The driver of this 2009 VW Transporter had felt an unusual clunk from the driveline, but it had only happened the once, and he brushed it off as insignificant. When he felt the problem again accompanied by a strange noise, he began to suspect that the gearbox was failing. Whilst he was thinking through what the problem may be, the vehicle suddenly lost all drive. Releasing the clutch just produced a whirring noise and the van refused to move forwards or backwards.

Arriving at our doors on the back of a low loader, we checked out the problem to discover it was something we had come across a few times before. The offside driveshaft had failed where it connects to the small adapter (at arrow), which fits into the gearbox. This is a splined joint and the splines had completely sheered off.

This problem is apparently due to the joint not being greased and allowing wear to take place. The shaft and input adapter are sold as separate units from the main agent and cost around €680. From the Factors the complete kit can be purchased from around €210, making this a cost effective option. The kit contains the short adapter, the full driveshaft and the hub nut.

Once the drive shaft is removed, the small drive adapter is held into the gearbox using an Allen bolt secured in the centre of the unit. Once this is removed, the adapter can be pulled from the gearbox.

Once all the new parts were fitted, this van was back on the roa

You can download this story as a PDF, as well as other technical tips at TechTips.ie.

There are lots more Tech Tips to view, and they are all searchable, on TechTips.ie.