Drive shaft advice needed

Hi!

Does anyone know about drive interchangeability?
I need to change my driveshaft on 1998 A6 TDI 2.5 Avant Quatro Auto.
What I have available is one the same car with a manual gearbox, which is
supposedly longer.

The other one is from the same Automatic, but with a 4.2L gasolene/petrol
engine, which the
dealers say does not fit either. Does anyone happen to know what the
difference between a
2,5TD and 4.2gasolene driveshaft is? Are the differences insignificant or
substantial?

Sincerely,
Fred

Fred,
It appears that the propshaft for some V8's is part number 4B3521101E
(Engine? Codes: ARS and AQJ), whereas you need part number 4B0521106F
(covers 28 engine? codes) - since it's the same tranny taking the engine
output, I'd doubt that the propshaft was built more robustly, the difference
between the two is probably in the length of it (the 4.2 engine itself may
be longer or shorter than the 2.5 TDi) /location of the support bearing/???.
Have you consulted any driveline repair shops about repairing the shaft
that's on your car? Audi seldom has part numbers for the CV's/CV
boots/universal joints/support bearings, but that doesn't mean that they're
not available. Asking the collective at Audiworld might give you an idea
about what others have done.
Cheers!
Steve Sears
1987 Audi 5kTQ - Type 44 propshafts can be rebuilt
1980 Audi 5k
1962 and '64 Auto Union DKW Junior deLuxes
(SPAM Blocker NOTE: Remove SHOES to reply)
"landvest" > wrote in message
...
> Hi!
>
> Does anyone know about drive interchangeability?
> I need to change my driveshaft on 1998 A6 TDI 2.5 Avant Quatro Auto.
> What I have available is one the same car with a manual gearbox, which is
> supposedly longer.
>
> The other one is from the same Automatic, but with a 4.2L gasolene/petrol
> engine, which the
> dealers say does not fit either. Does anyone happen to know what the
> difference between a
> 2,5TD and 4.2gasolene driveshaft is? Are the differences insignificant or
> substantial?
>
> Sincerely,
> Fred
>
>