I am starting to look after my sister's Magna TR wagon to do basic maintenance and servicing. I am not a mechanic, but do all my own work on a BMW 5 series using forums, manuals and computer based diagnostics, so how hard can it be?

My first foray in the Magna repair is to replace the CV driveshafts on recommendation from her mechanic as they are making a grinding noise when turning corners. Price quoted is about $600 for both including installation.

My research on this forum has led me to believe that it can be an easy process and am up for the challenge. The question I have is which ones do I buy. The options I have found are as follows:


Repco New Driveshafts L/R $222 each ($444 - Aftermarket)
Ebay New drives shafts L/R $70 each ($140 - unknown brand or quality)
Refurbished originals L/R $110 each ($220 - Swap over cores)
Wreckers $20 - each - self removal and maybe replace boots with boot kits. Though could be lucky to find a wreck that just had the job done with new shafts (very wishful)

I am informed that cheap after market shafts are made with inferior steel and do not last long, though I don't know how long they will last.

Refurbished originals used much stonger steel and seeing that they lasted 20 years already, then they could last another 20.

I have never had a front wheel drive car so am not too familiar with the drive shafts to feel confident to source from the wreckers and now what to look for when pulling them off wrecks.

Can anyone offer any advice or experiences as to the best cost effective replacement.

She isn't likely to want to keep the car for another 20 years so I'd go for the cheapest option, a trip to the wreckers. Look for shafts off an identical engine and gearbox combination. Do new boots if you can only find shafts with old, cracked boots. (by which I mean surface cracks, no point buying ones with split boots.)

i would also give the auto a new filter oil and cv seals. as the seals maybe 20 years old as well

Thanks for the reply MadMax and the advice to ensure that the engine and gearbox combination are the same. I just read about the different splines for different enginge size, gearbox and tyre size also has a bearing on some models. I'm going to take a trip to the wreckers to see what they have. I also like the idea that I can practice removing the driveshafts on wrecks before tackling it on my sister's car.

Is there any way to ensure or limit the possiblity that I don't get driveshafts that are in the same condition as the ones I'm replacing?

Are boots that are in good condition with no visible sign of grease loss the only test, or is there another way that can give an indication if the bearings are worn? Am I able to grab the shafts while still on the vehicle to guage the amount of free play? The manual only gives guidance once the shafts and boots are removed to do a visual test for worn or pitted tracks and rollers and a roughness test when rotating the inner rollers........

Three things:

Look at the boots, if not cracked and not leaking, the joints are probably good.

Look at the speedo - lower km is better. I had no problems using the original driveshafts on my TS 2.6L and TS 3.0L at 220,000 km because i made sure boots were replaced at the earliest sign of boot failure.

Once you have them off the car, you can move the joints. Should be floppy (ie no sticking points, and move easily throughout the full range of movement) without play.

i would also give the auto a new filter oil and cv seals. as the seals maybe 20 years old as well

Hi Magnaman89,

Just had look at the manual and found transmission filter but not cv seals. I'm still trying to navigate my way through this forum so I don't ask questions that have already been answered. Is there a DIY for changing transmission filter and the cv seals and more importantly level of difficulty?

easy jobs. the cv seals are where the cv slides into the gear box you would only need the right hand one as the left separates away from the gear box. the filter is simple drian the auto pan and remove the pan the filter has 4 bolts and out it drops.
count the bolts on the pan before you pickup the filter kit just to double check at the shop.

Three things:

Look at the boots, if not cracked and not leaking, the joints are probably good.

Look at the speedo - lower km is better. I had no problems using the original driveshafts on my TS 2.6L and TS 3.0L at 220,000 km because i made sure boots were replaced at the earliest sign of boot failure.

Once you have them off the car, you can move the joints. Should be floppy (ie no sticking points, and move easily throughout the full range of movement) without play.

Thanks Madmax. You have given me a lot more confidence for when I go to the wreckers and my sister would be happy if I fixed her car for under $50.

I seem to unearth more problems for myself the more research I do.

Is there an easy way of identifying the model of the automatic transaxle that are in the Magnas? According to the Service Manual, the 4cyl, 2.6 engine has different transaxle models that have either the 27 tooth spline drive shafts or the 25 tooth. Is the model type stamped somewhere in the engine bay easily accessible or under the car that will need to be jacked up to read?

I checked Vin numbers on a few different sites and and none of them have the model of transmission as part of the description for identification. If I am scouring a wreckers yard I need to easily identify the type of donor vehicle I am after and not being a Magna person, they all look the same.

Ebay sellers are able decipher the transaxle type through the vin as a compatability requirement when you order their drive shafts, so there must be a method or at least a year and date range with transaxle model.

Please let me know if I am over engineering a simple process because perhaps Magnas only exported only one type of transaxle for the TR Magna in the Asia pacific region.

the main difference wouldbe 4cyl/6cyl auto manual is the car a 4 or 6 auto or manual.
where in vic are you as a number of members do wreckers day trips

Went to visit my sister to get all the information about her car.
Build date is 1/93
Magna Executive
TR4-D-45
Wagon
2.6L ECI-Multi
4 speed automatic

Looking at the manual to decipher the Vin code, I have deduced the following:
T- Model, R- Series, 4- Engine Gearbox Combination.

Would this be a fair assumption that as long as there is a "4" in the vin code after the Model /Series that I should able to use CV axle shafts from any TR or TS Magna model regardless of whether it is a Wagon or Sedan?

I'm in Clayton if there is a wreckers day trip around the area.

I am at the Wreckers and a very slim assortment of Magna 4cyl vehicles available, but plenty of 6cly. I found a suitable driver side driveshaft and commence removing tie rod and then lower ball joint. The ball joint remover I had was not suitable, so removed the 2 bolts holding the strut, and managed to get the spline out of wheel hub. Now the big problem is trying to get the shaft out of the transmission. This is the first time I have seen the assembly for real and not a drawing in a manual. I'm looking for the join between the transaxle and the inner joint so I can insert my pry bar and gently break the seal and pull out the entire shaft. BUT, there is no join and the joint is recessed into the transaxle casing. Is the manual lying, did I pick the wrong model. I tried to manouver the joint out and only succeded in disconnecting something inside the inner join so it is held together by the boot, a bit like dislocating your shoulder, though I did pop it back in again.

I am defeated. My $2 entry has only given me despair and no prize. I am back home looking at the manual for clues, for where it all went wrong. Is it me...........

It's you.
Too much self doubt has led to defeat.
Jam a screwdriver where the gearbox and driveshaft mate. It will move out a bit, then give it a bit of a heave. If it doesn't move, turn the shaft 90 degrees and heave again. Pesky circlip needs convincing. Try applying pressure with the screwdriver or lever, then tap the inner joint housing with something heavy like a hammer.
On the other side, just unbolt the intermediate shaft bearing carrier from the engine block, and it will slide right out of the gearbox without effort.

There is no mating. The inner joint goes into the gearbox, not flush with a gap for inserting screw drivers. This is driver side or right hand side. In the manual, section 26-2-3, fig 3, was what I was expecting and what you explain. Under the car armed with pry bar, the inner joint cylnder goes into the box. I can rotate the shaft, grab a hold of it, pull on it, but it goes into the transmission box a little way rather than flush.

I will need to go there again and document this phenomenon for all to see. Why can't you insert photos, or jpgs in this forum which will make illustrating my point easier.

I'll be back.

I'm back....

After scouring the wreckers, there were not many 4cyl Tr's with decent drive shafts. Have gone with the Ebay option for $79 each brand new.

Today I did the RH drivers side and all was just as you explained it would be MadMax. There are notches on the cv joint going into gearbox that I used as levering points against a plate on the gearbox that gave the impression that the shaft was recessed into the box. Anyway, all went well.

Now for the LH passenger side. The replacement is a short version shaft that connects hub to the " intermediate shaft bearing carrier". I was being clever and tried to pry the joint out of the centre shaft bearing carrier and after an hour, I concluded that maybe I was not so clever, and now that I at home, on my computer and not in my sister's driveway, I have re-read your post and the bit about removing the shaft bearing carrier and pulling the whole shaft out. This was similarly confirmed in the manual as a warning.

TRANSFER SHAFT
NOTE: Always remove the complete left hand
shaft assembly. Do not try to separate the drive
shaft from the transfer shaft on the vehicle.

Now for take 2- Once I remove the whole shaft, how do I separate the transfer shaft from the drive shaft. The manual only says the following which ain't helping:

5) With either type of joint disassembled, use a
suitable tool to aid the pressing out of the seal plate
and subsequently the shaft, refer Fig. 6.

Any words of wisdom regarding the painless separation and replacement with a new drive shaft?

I think the seal plate gets pushed inwards with any piece of metal with a flat end (socket on an extension possibly), until it presses on the end of the driveshaft and pushes that out. Hammer it gently as you want to use it again. You can then put in the new shaft and reinstall the seal plate by once again pushing it inwards. The intermediate shaft goes back in, and the whole thing gets bolted up/inserted into gearbox and hub.

How easy is that? lol

(Disclaimer: never actually done this myself, I always change the boots before the joints get damaged, so I'm going from memory of reading the manual.)

I'm still do not understanding how the seal plate holds the shaft in place. On the neew shaft it has a new seal plate, so I can hack the old seal. I did manage to create a large gap between the seal and the support shaft by prying the seal back towards the joint. This gave more leverage but no cigar. These diagrams are bit confusing for me, almost Gestalt like, as it doest resemble much what I am looking at. I am missing something I think.

http://imageshack.com/a/img593/1520/x0iy.jpg