2.0 TDI, Touran. Bearing visible stuck on campsite..

[Chester draws]

Hello chaps, hoping for some help identifying my exact issue in the hope I can find someone able to fix it.

VW Touran, 2.0 TDI (140), 2006, 110k miles.

Noticed a clattery rattley sound towards the end of our 100 mile journey to campsite yesterday (towing 750kg trailer). When at site noticed oil round NSF wheel and lower wishbone.

Better look this morning and I can see a bearing (3 or 4" diameter), missing possibly 5 of its balls.

I'm pretty sure it shouldn't look like that. But I'd like to identify the issue so I can then find someone to fix it.









No loss of power, no warning lights, engine oil still half full on dip stick.

Car is on a camp site near Corfe Castle, and I'm now on the train home to pick up our other car.

Going to have to have it recovered to a local garage (thinking Vasworks in Holton heath but they not answering phone today). Bank holiday isn't going to help anything either.

Edited by Chester draws on Saturday 27th May 14:16

[Chester draws]

Thanks mods for moving this from VW / Audi to GG.

[Truckosaurus]

I'm no mechanic but I suspect you now have a one (or three) wheel drive car.

[chryslerben]

At a punt that looks like the main shaft end bearing of your gearbox, sorry to say but this may get expensive.

[herewego]

Reminds me of that candid camera episode when they took the engine out of a car and pushed it into a garage claiming it had just conked out.

[kambites]

Truckosaurus said:

I'm no mechanic but I suspect you now have a one (or three) wheel drive car.

I think that rubber gator thing you can just about see in one of the pictures is the half-shaft. I'm guessing that's the end of the gearbox (and the oil the OP has seen is gearbox oil). Whether the loss of oil due to the panel coming off caused the bearing to fail or vice versa, I've no idea.

I've a nasty feeling you're going to be looking at a new (or at least rebuilt) gearbox.

[Nigel Worc's]

That looks awfully serious, I'm surprised you kept driving it/didn't feel anything.

[Chester draws]

It drove as normal, bar a slightly louder than normal diesel clatter when pulling away in first and second.

Comments appreciated.

I'm already braced for a bill. Got home on the train so am now headed back over the new forest again.

[Fuzzy69r]

Your missing half of the ball bearings and what looks like the green end cap ( pretty sure the vw boxes have the green end cap ) , wondering if the worn balls have came out the race and forced off the end cap .
Best guess with just those few pics is that the box is going to have to come out to assess any other damage especially heat damage to the other bearings ( plus what's caused the issue in the first place ) , best factor in a new clutch and dual mass flywheel whilst the box is out . Sorry to say this but it's not going to be a cheap bill

[CAPP0]

As well as the bearing damage, there must be something missing - a cover at least. A bearing like that would never be exposed to the outside world, it wouldn't last 5 minutes with grit and debris being thrown up.

[STILLJOE]

might be a small ray of hope here - quick youtube search shows the bearings seem to have little spacers (look a bit like mini cush drive rubbers) between the balls - if you're lucky you may not have done too much damage to the box (I'm no mechanic though)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E75I24cGxQY


I can't speak (or read) German - but this may have been a similar problem on this car:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzPRze9T8JA

[ianrb]

You may be lucky. There should be an oil seal around that shaft on the gearbox side of the bearing, and the hole in the middle is just to reduce mass, i.e. it doesn't go anywhere. So if all the planets are aligned all you'll need is a new bearing and a new cover to go over it (and possibly an external oil seal).

[Chester draws]

There is definitely some balls missing from that bearing, and obviously some sort of plate that keeps it all in.

And the bearing is definitely not what the driveshaft attaches to either. The rubber gaiters (as spotted by poster above) are further rearwards than this bearing.

I'm back at the camp site now after a 7 hour round trip. The BBQ is lit and the beer is poured.

Might have a wander round the site later and see if anyone else has an intact Touran I can compare to.

Are we thinking part of the gearbox then??

So is a gearbox specialist likely to be a better option? (Rather than a general mechanic or VW specialist).

Again, it drove as nicely as it's ever done on the way here, both in terms of engine and gearbox. I shall keep you updated.

Edited by Chester draws on Saturday 27th May 19:22

[PorkInsider]

As others have said, it's the the end of the gearbox main shaft you're looking at. There should be a plastic cap over it.

If the cap has been knocked off by lateral movement of the shaft, that might explain the noise. The shaft shouldn't be able to move enough to knock the cap off and lose bits from the bearing. Either that or the bearing has gone first and that's knocked the cap off.

I'm no expert though.

[Chester draws]

So "gearbox main shaft bearing" is where the issue is.

It's not going to be driven anywhere tonight, that's for sure...

[Monkeylegend]

Chester draws said:

So "gearbox main shaft bearing" is where the issue is.

It's not going to be driven anywhere tonight, that's for sure...

You need to turn those burgers, and your sausages look a bit cremated

[j80jpw]

A few more beers then one of those burgers would be juuuust the right size to fit over that bearing hole.

[Chester draws]

ps off.




All comments welcomed...

[Monkeylegend]

I reckon a few more minutes and you could also use one of those sausages as a drive shaft.

[InitialDave]

Fuzzy69r said:

Your missing half of the ball bearings and what looks like the green end cap ( pretty sure the vw boxes have the green end cap ) , wondering if the worn balls have came out the race and forced off the end cap .

I think this guy has the right of it. Found this picture of the end of the gearbox:



So yes, one or more balls being displaced out of the bearing race and punching the cover out would be my diagnosis on the current information available.

I reckon that's the 02Q gearbox, and the bearing you see is the arse end of the input shaft.

People are going to (rightly) wince at this, but I think that bearing is held in with an inner and outer circlip/snapring, and can possibly be removed in situ. If it were my car, I'd drain the oil, and if there's no obvious detritus coming out with it, see if I could swap the bearing and get away with just that and some fresh oil. My view is that if you're looking at a gearbox replacement or rebuild anyway, no harm in trying.