Sylexus

iTrader: (1)

Hey friends a little update for my vehicle.

About 3 weeks ago my car broke down across town from my home, I thought the transmission gave out until I actually was able to get it up and looked under to find 3 bolts had fallen out of the driveshaft. After we discovered that, we went to an auto parts store and purchase 3 similar sized bolts.

We were able to drive her again, but she still shaked ALOT. Shaking so much it's uncomfortable to drive it over 2k RPMs. So I drove it to this shop that would do a free diagnostic on it and try to find out the issue if they could find it without taking anything apart, they were unable to. I went to pick it up and it was dead, needed to jump it, I got it down the hill from my house and it straight up died on me.

I ran up to a neighbors' house and got him to jump me, it died again as soon as I started it, so I cranked it again, this time applying pressure to the accelerator so the RPMs would be over 1k. I was able to get it to my drive way and it died right in my driveway. I just had the alternator replaced in November due to the famous power steering pump leak taking it out. I had all of that repaired back in November. Now I am guessing along with some kind of bearing being bad in the transmission, the alternator is now not working. Any ideas?

1995 SC400



Edit: Now the more I think about it, I just had the battery and alternator replaced in November of 2013. I am starting to think this is the electrical issue that our cars are known for. I have some reading to do.

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

edit* wait what is vibrating the engine or the driveshaft while driving is causing the car to shake, its hard to tell what you mean.

those could be unrelated if the driveshaft is what is vibrating. one is a running issue, we need more info for that one. check the intake for any holes or leaks. also since its a sc400 you could have lost a coilpack, pretty common. disconnect one at a time and if drives the same that is the bad one.

ITs pretty uncommon for all 3 bolts to back out of the driveshaft. If it was driving fine without vibrating before, likely what happened is your driveshaft is now out of balance because you are supossed to mark them when you take them apart so they go bak on the same way. since its a circular bolt pattern, you may have noticed there are like 3 or more positions they can bolt together in. only one of these will be balanced correctly and not vibrate, or something was damaged when it came apart, or both really could happen.
I would try turning the shaft one pattern over at a time and hope you find the alignment where it doesn't vibrate again, if not the rubber donut in the middle might be toast, or the shaft took a hit and its just plain out of balance now.

Sylexus

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the reply. The driveshaft is vibrating, not the engine. Yeah I thought it was weird as well, all three of them fell out.

Before it initially ''broke down'' it had a slight vibration, that would only occur when I accelerated a tad stronger than normal driving. Then over time it got worse and on the day it happened, it was shaking really hard then pop, wasn't catching any gears, so I was fortunate to have the momentum to pull into a nearby gas station.

So the driveshaft only bolts up in one correct way? That may be something to check out. We just jacked the car up and attached it back as we were able.

One thing we were thinking about is possibly some kind of tailshaft bearing or yolk that's failed. Anyone have experience with this and able to explain this better to me?

Sylexus

iTrader: (1)

Okay, I can jump it but it dies unless I keep on the gas, I have read several things that cause this. Any suggestions?

fourstars

there could be a lot of things, but the first thing to do is check for error codes. when you go and start the car do you hear a wining noise or a click. could be a fuel pump issue an or ignition issue. what does it sound like when you turn the key? any clicks, does it turn all the way and wont start? try to get more info...

Sylexus

iTrader: (1)

When the car has enough juice through jumping it, it will start, but as I said if I dont stay on the gas it'll die. I don't notice any unusual noises. The only click I hear is when I try to start it and it doesn't have enough power to turn, so we just let it charge a few more minutes (like 5-10) and then we're able to get it started.

fourstars

u need to check for codes and see where to starts. if there are no codes, then you want to start with the basics, sparks, compression, gas.. i would start with gas.

Sylexus

iTrader: (1)

Alright thank you for the responses. We got the battery full charged yesterday and put it back in and now it doesn't die and I'm able to drive it around with minimal shake at all....and we didn't do anything to it! Very confusing to me. Waiting to see how long the battery's charge lasts this time and try to identify why the alternator isn't charging it.