). She said it was making a clunking noise. I eventually got to check it out and it is a speed related, metal on metal, clunk that made me think "Universal Joint". When I got under the car with the drivers side wheels spinning I could hear the noise coming from the middle of the drive shaft. Thought that was kind of strange, since there is nothing there! Further research has led me to believe that there is a shaft within a shaft arrangement going on here and that the inside shaft actually has a u-joint in the middle. Is that right? Could that u-joint have come apart and is now rattling around inside the "pipe" that runs from the front to the back?I also saw forums about removing the drive shaft and running the car as a FWD. I will certainly want to fix it, but on MY terms. I don't want to drive it with the problem still there (unless someone tells me I should). I am taking it to my mechanic tomorrow to ask him to remove the shaft. Then I can look for a replacement and put it back together myself as time allows (or take it back to him if time does not allow).
Questions: Can we simply take the shaft off for awhile? Is it better to leave the damaged unit in place (if that's what it is)? The guy who owns the shop across the street from work is great to me and knows I know a lot about my cars. This is a new problem for me as I haven't had a AWD before. So I will discuss with him first thing and see what he thinks.
I have looked for forums on MVS but not seen any that refer to this model year. I see some for removing the shaft on older models that look exactly the same as mine, but I don't know what might be different. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Don't want to do anything stupid (like spend $2500)!
