free play in drive train

[nirmski]

Hi, I have recently brought a 208cdi sprinter with 57000 miles on the clock, There seems to be an excessive amount of play between changing gears which is more noticeable when putting into reverse, I guess the best way to describe it is there seems to be a slight delay between the prop shaft and diff take up. The ujays seem to be all ok with out play but when you hold the prop with hands and turn back and forward there is a bit of play. Is this normal on these vans or could there be a problem ?

 

[dieselman]

There will always be some free play in the diff. Is the driveline noisy at all?

 

[Bill312D]

my 312 has a bit of freeplay in the prop, if its quiet you can hear it get taken up, ijust assumed it was normal...I'll be interested to see how this thread develops...

 

[dava]

They all have a bit slop, you've got to remember when the load is on, turning the shaft, that slop will be taken up, when they are gone and they are prone to do so, they HOWL!!!

 

[nirmski]

thanks guys I was just concerned that something maybe wrong as there seems to be a bit of play in low speeds when you change gear, but there are no unusual noisiness other than there seems to be a bit of clutch drag when going into reverse that makes it crunch a little.

 

[dava]

Try adjusting your gear cables, do a search for a post I did on how to do it.

 

[Bill312D]

Not dure if this is realted ot this, but as the play is taken up as i lift th eclutch in reverse going up a hill or under a laod fo some kind something udnerneath gives off a slight 'ting' sound, i have noticed a few other vans doing it, so i guess its normalish...

 

[bernardtam]

I remember that I have the same problem before. In my case, I replaced both of the front and rear Propeller shaft, I noticed that that there was no free play when I reverse the car, very noticeable difference there. May be you would like a look in your Propeller shaft, especially the front Propeller Shaft.