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Quick question as I am not much of a mechanic. Panda has had its prop shaft refurbished. It now has a sort of high frequency resonant vibration between 50-60mph. This happens in different gears ie does not depend on engine rpm, but on vehicle speed. Am I right in thinking that this implicates the prop shaft rather than an engine issue? I’m assuming the prop shaft leads from the gearbox to the axle rather than going to the gearbox.
Get tyres rebalanced first to rule that out.
Doesn’t feel like unbalanced wheels & garage has already checked that-they are saying to my wife that it is an engine issue (but they don’t know what)
Anything from the gearbox back if its road speed not engine speed related
If it wasn't there pre prop refurb
Either props out of balance or the props been put back together out of key
It was just a thought as it could have shed a weight and you might be feeling 'sensitive' about the new part. If it only started after the shaft was replaced then that seem likely. How would the previously faulty shaft have affected the engine and not the gearbox if it needed replacing.
I think they need to provide evidence it has developed an engine issue and that it is not related to the replaced part.
Nothing sensible to add other than to say great car! I've just been driving a work Panda 4x4 today, I think they are cracking little cars.
Either props out of balance or the props been put back together out of key
This. A friend had a Morris Marina Coupe when we were at university. Had exactly the issue you are describing, spent ages looking for the problem and it turned out to be one of the Hooke joints was put back one spline out
Panda has had its prop shaft refurbished.
As noted above - prop misaligned on its splined extendy bit. Take it back to wherever refurbished/fitted the propshaft.
yip, prop isnt balanced.
These are Front wheel drive normally aren’t they? At that speed the prop won’t be turning will it? The prop will only engage when the front wheels loose traction. It’s quite a basic 4x4 system on the Panda.
If the drive shaft uses Hardy Spicer universal joints these need to correctly phased. IE, the front & rear joints have to be lined up with each other. If this is out you'll get the symptoms you describe. It's possible that the splined joint on the shaft has been put back in the wrong orientation. No amount of balancing will correct this. The prop shaft might have been split by the fitter & not reassembled correctly.
If the prop isn’t turning, doubtful at 60mph. I would be looking at bearings particularly the diff bearings. I’ve had several cars at higher mileage with noisy diffs. Maybe one of them has had a knock when the prop was removed.
@inbred456 - the propsahft is always turning when the car's in motion as it's connected to the rear wheels via the rear axle!
Is there something that should have oil in it but doesn't.
If the prop isn’t turning, doubtful at 60mph.
Its a torque on demand system . Basically output of transfer box has to be at input transfer box speed + X and the transfer box locks up.
Both props to spin for the duration.
As you said it's a very simple system minimal electronics.