oh and also i just thought i should add some more info prior to my situation. Seeing as my car is getting pretty old in mileage years, Ive always heard this slight rattling somewhere under my center console whenever im coasting and when i accelerate it would go away. The sound usually hit around 30-45 on a coast or decceleration.

LEXXIUM

iTrader: (1)

Did you take off from a stop very fast when it happened?
The rattle in the center console area is common, and I think its unrelated to your drive shaft issue.
Disconnect your driveshaft from the transmision, and from your rear differential completely off the car, that includes a center carrier bearing if you still have one.
Take some pics of everything of the bottom.
Its strange that it didnt snap at the u joint, how long after it poped you've been driving?

anhtuan904

Yea i did jump pretty fast trying to cut traffic(dumb move). I will be dissassembling that soon and will post pics asap. right befor i posted this i actually looked around a bit under my car and noticed the rubber bushings on both ends pretty bad and cracked on few areas. Not sure if that happen prior to the incident but most likey was from old age. Oh and as soon as it snapped i rolled down the street about half a block but i deffiniatly have not been driving it since.

vangb2

iTrader: (2)

I don't see how the tranny can cause the driveshaft to break. The only thing I could see that may have caused it is anything between the differential to the rear wheels seizing up. With any of the components locking up could cause the shaft to break due to the tranny forcing it to turn. By the way, it probably is one of those shaft that built either a Monday (half asleep) or a Friday (Waiting to grab a 12 pack).

anhtuan904

vangb2, Thats good news for me! I guess when it first happened I right away assumed it was my tranny so even tho now i realize the shaft is broke i subconciously still had the tranny on my mind. I am going to post pictures of the damage just for *****s n giggles tomorow. Well im going to get started and start pulling my exhaust and shaft off for a better view of everything that needs to be replaced... will be keeping this thread going untill i can say the SC is on the road again so please stay tuned!

willhickey

iTrader: (1)

Ive got a 95sc4 driveshaft if you need it just pm me man

LEXXIUM

iTrader: (1)

Jack the rear end up in the air, disconnect the driveshaft from the rear diff and trany and try to spin the wheels, youll be listening for a grinding noises. Hopefully you're wheels will spin freely without any noises. After that inspect your driveshaft u joints for play most likely they are gone as well as carrier bearing. Carrier bearing could be the major factor.

anhtuan904

LEXXIUM, Ah looks like ill be needing a breaker bar. Couldnt find anything else to use as one so ill be going out to buy one or something equvilent tom. will the Diff. be harmed in anyway while i break the bolts loose? Just wanna make sure befor i do any more damage.

good2go

iTrader: (6)

I'm not seeing how it could have been the diff locking up that caused the DS to snap. He said he was able to push the car after it had snapped; not an easy task with the diff seized. I agree though, put the car up on stands, disconnect the DS and try running it through the gears (just don't rev it too much without any load on the tranny).

anhtuan904

That is true good2go, i mean it was a pretty hard task pushing it back to my house. Haha i remember telling my brother that we'll just push it till we can catch momentum and hop in, hop back out and do it again but that really didnt work to well. anyway just got off work and havent been able to put in some work on the sc yet but heres a picture of the damage!....


this is the first time i've posted a pic so if it does not work let me kno... or try this link... http://i941.photobucket.com/albums/a...4102313-00.jpg

anhtuan904

Here is a video also. You can actually see where it snapped...

http://s941.photobucket.com/albums/a...4102258-01.flv