My mom’s rear driveshaft in her Kia Sportage apparantly came loose and had to be replaced. Luckily she has that powertrain warranty thingymabob that those cars come with and it was replaced free of charge. I have 2 questions for all of you teemers out there…
What would happen if the rear driveshaft stopped working, or fell out, if such a thing is possible?
Okay, this one is really stupid, but I have to know… the mechanic wrote RR on the invoice. Does that mean that the right rear driveshaft was what needed to be replaced? Is there even such a thing??
1)If the driveshaft were to cleanly “fall out” not much would probably happen other than you would roll to a stop. Depending on which type of 4x4 system the vehicle has (I have no idea with a Kia Sportage) you may even be able to drive home in FWD only.
However, lets say the front of the driveshaft fell down. That could contact the pavement and cause something like a “pole vault” with the back of your car. However, there is probably a cross member of some sort that would catch the driveshaft before it hit the ground. Either way, as long as the back wheels were turning, the driveshaft would turn as well, making all sorts of nasty banging noises.
If it fell off at the differential end, the driveshaft would flail around wildly as it would still be driven by the transmission… making bad noises as well, and possibly hitting the ground.
Any way you slice it, not good news. This should not of happened.
On many 4WD vehicles, youcan damage the transfer case if you try to drive for any length of time with no driveshaft. On a Kia, Jeep, or other vehicle with part time 4WD that normally drives the rear wheels, the potential problem would be that the front drive system wasn’t meant to support the whole force of moving the truck. However, if you drove with a feather foot with the 4WD engaged you could get away with this for a long time. On some other cars, there’s a coupling between the two sides that is designed to slip a bit. If the rear driveshaft broke (and it would almost certainly fall out if it did), the coupling either would no longer be able to drive the front wheels, or it would quickly overheat.
Some designs have right rear and left rear drive axles, also called half-shafts, but that does not apply to the Sportage, which has a solid rear axle housing. There is only one rear driveshaft, and it’s centered in the vehicle (as far as left to right goes).
Some people abbreviate the word “rear” as “RR”, but it’s not common–probably because it’s so easily confused with using “RR” for “right rear.”
R&R, as bernse said, means “remove and replace.” It’s standard auto shop notation. I would expect the work order to say “R&R rear driveshaft.”
Bernse has it pretty much on the money. Like some Suzuki, Chevy and Geo “cute ute” models, The Sportage is not a front wheel drive car-based vehicle. The 2WD version of the vehicle is rear wheel drive. The 4WD version can be shifted on the fly into 4WD.
In most cute utes, you’d be able to drive normally in FWD with the rear driveshaft removed, but not the Sportage. Depending on whether the driveshaft was removed in a way that allowed the trans and possibly transfer case to retain oil, you might be able to limp around in 4WD; but that is not a good idea for the reasons Bernse mentioned.
If the driveshaft requires periodic lubrication, your mom would do well to have that done. The nosepickers at Jiffy lube probably would not be performing this important step as part of an oil change/“lube”.