Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hi all. I have doughnuts and ujs on the drive shafts on the +2. I have noticed there is some play in both the ujs is this normal?
Also found that the top mountings on the diff I can turn the large washer. Is this right? Thanks.
Alan.

That loose diff securing bolt can result in a mysterious clicking noise.

It took me ages to find that out.


UJs should not have play in them as far as I am aware, it possibly indicates that the roller bearings have thinned down. Possibly lack of lubrication.

Ok thanks bill. Both mounting bolts are the same, the washer is loose, suppose the rubber mount may be on the way out.

dont know if its that easy to replace the needle rollers and if anything else has worn. Maybe I look into a cv conversion.

The U/J's look to be the same as those on the propshaft and kits are widely available to replace them for around ?10 each from the usual suspects or ebay. The kit includes cups, rollers, spider and circlips and the procedure to replace them is covered in the workshop manual under Final Drive. Provided that the holes in the yokes are not damaged and the sliding spline is not worn that would be a much cheaper option than changing to CV shafts.

Your diff mount bolts may just have worked loose, before you go buying new mounts try just torqueing them up.

Yes, just tighten the Diff bolts. You need two people one to do the nut in the boot and another underneath with all your socket set extension pieces clipped into each other.

Or you can do it on your own with a mole wrench in the boot.


Changing a whole UJ is relatively easy as oldelanman has said. Modern ones are greased-for-life, I think. They are a light-interference fit (i.e tap with a small hammer) and held in by circlips.

Salut Friedy

I picked up a set of driveshafts like yours - old-style Spyder, I think. Mine have some play in the sliding spines which I hope will diminish once packed with grease.

So check carefully - the play you feel might be the sliding spine or even the diff.

@+

Vernon

Thanks for the replys. The movement is definitely in the uj. They are smaller than the prop ones. So I will phone spyder to see if they can supply them.