Bill Ball

Try a big prybar, although be careful what you pry against.

Hilton

Looks like a bolt from the rear axles was used?

daveo90s4

How about checking your crank end float sooner rather than later in this task of 'adjusting' the central shaft? The findings may influence your plan of attack. If the crank end float is OK I'd say you've had a good day rather than a bad day!! Good luck.

Black Sea RD

If you do use a dead blow/plastic hammer instead of a pry bar, just be sure you hit the clamp as straight toward the engine as possible and as close to the drive shaft as possible.

A soft metal drift can also be used if you can't get a good angle to hit the clamp with the hammer. Just make every hit count and take your time. If you can't turn the drive shaft easily, just alternate each hit on each side of the clamp.

The force should be more like good taps than full blown "sink the nail in wood" hits. It will move.

Good luck,

Mrmerlin

I wonder if the wrong TT driveshaft is in this tube??
if you can see the rear groove and its close to lining up at the trans then your driveshaft is too short, its possible the driveshaft was damaged and another one was installed but it wasnt the correct length

DanielD

By stealing borland's picture I can show you about where the rear clamp comes up on the torque tube. By the looks of things I would say that Constantine is correct in his prognostication. The shaft was pushed back somehow during installation and not corrected at that time.

By the way, I will replace the screw with the correct version...

Mrmerlin

to move the shaft forward,
remove the 6 bolts on the flex plate ( mark it first to the flywheel),
then slide it onto the driveshaft ,
then install the PK clamp then use this to pry the clamp/shaft forward

GregBBRD

It is possible to have the rear portion of the shaft "slide" too far into the rear "clamp" and go right past the groove in the shaft and then allow the bolt to tighten down on the necked down part of the shaft. This can only happen if the shaft, in the torque tube, is about 1.25 inches too far back.

Follow Stan's directions. Remove the entire flex plate from the flywheel, slide it back and tighten down the pinch bolt. Use a prybar to then lever the flexplate and shaft forward. It might be stuck in the rear clamp...you may have to "talk to it" more than you'd expect. It will no good to try and remove the torque tube....you will still need to "unstick" the rear part of the shaft from the rear clamp, before you can get it apart.

dr bob

I'll advise against using a hammer on a driveshaft for any bearings you want to re-use. Ball bearings are supposed to be round, and banging on them risks damaging the ***** and/or the races. The clamp-and-pry method is OK but you probably won't get much movement with a mere-mortal effort on a short bar. And no room to get a bigger bar on there with the car just off the ground on stands.

Be intimately aware of the ~~ 175# rollover pressure needed to get a 928 off of a set of 3ton jackstands at full extension. Failure to heed this limit can be fatal to anyone underneath the car when it pushes over.

Black Sea RD

Hi Dr. Bob,

Although I heartily agree with you on hammering on bearings being a big "no-no," my advice comes directly from the manuals.

The manual advises that if the drive shaft needs to be moved within the TT during installation of the TT into the car, then light taps with a hammer should be used to move the drive shaft into position. Hence my advice to do the same in this instance.

Daniel is going to have to overcome the drag of the rear transmission coupler as well as the TT bearings themselves. A pry bar will not work easily with these stock bearing units due to the design of the OE bearing insert.

But I did advise to go carefully and lightly with the hammering...

Kind regards,

Mark R.

Hey DanielD,

What was the resolution of this situation? Were you able to get the shaft relocated forward?

Sorry for resurrecting such an old thread, but after extensive searching, this is the only thread that seems to match what I'm seeing on my 87 Auto daily driver.

I have nearly 2 inches of exposed spline showing aft of the front coupler (which is way more than I see in other's pictures).

When I probe the front coupler splits with a wire, I can feel the tip of my spline inside the coupler. It reaches about to the end of the split slots in the coupler.
--> I assume it should go deeper..?

I dropped the exhaust and felt around up inside the rear coupler access hole (the rear bolt was already properly torqued), but I can't really feel any portion of the splines at the front of the coupler.
--> Should some of the splines be exposed there..?

The car has been like this as long as I've owned it (~8 years) with no apparent "symptoms" (i.e. - I discovered this "visually"). I had performed Earl's Loctite 790 procedure on it years ago (including the telltale paint), and I check it yearly for any movement, but I guess I just never took note of how much spline is showing until now.

One other thing I noticed, it does NOT have the tapered shaft (as I would expect). It appears to have a straight 25mm shaft. Also the front torque tube bearing is exactly 9 inches back from the front of the tube.
--> Is it possible a manual tube is installed in my car..?

Thanks very much in advance for any comments, suggestions, or guidance,

Mark in Atlanta (Long Time Lurker...)

87 S4 Grandprixweiss Auto w/LSD (Driven Daily Since 2004).
88 S4 Silbermetallic 5 speed w/LSD (Weekends - Currently Down).
84 S Schwarz Auto w/LSD (Sold in 2007 - Daily Driver 1997-2004).

OTR18WHEELER

Thats what she said

Mark R.

Okay, I crawled back under there earlier today, and this is what it looks like.



I can't believe I just noticed this, and furthermore, I REALLY can't believe I've been raging around for all these years with only a small portion of the front spline enganged in the coupler.

Comments..? Suggestions..?

Thanks, Mark in Atlanta.

87 S4 Grandprixweiss Auto w/LSD (Daily Driver Since 2004).
88 S4 Silbermetallic 5 speed w/LSD (Weekends - Currently Apart).
84 S Schwarz Auto w/LSD (Sold in 2007 - Daily Driver 1997-2004).

jeff spahn

I believe you must be a member to post photos.

Mark R.

No, actually, I think I just screwed up the picture download.

Anyhow, I went ahead and started a new thread for this:

https://rennlist.com/forums/928-foru...y-looking.html

And it appears the picture downloaded correctly in that one.

Thanks,

Mark in Atlanta.

87 S4 Grandprixweiss Auto w/LSD (Daily Driver Since 2004).
88 S4 Silbermetallic 5 speed w/LSD (Weekends - Currently Apart).
84 S Schwarz Auto w/LSD (Sold in 2007 - Daily Driver 1997-2004).