Syncronauts,

recently    another German  Syncro   driver  contacted  me  because he's
permanently having problems with his drive  shaft.  The viscous coupling
was replaced due  to the  grooves  where the  input shaft enters   being
totally worn  out.  Later he observed  severe vibrations which he traced
back to the drive shaft.   He removed it  and took it  to a special shop
for balancing.  After putting the drive shaft  back in everything seemed
normal for  a few weeks, but  then the vibrations  were back.  Currently
he's driving with the drive shaft removed.

Some months ago we had a discussion on this list about universal joints,
and I faintly remember that at least one  person mentioned that when you
mount the u-joints onto a shaft the wrong way you're into trouble due to
the different rotational  speeds occuring at the  different  ends of the
shaft at different times and thus placing severe stress on the material.

I've never yet disassembled my drive shaft, so my  question here is: can
one mount the  u-joints on a Syncro's drive   shaft the wrong  way?  And
what has a Syncro's drive shaft  with correctly mounted u-joints to look
like?  And could a wrongly assembled drive shaft cause these vibrations?
Or should he check for other causes?  Which ones?

Any input will be greatly appreciated and passed on to the owner of said
castrated Syncro :-)

Sincerely
 Rainer

'89 Caravelle GL Syncro 16"

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| Rainer M Woitok                  | Phone: (+49-9131) 85-27811,-27031 |
| Regionales Rechenzentrum         |                                   |
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