Rod Croskery

Has anyone besides me ever mistaken a dead ignition coil for a Cardan shaft failure?

https://rodcroskery.wordpress.com/20...-it-hurt-ruby/

AGARubberDuck

I've had both happen to me now. The symptoms are pretty distinct. I'll be clear that when you start hearing a ridiculously loud hammering noise under your right arm, it is certainly not an ignition coil doing this.

deilenberger

And the potential for failure of either is if the bearing seizes. In that case I think I'd rather have the bearing turn between the friction fit rubber tubes rather than rip out the rubber columns that EPS uses.

Thing is - lots of people have done the Jimi fix - and have you heard of any problems? I haven't..

Andy E.

Bob, you have a good argument and I'll give you that. However, if a bearing were to seize in either the EPS, Jimi or even the OEM application, any rubber in contact with the bearing housing will fail.

Once again, I'm not knocking the Jimi fix as I applaud the mechanic (Jimi) who came up with this ingenious idea as a "temporary fix". Like it or not, the weakness in the whole Jimi-Fix assembly (as a permanent fix) lies with the use of plastic tyraps. Show me a better way of securing the tubes to the bearing shaft housing and I'll become a believer.

BTW, exactly how many people have actually done the Jimi-Fix? Should we take a poll?

Rod Croskery

I have had a PTO shaft let go at the snowblower and flail around back there at 540 rpm while the tractor was moving in reverse. That gets your attention as well, though I was protected by the cab.

But on any V8 I've owned, a missing spark plug was barely noticeable. This felt more like a whole bank of cylinders misfiring. I'd forgotten about the O2 sensor, and how it would affect the rest of the engine in the advent of a miss.

The Jimi fix seems smoother under hard acceleration than the crusty rubber membrane it replaced.

The Cayenne is turning out to be a great car to drive.

nodoors

As referenced in my response to Docwyte earlier in this thread, I agree that zipties eventually get brittle and break, but blocked from UV light as they are they should be good for a long, long time. I am confident even the standard Jimi fix will end up making the factory rubber support look like the 'temporary fix.'

I debated between two other fasteners already in my garage: stainless steel bands and aircraft safety wire. Ultimately decided on the SS bands. Please know that you either need a special tool or the right method with pliers to properly tighten and fasten them.

Tool:
https://www.amazon.com/ProsKit-902-3...clipse+902-321

Stainless "Zip ties":
https://www.amazon.com/Vktech-100pcs...steel+zip+ties

I am confident this fix will outlast the bearing! I should also add, I have not performed the fix yet, but have materials in my trunk waiting for a nice day or need to install them.

deilenberger

Andy, who is Bob?Sure. It's free to do..

deilenberger

VERY dependent on the quality of the ziptie. I know this because a good friend at Bellcore (which was the "Bell Labs" for the phone operating companies back when Judge Green screwed up the Bell System) had the job of testing them. One of the tests was longevity - which involved long exposure under a high-power UV source.

Good zipties can last decades, even in direct sunlight. They're used all over the telco and cable-company outside wiring. The factor that makes them good is a high carbon-black content (basically - smoke..) If you want GOOD zipties - find a phone truck or cable-installer truck and try to beg a bag of them. Cheap isn't a good thing in zipties. Good ones cost money and won't be found at Harbor Freight. Any that are not black should not be used where they'd be exposed to sunlight, or for any long-term use.

nodoors

That is good know. I will follow up how it goes when I guinea pig the metal zip tie variation of this fix.

AGARubberDuck

I'm having trouble wrapping my head around how any stress is put on the zip ties. They certainly aid in installation but now that the tubes are in place I don't see how any active stress can be on the ties. Is there substantial forward/backward movement in the shaft that would be stressing them? I didn't notice any movement when pushing/pulling the new bushing over the bearing.

Beyond all that, worst case is they manage to work their way out and you're left with the original failed bushing condition, with the exception of being able to install a replacement in minutes with little or no tools.

Villian

Hey AGA, thanks for the write-up! I have been planning to do this the next time mine fails for a long time now, so it's nice to see a fully up to date write-up. Which size hose did you end up using, and is it in your opinion the "Perfect" fit size..or could there be something better? I plan to gather everything needed and keep it in the back storage of the car for the day that it finally decides to go!

Jeff928S4

I have done the Jimi fix.

First time I was leery of the zip ties, so I went with the heavy-duty versions. Problem was that they are so wide that it was very difficult to slip that second zip tie in....but I managed to do it.

I made the whole fix VERY tight.....but when initially accelerating/taking the foot off the gas, I was hearing a slight "knock" sound. I figured it may be too tight, so I re-did it.

The second time around, I used smaller hose and regular sized zip ties (I found the larger hose was harder to work with, especially when it came time to slip the whole shebang back over the bearing).

That fix lasted about a year and upon inspecting it while getting the brakes done, I saw that one of the tubes had friction marks on it and a zip tie had broken/been cut somehow. Even with the Jimi fixed no longer tied together and basically only supporting the top half of the bearing, there was no noises to indicate a failing bearing. It's a sturdy fix, that's for sure.

I figured the problem was I only had the tubes secured to the bearing support bracket by two zip ties (hard to reach the top of the bracket once the tubes are in). This allowed the whole assembly to slide forward a bit and it must have been rubbing the driveshaft, which eventually snipped the zip tie. I re-did it in a few minutes in the shop while they were doing the brakes, but this time I left all the zip ties loose until I had it secured to the bracket with 4 zip ties and had slid it over the bearing. Once it was in place, I tightened the zip ties up and trimmed them.

Still going strong, but will check on it from time to time.

1BadAction

Very true. Not sure who makes them for Mercury marine, but I've de-rigged 25, 30, even 40 some year old boats that sat in the FL or TX sun all their lives, and the original zip ties holding things together were still tough. You could always tell the ones the owners added because you could break them with your fingers.

AGARubberDuck

The only thing I'll do differently if I need to do this again is use less tube. As you can see from my pics I have about 1/2" extra material that is hanging to the rear of the bearing. There's no need for this. Beyond that what I've documented seems to be working really well. I wouldn't change hose diameter or count because I know these results are excellent.

Jeff928S4

I may re-do mine again before it gets too cold.

I think I have a softer hose in there now - not sure.

This is a pic of my original "super tight" fix.....I think I used power steering return hose....maybe 3/4? Can't remember. When I removed this one after a couple weeks, it looked exactly the same - nothing had budged.

I built the new support around a bottle I found that was the same circumference as the bearing. I figured, I make a nice, tight, less forgiving Jimi fix (I was scared it wasn't going to be robust enough and it still may bang around). I used like 12 pieces - lol.

Thing was....I pre-built it so it would be all ready to just wrap around the bearing, tie together and then just slip the carrier over it (save me from trying to wiggle the whole assembly over the bearing). This worked, but as I could no longer spin the carrier, I could only attach the tubes to the carrier from the bottom. Never the less, except for this version of the fix causing that slight knock sound on and off accelerator (at low speeds). This one would have lasted forever!!! lol.

I suspect it being TOO tight was the cause of the sounds - the driveshaft had no real room to flex - take a look at some of the latter pics.....those heavy-duty zip ties take up so much room, the shaft was moving against the tubes and the ties. Very tight fit with the bigger zip ties......they may work with bigger hoses, and not 12 of them lol