I know there's another thread asking for advice on the Center Support Bearing, but mine has been diagnosed as "on it's last leg" and the shop (who seems to know VW/Audi's well) said they'd rebuilt them in the past, but can no longer locate a rebuild kit and now are recommending we buy a remanned drive shaft to fix the marble in a paint can in the paint mixer sound I get under mid to heavy acceleration in my 2001 A6 2.7T MT6.

My feeling is that $1385 for a drive shaft replacement (parts alone there) is a bit much when all I really need is the center support bearing. I've also seen the rebuild kits and center support bearing on Blauparts.com, but I can't find one on their site for an '01 2.7T manual

So my question here is whether or not a center support bearing for the A/T (automatic) A6 is going to work for my MT6 (manual) or if there's really a difference. Anyone know? Or should I just call Blauparts?

Thanks to all who reply....

 

Audi lists differnt part numbers for manual versus automatic prop shafts, BUT the center support bearing bolts in the same place on all cars, so I would think it would be safe to assume that the center bearing is the same on all cars.

Most German prop shafts are non-rebuildable. In my old E36 M3, you had to buy a brand new prop shaft when a u-joint went bad, which they tended to do at 100,000 miles.

Good luck!

Bob

 

Call Blauparts. They will be able to tell you what is out there and what is not.
Good luck with your repair!

 

There is my story about prop shafts and hanging bearings.

On my ’86 4kQ at around 200k km a noise appear from the middle of the car – the culprit was the hanging bearing.
As Audi sells the whole assembly (prop shaft) for $1600 cad at the time, with only one left in N.America , I decided to rebuild the shaft.
The procedure and parts were well described on the former “Quattro list” – a bearing from some BMW should be used. Parts cost - $50.
Found a shop repairing German cars only, the owner had the very German name of Kaltenbrunner.
He convinced me he knows what he is doing => then the Odyssey begun=> the shop bent my prop shaft, asked me to sign a waiver. Got the police involved to have my babe towed out.
Ordered used shaft - $140 in total and everything was ok since.
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I doubt that prop shafts are the same for manual and for automatic- just because the transmission dimensions are different.

Having an Audi is a challenging task, not as having a Subaru – my Outback has 161k and the total of repair costs so far is ~$800 (brakes and TB included)