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My original idea, was to stuff multiple, thick rubber furniture wedges inside the bearing support. Jimi liked the idea...who coincidentally happened to be holding an uncut, 5/8" length of coolant hose. He just stared back and forth at the hose and bearing support.... until his "light bulb" went finally off...the rest is Automotive Kluge history.
This is one of the best how-to tutorials I've run across. Thanks so much for posting it. I followed your instructions, and my busted center bearing is now fixed for the princely sum of $3.00 (I didn't have any spare 5/8" heater hose lying around, so I went and bought some). Brilliant idea, awesome writeup, thanks so much for posting!
I just looked under my new-to-me 2004 Turbo. It's got the factory part, so there's a Jimi Fix at some point in my future too. I'll make one up and leave it in the trunk for when the day comes. Thank you!
I’ve just done this today. For UK users I used some 3/8 or 16mm coolant hose from Halfords for £4.29 for 1M.
The original rubber was complete but had signs of perishing and felt like there was too much play so I decided to try this fix anyway.
I really struggled and couldn’t get the whole assembly over the bearing so instead I separated the holder again and put the array over the bearing. Made sure all the cable ties were tight then slid the holder over the array. This took about a minute to get on with a bit of gentle persuasion (compared to the half hour of messing around before with no success) I then used the other 4 cable ties to secure the hoses to the holder and put the cover on.
Went for a 10mile drive and didn’t hear it bang like it did before although a couple of times I did hear a gentle thud when Downchanging. Feel a lot more confident as I had to drive it before like there was a glass of water on the bonnet.
Will keep you all in the loop with the progress.
Last edited by Pepper Pig; 11-12-2017 at 01:00 PM.
Reason: spelling mistakes and wrong info
Just want to say thanks for sharing this idea and write-up. Saved me a ton of headache, and I was able to get the job done in just over an hour.
I want to add a couple pointers that helped me -
My bolts were seized and had to let them soak in PB blaster for about 30 minutes and then hit them with an impact wrench
I used a little bit of marine grease to help slide the rubber hosing into the bracket - may not be necessary
Before attempting to slide the bracket onto the makeshift rubber gasket, I tightened the zip ties in the hoses a bit while it's around the bearing, but not in the bracket yet - this helped immensly when sliding the bracket onto the tubes
To secure the rubber to the bracket, I used 3 large/thick zip ties; two anchored through the open area in the foot of the support bracket, and one up top. Got them from Harbor Freight for $2 a pack. They're rated at 175lbs of support - take that for what it's worth.
I feel confident about this job with all the positive sentiments in this thread. Drove 60mi last night w/o issues.
Last edited by Sheel Kapur; 11-13-2017 at 05:18 PM.
UPDATE - the first week of the ‘jimi- fix’ it was a lot better - then when coming back lastnight from a half hour drive the symptoms started again. Loud bang from the transmission tunnel feeling like you’ve been side swiped, when downchanging usually 5th to 4th but occasionally just after pulling off down the road slowly moving 3rd to 2nd to a junction.
So thought it must have been the support has failed, took the cover off this morning - everything is intact. Can’t see anything suspect.
Gone out again tonight for a 15 mile drive, the same route and it has happened several times - just as violent as it was before. Is this a valve body issue?
Getting really annoyed by these cars - absolute garbage.
The car was purchased from my brother and he had it from someone who only had it for a short time due to getting totally frustrated with the coolant pipe issue and made a massive loss on his purchase. I got it cheap so no PPI or whatever you call it. In the UK we have something called PPI that is nothing to do with that and has caused hell for everyone ( a story for another day but all of this is academic really. The car has Full Service History, is only 12 years old (nothing for a modern car) 74k miles (again very low mileage) and has been well looked after, in immaculate condition.
Just to keep the comment in context..
And what I call "PPI" is the common abbreviation around here for "Pre-Purchase Inspection" - a going over of the vehicle by a qualified mechanic to assess what it's needs are BEFORE purchase..
UPDATE - the first week of the ‘jimi- fix’ it was a lot better - then when coming back lastnight from a half hour drive the symptoms started again. Loud bang from the transmission tunnel feeling like you’ve been side swiped, when downchanging usually 5th to 4th but occasionally just after pulling off down the road slowly moving 3rd to 2nd to a junction.
So thought it must have been the support has failed, took the cover off this morning - everything is intact. Can’t see anything suspect.
Gone out again tonight for a 15 mile drive, the same route and it has happened several times - just as violent as it was before. Is this a valve body issue?
Getting really annoyed by these cars - absolute garbage.
I bought mine with 48,000 miles and the valve body was faulty. I knew the problem and took that into account. By the way the transmission and valve body are made by aisin. Same thing as in toyotas. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o..._transmissions The valve body in the series of transmissions we have had solenoids with insufficient clearances, so even small amounts of contaminants make them sticky, thus the hard shift changes that make you think the transmission just fell onto the road. Use the search function for all you need to know about them.
So, I noticed a little vibration under acceleration yesterday under the center council of my 2006 turbo that just hit 99k. Got home with no issues, but I am not going to wait for the midget to show up. I am going to buy the supplies tomorrow morning and hopefully have it fixed by noon will let you all know.
So, it took me a little longer than I planned but it worked great. I did use some KY so I feel like I gave my drive shaft a bit of a hand job to get it to work. A couple of things to pass on: clip your zip ties as far down as you want them before you finish or else it is a pain to get the ones on the top. Get as much of the old rubber off the bearing and support as you can, it will make it much easier to get on. I also trimmed the edge of each piece to help it slide on. Took it for a drive and no issues at all. I could tell when I took the old one off that it was pretty much toast.
I highly recommend one of these, helps free up your hands.
I see that I missed the top hose piece with he zip tie so there are only a couple on the bottom. We will see how it holds.
Thanks for posting that. How long did you cut the pieces of hose? I've seen different measurements for this, and I'd like to have them-pre-cut and ready to go in-case I ever need to fix this on the side of the road.
10-06-2017, 03:42 PM
How Jimi Fix #0001 was Born....
but all of this is academic really. The car has Full Service History, is only 12 years old (nothing for a modern car) 74k miles (again very low mileage) and has been well looked after, in immaculate condition. 
