centre prop shaft bearing

Post Mon Sep 10, 2012 10:10 am

hi just found out my centre bearing is fooked you can move the prop 1" in all directions can anybody give me an idea of price to have one fitted as i dont know! and is a 320 centre bearing the same as a 325 one
thanks gaz

also is it safe to drive till i can get it fixed ???

Post Mon Sep 10, 2012 11:03 am

It's not a difficult job at all; you just need a variety of spanners and hammers to get everything unbolted. Worst part is that the exhaust has to come off.

A 325 bearing should be the same as a 320, although it fits on the opposite half of the prop IIRC.

Post Mon Sep 10, 2012 12:29 pm

be aware that there are two tyoes of 325 bearing, they have different mouting holes. best bet is to get the bearing that is specific for the year of your car from dealers of GSF/similar.

fitting is easy if you have access underneath, exhaust needs to be dropped but not necessarily removed, heat sheiuld over exhaust removed, then the prop shaft needs to come off. marke the two halves of the shaft where you must split it to ensure they go back together in the same way , otherwise vibrations you will have.

replace bearing on the prop then bolt it back onto the car, but do not fully tighten the bearing holder. attach the prop ends to the donkey end and the arse end of the car then last job is to slide the bearing housing about 5mm toward the gearbox, thus stretching the rubber bearing mount slightly, tighten in this position. check all else is tight, replace heat sheild, and exhaust.

Then all will be well.

with a ramp/pit its about two hour job, on axle stands its a lot longer. DO NOT do it with a jack

Post Mon Sep 10, 2012 8:06 pm

Did mine the other week, and the bearing and support were about £28 from GSF

Post Mon Sep 10, 2012 8:20 pm

thought you needed a puller to grip the bearing off? or is it easy enough with simple tools,

Post Mon Sep 10, 2012 8:36 pm

Think its the rubber part that holds the bearing thats gone got a quote of £171 for the holder plus 2 hours labour at 200 quid am being ripped off ??i cant afford that so i' ll have to scrap it or break it

Post Mon Sep 10, 2012 8:44 pm

yueh you being ripped off mate if it,s the centre bearing it,s not a hard job if you can get car up in the air safely.as suggested above you must mark both parts of the prop so you don,t loose the balance of it.i advice you fit a new guibo too thats the rbber donut between gear box and front end of prop at the same time but make sure you put the bolts back the same way you take them out.there are 6 bolts 3 go in one way the other 3 go in the other way.you will see what i mean when you take it off

Post Mon Sep 10, 2012 9:35 pm

Took me a 2kg hammer and a lot of patience to gently nudge the old bearing off, but it's definitely doable with home tools. Apart from the exhaust, everything can be done with a 13mm wrench and (I think) a 19mm spanner.

Post Tue Sep 11, 2012 4:58 pm

right went down to the garage so they could have a proper look they still quote 2hrs labour but thanks to greg124

they are getting parts from gsf at cost so the bill will be around £230 which is ok i guess got it booked in for payday in 12 days my question is will it still be ok to make the santa pod run ??or is it to dangerous to drive ??

Post Tue Sep 11, 2012 5:10 pm

There's got to be a zoner local to you who will do it for less than 230 quid!

Post Tue Sep 11, 2012 6:06 pm

£100 labour ph... tbh we all complain about garage prices and want the work done for pennies, if your gonna go ahead Make sure everything is done properly and the garage is reputable, is a bit high priced though, ask if it goes over 2hours is that another £100....

Personnaly I'd just buy a jack that can life to about 500mm pair of solid stands just jack it at the rear or you can even jack it up on one side and just invest in some tools youl probably use again, leccy gun etc or a compressor, i recently got one don't know how I ever worked without it! I got the rear end off in an hour and disassembled,

It will cost more in tools, but at least you get to grips with your car,

Post Tue Sep 11, 2012 7:49 pm

rallygaz wrote:hi just found out my centre bearing is fooked you can move the prop 1" in all directions can anybody give me an idea of price to have one fitted as i dont know! and is a 320 centre bearing the same as a 325 one
thanks gaz also is it safe to drive till i can get it fixed ???

Are you absolutely certain that there's anything wrong at all? It's normal to be able to move the prop around in all directions - the bearing is mounted in a rubber sheet, which will stretch if pressure is applied to it. You only have a problem if the rubber sheet is torn.

Post Wed Sep 12, 2012 11:40 am

the rubber mount is completely obliterated and the front guibo is knackered too and the garage is a very good 1 its a bit pricey i agree but if there's any problems i know i can take it back and they'll sort it no questions asked !

Post Wed Sep 12, 2012 9:11 pm

What's the best way to get the bearing off the prop. I need to change one too I have the prop split, but the baring seems pretty solid.

Post Wed Sep 12, 2012 9:20 pm

If you've got (or can borrow/hire) a 2- or 3- legged puller that's easiest.
Otherwise keep going round the shaft with a block of wood tapping it with a hammer to slowly drift it off.
A bit of penetrating fluid between the shaft and inner race won't do any harm.

Post Wed Sep 12, 2012 9:31 pm

Fairly obvious, but it's a good idea to remove the circlip first.

Post Wed Sep 12, 2012 9:48 pm

Where abouts in the country are you?

Post Wed Sep 12, 2012 11:10 pm

Keep banging away so. That's sound.

I have the circlip off thanks, Brian.

Post Wed Sep 12, 2012 11:37 pm

btw... the large nut that compresses the rear shaft onto the splines of the front shaft. How does a new one look... mine always appear to be full of red wax/grease which i guess is 20 year old hardened rubber. True?

Post Thu Sep 13, 2012 1:30 pm

Brianmoooore wrote:Fairly obvious, but it's a good idea to remove the circlip first.

Quite true Sir. I forgot about that bit. Must be my age.

Now when it gets to this stage you'll know about it as the prop will be thrashing about hitting stuff as it goes round. It's effectively undriveable - had to do the last 3/4 of a mile at 15mph. Good job it was country lanes... and it went suddenly, no tell tale signs.

Marki - there should be a fairly soft red bubbery - well I'm not quite sure what to call it - but it slots into the splines and the outside is cylindrical. When you do the nut up is has the effect of shortening the red rubber thing making it fatter so everything grips together. There should also be a small amount of grease on the splines.