transit connect dying on the motorway

[moseygb]

hi people

i have a 2003 transit connect 1.8 diesel. I have covered 132K with her and she is generally been a good van. the problem i have at the mo is, about 2k miles ago she started too shake under hard acceleration on motorways. if i am 3rd, 4th or 5th gear and try accelerating hard over 45mph ish she shakes< but not through the steering. been too the mechanics and was told it was a clutch and flywheel prob, replaced them and it still did the same, 2nd visit too the mechanics and they found the rear brakes binding, had them fixed and now it definately drives better but the shaking is still there. dont wanna waste loads on her but she has been too reliable for the last 6 years so i dont wanna get rid off her over this. Need help trying to identify this as mechanics are clueless.

[SirKit Breaker]

Have you kerbed it or hit anything and knocked the tracking out. Are the driveshafts Ok, are the wheels and tyres OK....tracking balancing and general condition etc.

[moseygb]

tracking, balancing and tyres are all good. the van does not shake through the steering and i noticed today that it shakes when hard accelerating up hill or on a straight. it is fine down hill but has lost the will to go fourth going up. reall bloody confusing. think i might call the aa but doubt they can help

note shaking comes through the pedals and not the steering


thanks for the feedback so far

[SirKit Breaker]

What about engine and gearbox mountings, are these OK? if these are knackered then you will get some vibration, but wouldnt expect it to affect performance though.

Once came across a renault with similar symptoms to what you describe and it was badly worn splines on the driveshaft where it goes into the diff, this would give you both bad noises/vibration and loss of power especially under load, if the shaft is spinning on duff splines then you will loose traction to the good side as well, this would sort of explain why it seems to die in fourth because you are putting a lot of torque through the drive train.

Cheers...............Howard

[stephenferguson]

Anti roll bar bushes?, these vibrate through pedals.

[Altransit]

I have this fault with my Focus and was told it's an "Inner Driveshaft Spider joint" whatever that is, but I still haven't found the problem

[local nick]

aye up. check your inboard and outboard joints onthe driveshafts for adverse wear. hope this helps.

[as355f1]

will almost certainly be a duff drive shaft

[moseygb]

hi everyone, thanks for all the posts.

the van is going back in to the mechaics with a print out off all your suggestions and i will update you's on the outcome


thanks again, sean

[Altransit]

the van is going back in to the mechaics with a print out off all your suggestions and i will update you's on the outcome

Please do!
Mine has been to two different garages, and the real fault hasn't yet been found

[matt_jagger]

defo the offside drive shaft, I had the same vibration, then it went insane after another 400-500 miles, whobbly under power, if I dipped the clutch it went away etc etc, dead common problem apparently, the mechanic who I spoke to called it mondeo syndrome, as these have the same problem.

It will be where the 2 parts of the offside drive shaft meet, in the cylinder is a CV joint set up, open up the rubber outer, pull apart and see all the metal bits fall out all over. I tends to be just one of the parts that transfer the drive that faisl but I had 2 fall to bits, and as there are only 4 points of transfer, it had one hell of a whobble.

You may also notice a knocking over bumps coming from the centre of the engine bay but low down as the parts move, as they should, any damage already within the cylinder on the drive shaft make a metalic ping and knock over only slight changes in road surface.

I got quoted £290 without VAT

E bay, offside drive shaft with a 20k warranty was about £90 delivered
Took me an hour to change out, dead easy to do, just lost a bit of gearbox oil, easily sorted though.

Jack it up, and give it a wiggle, you'll know if it's gone the same way as mine did.

[agarrad]

Hi there, I have now got exactly the same problem to my ford connect, it feels like the engine is going to shake itself free when i try to accelerate on the motor way, but doesnt shake if i drive really carefully. Did you find out what the actual problem was on your Connect??? would be a massive help

[Altransit]

Mine was the N/S Drive shaft

[Christophconnect]

I have this problem. Have had wheels checked and replaced the near side drive shaft but Still it wobbles. Will check my off side shaft today. If not need to take it to a grease monkey.

[daz dyche]

hi my connect has the same problem. but doesnt do it all the time, but 8 times out of 10 on the fast roads it will. thanks for all the info . how do i check if its the drive shaft with out having to takeing any parts off, please.