Too much play on the drive shaft?

[hatchback2868]

A while ago, I made a desperate post about a sound coming from the front of my car. A couple of days ago, I mustered both the courage and tools to diagnose that myself. Unlike I originally suspected, the suspension strut looks OK, but I accidentally spotted some play on the drive shaft: here's a video I captured:

https://imgur.com/a/TC2J11Z

There's way more play on the front passenger side (shown on the video) than there's---or any---on the driver side. Perhaps it's not a coincidence that the noise is coming from the passenger side. So my question is, judging by the sound of my wiggling the shaft, do you reckon this is more than usual and enough to warrant replacement?

Also, perhaps as a result of my poking around, the ESP light has come on in the dashboard. I don't know what I'd have done to upset any sensors just by shaking the drive shaft. But I haven't gone back checking on that yet.

 

[Burnerman]

It's a little difficult to diagnose this one.......!
Would you say the play is actually up and down, in or out, or when twisting the driveshaft?
If it's when you are twisting the driveshaft, you have to take into consideration that you are turning the differential too, which will have some backlash on the gear teeth. Also there will be a tiny bit of play in the CV joint. The drive shafts are different lengths, the longer one held by a central bearing too.
If it's up and down on the inside or gearbox end, there may be play in the diff bearings (no oil leaks though).
If it's in and out, the driveshafts are splined into place to allow for suspension movement so a bit of play is normal.
Million dollar question....is there any knocking when you drive the car on full lock?
What is the mileage of the vehicle?
As for the ESP, I think this could well self correct, unless you can turn it off manually!
John

 

[hatchback2868]

The play demonstrated on the video is the in-out motion. I get that a bit of a play is normal, but I was curious as to whether, whatever that normal level of play is, when wiggled in-out, would it be sufficient to produce the level of sound audible the video. Also, to highlight, the other side which doesn't have the knocking noise, doesn't have as much in-out play, either.

I wish I had a real real benchmark to compare against. Apparently, going around the neighbourhood and jacking their cars up to shake the drive shaft, is not socially acceptable. Outrageous!

As I mentioned in the linked thread, there's practically nothing to left replace there. So far, the lower control arm, both the inner and outer tie rods, the link rod, the shock absorber, have all been (speculatively) replaced. The drive shaft is the last man standing.

I'll also drop this weird observation: ever since I had my wiggling percussive diagnosis, the knocking sound has eased up a bit. I can't explain as to why. But I guess I now have the EPS light to compensate for that.

The mileage on the car is 40k, 2011 make.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

The play demonstrated on the video is the in-out motion. I get that a bit of a play is normal, but I was curious as to whether, whatever that normal level of play is, when wiggled in-out, would it be sufficient to produce the level of sound audible the video. Also, to highlight, the other side which doesn't have the knocking noise, doesn't have as much in-out play, either.

I cannot tell much from your video, but I wouldn't worry about the drive-shaft and UJ's. Drive shaft/UJ wear, shows up as a knocking noise, when driving round in tight circles, either to the left, or the right. A much more likely noise, when going over a bump, is drop links, or anti-roll bar bushes.

If the thump is only heard going over really extreme bumps, then I might suspect the strut top bearing.

 

[Avocet]

"in-out" (axial" play is absolutely fine. As the wheels move up and down over bumps, because the arms that they attach to, swing in an arc, they get very slightly closer together an further apart. The driveshafts need to be able to absorb this movement, and they (and / or their joints) are designed to allow a bit of "plunge" in and out of their housings at one or both ends.

I don't have any thoughts on the ESP light - other than that you might have disturbed a wire? Lift that corner of the car so that the wheel is off the ground and check for play in the wheel bearing. That can sometimes damage ABS sensors (which could put your ESP light on).

 

[Old Salt]

I wouldn't be concerned about that noise or movement. As already stated driveshafts are best checked by driving a circle on full lock in both directions. Do you have a knowledgable passenger you can take for a run out.

ESP light could have been disturbed, obd reader/reset?