Jimny 1.3 Manual 2001 rattle - rear propshaft seal

hello all, just after a bit of advice. My car developed a bad rattle (sounded like a piece of metal catching), looking at rear prop the gator has split and it has thrown grease around (probably explais the burning smell). It does have some play in the front CV unit.I removed it and as per forum discussion seems it is non servicable.....
 

Putting the car in AWD allows me to drive it to be able to get to work, etc - is there any issue with doing this that anybody can think of?
Searching for a replacement prop at the moment, but can only find later version which looks the same and rough measurements seem to match - but I struggle to find a sesnisble parts catalog to source part nubers from....anybody aware of one?

Also if anybody has an old unit (after upgrading) and is near I would be interested...

thanks for help and advice

Ian

It is practically possible to drive the front axle only but be aware that the driving sensation will be different. The Jimny is designed as a rear drive motor with 4x4 being available in a part time system. I would suggest you moderate your acceleration and restrict your speed to 30mph and restrict your distance to 10 miles.
Note also your Jimny does not comply with your insurance specifications ie: not properly maintained so it is invalid.

Roger

thanks for the response - I have found one on ebay 2710384A00, from a 2007 Jimny - does anybody know if t will fit my car?

Is there also supposed to be some play in the propshaft length, to account for axel/trans movement - the one on ebay is a fixed length and worried it might be siezed.

Yes, a propshaft needs to extend and shorten as the axle moves up and down. If it is fitted with u/j's at each end then a sliding section accommodates this but if it has a constant velocity joint then this usually has the ball bearings arranged so that it allows end ways movement ie: no separate sliding joint.

Roger

As per Rogers reply.  Jimny rear props are fixed length as they have a CV in them

If you pull the cap out of the end and take the circlip off, the cv joint will come off. You can then get a 75mm cv boot over the outer part and pack it with more cv grease. Then zip tie the boot in place.