Serious judder/shaking 1st gear

[E21noob]

Hoping to get some diagnostic help.

Having some serious judder and violent shaking when pullig away from still in 1st gear.

Seems to be less problem at higher revs and when the car is cold, maybe just imagination.

Just worn out clutch plates?

[Jeroen]

A search on the forum would probably have led you straight to the FAQ section for this

Gearboxes usually last a long time, clutch judder might indicate clutch plate is getting thinner. Annoying but usually no need for immediate replacement.

[E21noob]

Well I did search and it didn't lead me to that, so thought I would ask.

Anyway it doesn't really answer my question.

A little judder is ok, but I am experiencing SERIOUS thumping, the kind that makes you feel like the whole car is jumping.

Anyone ever experience anything similar?

[Jeroen]

Well it is a common issue, especially when the clutch warms up like in a traffic jam, and probably you only experience this when operating the clutch so with clutch slipping, meaning once you let go of the pedal its ok? Then really the clutch plate is the cause. In some cases it is possible that worn parts in the driveline may make the effect worse, like gearbox mount bushing, propshaft bearing, flex disc (guibo) or the diff hanger rubber.

[E21noob]

Super, thanks J.

Everything is coming off soon, and all soft part and clutch will be replaced before the 5 speed goes in.

[Jeroen]

Good! Be careful with replacement parts, cheap shyte like price fighters and WN are selling will cause issues, we've seen quite a few of those already, like bad release bearings and way too soft flex discs.

[E21noob]

Yes, I picked up on that about the W&N quality, so I will be returning the flex disc I had bought of them (the new crosses for the prop shaft were also the wrong kind...) and splashed out for the Revshift flex disc.

The new centre bearing is from W&N though, and I can only hope it will hold up well. Getting the prop shaft done cost me a ton, so hope I dont need to do that again.

[nas80]

Center prop bearing / prop holder is worn out.

Also the rear beam big bushes (at either end) sound worn out and will need replacement.

[Jeroen]

Just thought of another one, the bearing or bushing that goes into the propshaft and also acts as a center bearing over the pin coming from the gearbox. See at Realoem they call it the centering sleeve, nr 3 on below image

[E21noob]

Thanks again, I missed that! I'll make sure to swap that too.

[Jeroen]

Well at least inspect it. There are a few different versions based on year I believe, varying from a real bearing to a rubber bush and the latter can be fully dried out. Ran into issues once when it had a rubber one fitted and it fell out during fitting. This caused vibration issues under hard accelerating in every gear.

[E21noob]

Well at least inspect it. There are a few different versions based on year I believe, varying from a real bearing to a rubber bush and the latter can be fully dried out. Ran into issues once when it had a rubber one fitted and it fell out during fitting. This caused vibration issues under hard accelerating in every gear.

So I bought a new centering sleeve (etk 26111207093):



But the end of my propshaft looks different:



Did I get the right one? Does the cylinder in the last photo come out with some muscle?

[Jeroen]

Looks like the rubber version of the centering sleeve to me, if it's not stretched, dried or damaged it may still be good enough? If your new bearing has the same outside diameter (ie is sure to fit) you can try to get it out but it may require some work. Believe there's metal inside so it may be a bit of a hassle to get it out, but eventually it always will haha

[E21noob]

hehe yes eventually something will certainly give!

I might just leave it in there then - rubber doesn't look bad. It's just whilst I am at it I wanted to change all the soft bits.