So last week at 6:38am, after dropping off my roommate at the airport, one of E30's CV axles decided it didn't like my car too much anymore. As to why I'm not entirely too sure.
Anyway I was on my way back on an onramp when all of a sudden it sounded like I was dragging a tire and my car came to stop. I put it back in gear and my E30 wouldn't move. Mind you I'm stuck on a single lane onramp bridge with a very narrow shoulder that merges into 2 other lanes of traffic. I thought my new clutch had gone out. I couldn't get out of my car as there was no room for me to safely do so. I turned on my flashers and was looking for TXDOT's roadside assistance number. About 20 seconds later a sheriff shows up and asks me what's the problem. I explain to her what happened and she stays parked behind me till a tow truck arrived 2 hours later. While waiting (she said stay in the e30) I was trying to figure out what the hell happened. I put the E30 in gear and let the clutch out. I caught the speedo moving, so I knew at that point it wasn't my clutch. I also was curious as to how my car wasn't rolling, I was downhill at this point. I tried pulling the emergency brake up and I couldn't move it. There was a tremendous amount of tension on the driver's side cable. I thought with the tire dragging noise, not able to move, and the emergency brake in its state on one side I thought a trailing arm bushing had failed or something. I couldn't get out of the car to see if this was true or not.
This was the result, the blue dot is me: (The red part ended up going a further 5 miles down 2 different highways later.)
I'm thinking 2 possible scenarios.
1. I destroyed, literally, my oil pan on a nasty dip at an intersection a few days before. The force from the impact sheared my diff mount in half. CV axles were now at a weird angle causing stress/vibrations/etc and worked itself loose. I was at highway speeds that morning and I don't recall feeling anything. This was the first time driving it after replacing the pan.
2. My CV axle was already loose and chose that moment to fly off. I have had a random vibration every now and then coming from the rear above 80 mph. I figured it was a wheel bearing.
My CV bolts were blue locktited and impacted on. I've discovered them to be hand tight when I first got the car so I didn't want to take any chances.
TL;DR here's the aftermath pics:
The CV axle that came loose:
When the CV axle came loose it whacked the underside of the car then wrapped itself around the emergency brake cable. I ended up having to undo the cable inside of car to get it off of the tow truck. I'm having to replace a CV axle, my diff ,and had to hammer my diff mount on the body back into the right spot.
Lesson of this story? Check your CV axle bolts every so often. ;-)
Anyway I was on my way back on an onramp when all of a sudden it sounded like I was dragging a tire and my car came to stop. I put it back in gear and my E30 wouldn't move. Mind you I'm stuck on a single lane onramp bridge with a very narrow shoulder that merges into 2 other lanes of traffic. I thought my new clutch had gone out. I couldn't get out of my car as there was no room for me to safely do so. I turned on my flashers and was looking for TXDOT's roadside assistance number. About 20 seconds later a sheriff shows up and asks me what's the problem. I explain to her what happened and she stays parked behind me till a tow truck arrived 2 hours later. While waiting (she said stay in the e30) I was trying to figure out what the hell happened. I put the E30 in gear and let the clutch out. I caught the speedo moving, so I knew at that point it wasn't my clutch. I also was curious as to how my car wasn't rolling, I was downhill at this point. I tried pulling the emergency brake up and I couldn't move it. There was a tremendous amount of tension on the driver's side cable. I thought with the tire dragging noise, not able to move, and the emergency brake in its state on one side I thought a trailing arm bushing had failed or something. I couldn't get out of the car to see if this was true or not.
This was the result, the blue dot is me: (The red part ended up going a further 5 miles down 2 different highways later.)
I'm thinking 2 possible scenarios.
1. I destroyed, literally, my oil pan on a nasty dip at an intersection a few days before. The force from the impact sheared my diff mount in half. CV axles were now at a weird angle causing stress/vibrations/etc and worked itself loose. I was at highway speeds that morning and I don't recall feeling anything. This was the first time driving it after replacing the pan.
2. My CV axle was already loose and chose that moment to fly off. I have had a random vibration every now and then coming from the rear above 80 mph. I figured it was a wheel bearing.
My CV bolts were blue locktited and impacted on. I've discovered them to be hand tight when I first got the car so I didn't want to take any chances.
TL;DR here's the aftermath pics:
The CV axle that came loose:
When the CV axle came loose it whacked the underside of the car then wrapped itself around the emergency brake cable. I ended up having to undo the cable inside of car to get it off of the tow truck. I'm having to replace a CV axle, my diff ,and had to hammer my diff mount on the body back into the right spot.
Lesson of this story? Check your CV axle bolts every so often. ;-)
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