Borrow a know good or ok shaft and throw it on
there...if ok, then bad shaft.  if not ok, front
diff/VC ?

Randolph Feuerriegel wrote:
>
> Greetings Doug
>
> I'm willing to bet that it is still the driveshaft. I have gone thru the
> same routine. Even returned the rebuilt shaft 3 times to get proper
> balancing. No luck. Fortuntely, I found a used shaft, while not
> perfectly smooth, but close, and has not changed in 30,000 km. As for
> the shafts, I am led to believe that the u-joints must be perfectly
> centered, then the shaft balanced. I don't think anyone has found the
> correct U-joints without using numerous shims to make them fit. If
> someone has and put substantial mileage on it, I would love to hear
> about it. Good luck and keep us posted.
>
> Fitz-Randolph, Douglas wrote:
> >
> > I started having these vibrations - body of car, not steering wheel or brake
> > pedal - when applying power at certain speeds. They spread to other speeds
> > over the course of a few months, and in the last week (with driveshaft)
> > increased exponentially and became so bad that I thought it best not to
> > drive the van. Removed the driveshaft, presto - problem gone. The u-joints
> > were in sorry shape - binding and sticking - so I had them rebuilt by a
> > local driveline shop. Reinstalled the driveshaft - the vibrations weren't
> > quite as severe, but were still completely unacceptable - driving the van
> > still didn't seem like a good idea. Took the driveshaft back - he rebalanced
> > it - no difference. He said "there's no way just a bad driveshaft could be
> > causing vibration like that". My door lock buttons were unscrewing all by
> > themselves! The front bearings and outer CV joints check out fine, the inner
> > CV's were both replaced about 10-20,000 miles ago.
> >
> > Aarrgh! Where's the problem? Still the driveshaft? Front end of drivetrain?
> > Transmission? I don't have the wherewithal to begin tearing apart the
> > drivetrain to figure out which bearing is shot, or otherwise what the
> > problem is. I am hesitant to go to my local VW dealer because of a) price
> > and b) previous less-than-satisfactory experiences. There are a few VW
> > specialists around - they seem to be air-cooled specialists - "Syncro - Oh -
> > I've seen a few of those around...".
> >
> > I've heard a lot of good things about some transmission people on the list,
> > but none in Northern New England that I can recall. I've got family in NJ
> > and could conceivably go to Ken W if he's comfortable with this sort of
> > stuff, but I wish there was someone up here I could feel confident about!
> >
> > Any ideas, fellow listees/syncronauts?
> >
> > Doug Fitz-Randolph
> > Yarmouth, ME (Southern Maine)
> > dfrandolph@talkam.net
> > '90 Syncro (145K on odometer, 50K on engine, 70K on trans)
>
> --
> R.Feuerriegel
> 88 syncro