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Hi everyone, looking for a bit of help if possible. Had a problem with a friends van yesterday. When I came to move the van, it went into gear ok but it felt like the brakes were binding on. Raised the rear of the van and both wheels rotate freely. Raised the front of the van and the near side wheel rotates freely but the off side wheel will hardly turn at all. So removed the brake caliper on the off side, still only a small amount of movement. With the van still on axle stands, started the engine engaged first and released the clutch - near side wheel takes up the drive but the off side wheel still won't move, even when the engine is revved. I'm thinking it could be gearbox or driveshaft related. Anyone have any ideas please.
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Most likely to be the drivers side, driveshaft, centre bearing seized - if it has one.
Edited by Peter.N. on 09/01/2010 at 18:29
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Thanks for that. I did check at the gearbox to make sure the driveshaft was fully home on the splines. The off side driveshaft is the longer of the two and doesn't actually bolt up to the gearbox as it does on the near side. I couldn't turn the driveshaft by hand with the van in neutral, so do you think it might be the short ouput shaft from the gearbox to the driveshaft ? Looks like I will have to remove the driveshaft tomorrow to check.
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Yep, wasn't to sure it had one but I know my Citroens do, normally gives very little trouble but I once had one that broke up and allowed the shaft to slide out of the Diff!! I think its far more likely to be that than the gearbox.
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Before you go too far you have checked that the wheel bearing isn't seized haven't you?
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Thanks for the replies Peter & Simon. Basically I've got a small garage and agreed to do a few jobs on the van for it's MOT. Already fixed the gearlinkage which had parted from the gearbox (nearly a tenner for a little nylon sleeve from Renault, that probably costs about 10p to produce...eeeekkk). My mate thought the brakes were binding on and I had to use dollies to get the van in the garage (the van came to me on a low-loader). I know that the wheel bearing is shot on the near-side, which is one of the jobs I need to do. But on the off-side the bearing seems ok. It feels like it is stuck in gear on the off-side, ie you can turn the off-side wheel a few degrees then it locks up, even in neutral. Hope this gives you a few more ideas, I've never seen this before on any vehicle. I can't feel any play in the off-side wheel bearing (when gripping the wheel top and bottom and rocking it).
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Locks up? That's strange, I would have said the diff but then the other wheel wouldn't turn, you can't have the diff locked on one side and not the other - or could you? I'm trying to work this out in my head..... yes you could, the other side would turn by revolving the whole diff - could be a diff bearing, but I've never heard of that before. The only way you are going to prove it is to pull the shaft out.
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To be honest. I think I will remove the off side driveshaft tomorrow. That way I can check the driveshaft. Also I will see if the gearbox output shaft turns with the driveshaft disconnected. Like I said, it's a bit of a puzzler this one.
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