gmonsen

OK, so the motor issues were small... glue down the intercooler hose, fix the exhaust leaks... and voila! Car runs beautifully. Two hour drive yesterday was joyous. My wife even likes it.

Today coming from the grocery store I hear a clunk and think that I ran over something. But, there's no connection between the motor, which revs quite nicely thanks, and the wheels. I coast to a stop and look under it and (voila is not the right thing here) there's the left half shaft hanging down with the bolts fairly well stripped.

Can you guys tell me what happened and how to fix it? Is this a common thing on 964's? I wouldn't think so. Might it have resulted from the former owner putting in a quaife diff and the service guys not torquing everything down right?
Is this something I can fix with my handy dandy service manual? Any help appreciated. -Gordon

(hoping these are all teething problems, since I really love the car. also, I put this on the turbo section as well and hope that's ok. there seem to be more active guys on the regular 964 section.)

John Boggiano

FWIW, I have been around here quite a while and I have never heard of this happeing to anybody before.

Fred, Long Island

OK...I'll confess. It happened on my 79 SC not too long after I acquired it (Used). I was on the way over to my wrench to show it to him for the first time. Needless to say, it was embarrassing to walk into his shop with CV grease on my hand. My teenage son wasn't too impressed either to say the least.
Then there was the 84 Carrera that decided to do it when my son had the car. Again...he wasn't happy or impressed. This one was my fault as I had done the clutch a few months before.
Those bolts have to be torqued up really tight!
The room to maneuver while under the car, installing them is limited and the range of motion with the wrench is confined.
Last year reinstalling the engine, believe me the long breaker bar came out to do the joints.
Not a bad idea to give 'em a check when you're under there.

Adrian

Dear Gordon,
A half shaft falling out suggests VERY sloppy maintenance. They just cannot fall out. No this is not a 964 problem at all. Your Turbo needs the attention of an expert. You will need to find what damage if any has been done to the threads in the differential.
Ciao,
Adrian
911C4

horst

Had this happen to me in my 930. In the course of taking the engine out, clutch, etc, I disassembeld the CV joint, regreased, and PUT IN NEW GASKETS. I understand the allen head bolts are 1-time use. Has something to do with tha angle of the threads. Anyhow, most of us re-use. They are supposed to be TIGHT. I thought I had gotten them plenty tight. Apparently I had not thought about the fact that I had installed new gaskets, which compressed, thereby making the bolts loose. Now whenever I do it, I clean the bolts with laquer thinner, put on lock-tite and give each bolt 2 passes, the second being 2 grunts of torque. Then come back in about a week, and re-visit to make sure that nothing has loosened.

gmonsen

I spoke to a guy named Fred Apgar who is a Porsche engine and transmission specialist near me. He says he has seen this a number of times and thinks that when Bobby Archer put in the Quaife differential, he reused the old bolts. He said nothing much should have happened, since I was going so slow. He said that the axle could have banged the throttle linkage and other things if I had been going fast. When this comes out, did I lose fluid? I didn't see any on the pavement.

I decided to have a complete pre race tech inspection and tightening done. I don't want any more surprises.

Gordon