3000 prop shaft

[Roger 3OOO]

My 3000 has suffered a fairly large catastrophe in that the forward UJ (of the prop shaft) disintegrated when almost reaching the summit of quite a long hill.  Also, in its final rotations the remains of the prop shaft ripped into the hydraulic brake line!!!

Does anyone happen to have a Ford Sierra prop shaft lying around – with internal splines at gearbox end; I have one with external splines? Or know where I can get one?  Or is the UJ repairable?

Also, for some months before it went, there was a vibration which happened between approx 40 – 50mph & not only in 4th, or 5th gear & possibly it had been becoming worse which possibly caused the disintegration.  Has anyone any comments on this please?

Roger 

[Tom Burton]

Hi Roger

Sounds all very unpleasant.

If no one on here has one - here are some links which may be useful.

http://www.parts.loc8apart.co.uk/nav/auto-part/Ford/Sierra/Propshaft.php

http://passionford.com/forum/tags/propshaft.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOEdul7nscY

Tom

[Roger 3OOO]

You could describe it as unpleasant!  We were not quite so restrained.

Thanks for the info Tom - I'll certainly follow it up.

Roger

[hal 1]

Hi Roger
Sorry to hear about your troubles,  u/js' should be repairable, when the bearings wear out you can buy a kit to repair it, so unless there's any other damage to the prop then you might be able to sort it out,
Let us know how you get on
Roy

Just looked on eBay and there doesn't seem to be any Sierra kits listed, are they sealed ?
BTW land rover kits are around £80 each, just for cost comparison

[Roger 3OOO]

Hi,
The UJ is completely mullered & not repairable.  The good news, however, is that my local garage (owned by my son) has put me in touch with a garage in Wimborne (Dorset) who repair & build prop shafts from scratch & they have all the necessary bits to do one for me.  I'll also need to transfer or purchase new magnets to operate the digital speedo.

However, what really annoys me is that the one Pilgrim supplied me when I was building the car is smaller diameter than the one I took out of my 2litre Sierra donor car!!!  No wonder Tony (Holmes - bless him) didn't want it in exchange.

Thanks for your input guys,
Roger

[simon3000]

Hi Rob.
 The property supplied by Tony was crap and dangerous.throw it away.mine did exactly the same,yoke sheared at the gearbox end.i can thoroughly recommend Bailey Morris,delivered within a week brilliant service and a sensible price.
 Hope there's not too much damage and the stains wash out of your trousers ,you'll be back on the road soon

[simon3000]

Ps. The vibration could have been the bearings in the yoke  giving up.not sure if it was defective bearings or a weak/deformed casting that caused the failure .luckily mine happened at low speed 100yards from my house and only took out the fuel lines.

[jon3000]

After reading this horror story, I wonder if there is something I should look out for. If the prop breaks from the gearbox end it could cause the car to catapult! really not good!

We had a prop break on our landrover twice in close succession, first time it broke completely, second time I recognized the vibration before it broke free. I realized the reason for the failures was the handbrake, the rear wheels would lock solid overnight or if left several days especially if there was a bit of rain. Pulling away after starting up often resulted in a big clunk at start. This caused huge stress on the UJs. The fix was to change the brake shoes!

After getting my 3000 back on the road,  I drove about 30 miles before it developed a clunk, coming from the rear of car when I pulled away or braked. I was worried it might be the propshaft, it turned out to be the 2 screws on the rear of the diff had become loose so I was relieved to fix it in 10 mins and a ratchet spanner.

[Nigel Haldane]

That happens on neils car also he has broken the bolts off on the diff.

[jon3000]

I was lucky, no bolts broken, might be tricky to get them out. I was worried about the sound, I had to drive tentatively for 30 miles until I got back home.  I was imagining something serious in the drive chain. So I was really pleased when it was so easy to fix.

Jon