I bought a rolling chassis from this guy and it’s almost complete. I’m currently waiting to install my drive shalf. I looked in my Haynes manual and it said “if any balance weights are on the rear of the pinion flange, mark their position before removing the bolts.” I was just wondering, since the book said “if any” does my 87 turbo II come with balance weights? And if so, how will I know where they were originally position since the drive shalf was already taken off when I got the car.

Thanks a lot, Mike

 

There normally are only balance weights if there was a problem with the drive shaft or diff.

 

Actually quite a lot of vehicles have the balancing weights on them.

Check the length of the driveshaft for little pieces of metal on the length of shaft. They look like...oh...usually about 1 1/2" strips of metal sort of like a piece of electrical tape but thicker.

What the manual means is if you have the weights mark the shaft position in relation to the flange so when you put her back on it is turned the same way to be balanced.

Re-reading not really how I wanted to explain but hope you get the idea.

Terry

 

shouldn;t a drive shaft be balanced to it self, and the flange to it self as well? unless mazda is doing something dumb, you should not need to mark alignment to preserve balance.

 

My answer was/is specific to the Turbo FC.

 

So there is no way that I will know if it did have any balance weights? Guess it's up to a test drive once I get her firing, and see if there are excessive vibrations?

 

Actually this is /was my thinking on it. But for ***** and giggles I defer to the Manual on this one. They must have some reason to put it in print.

 

What the manual is trying to get you to do is put the shaft back on the way it came off. Since you are putting it onto an entirely different car it doesn't really apply. Put it on one way and drive it around, if it vibrakes try bolting it up 90 degrees out, repeat until the vibration is lowest.

 

While it's a good idea to return the shaft to it's original orientation for R & R, my manual does show actual "balance washers" under the flange securing bolts; see page 3, section 8.
So it would seem that Mazda do have a different way of balancing the shaft (others manufacturers use the previously mentioned permanent spot-welded metal rectangles).
When new U-joints are installed, the original balance will not apply. I have used two gear (hose) clamps and rotate the head parts incrementally til balance is achieved. Take copious notes as to postion after each drive. You may also have to rotate the joints 90 deg. or even 180 deg.
(Note that it is a VERY dangerous practice to work near a drive shaft in motion! Under no circumstances go under the car while the shaft is in motion. People have had loose clothing/hair sucked into the shaft...death can result!!!)

 

Yes, do not try to crawl under the car while driving!