Lets have a discussion on CV Joints

[David]

Starting about a week ago, when I turn (usually on a right hand turn) and I accelerate, I hear a ticking sound from the front of my car. That usually means a bad CV joint right? So now for some questions.

how do I tell which joint (if any) is bad
how much do parts cost
how hard is it to change
how long until I need to change it (i'm moving in a week, so I would rather not work on it until after that)

[Weston]

It's my understanding that doing the CV joint itself is messy and a bitch. However, if you just replace the whole axle, it's not bad... If it's the side that has the intermediate shaft, that can be annoying to separate; if it's the other side, it's easy, but you'll have to drain the tranny fluid first. If you plan to take this car to a road course again, get an axle from http://www.raxles.com (the cheap shit from the parts stores will just break on you)

By the way, that sound you are hearing can also be a wheel bearing... I had one that sounded like a bad CV joint once, but it turned out that the wheel bearing was toast. After it started making the clicking noises, it progressed to a whine/grinding that was directly related to wheel speed.

[David]

How do I tell if its the axle or the bearing?

[Martian]

The easiest thing to try first is get your front end off the ground and see if there is any in/out play on the wheel. If there is, you're probably looking at a bad bearing. If there is no in/out play, that doesn't mean you don't have a bad bearing, but rather that you need to look into it further. The CV shouldn't have much if any lateral movement. You need to try that as well, once again this is just preliminary diagnosis stuff. Just because they don't have any play or very little doesn't mean they aren't bad. It will just point out the obvious stuff first so you might avoid having to dig further into the problem.

[Weston]

How do I tell if its the axle or the bearing?

Figure out which side it is, then jack that wheel up and spin it to see if it makes noise. Then pull the wheel off and the axle out, and see if there is play in the hub or in the axle (grab each side of the axle and try to twist it).

[boostedEG]

to tell if its the bearing jack up the car, and put your hands on top and bottom of the tire and just wiggle it back and fourth. push/pull kinda hard. then do the same with your hands on each side of the tire. shouldn;t really move at all.

if it only wiggles from top and bottom then its usually ball joints
if it only wiggles left and right its usually tie rod ends
if it wiggles from top to bottom and left to right, and you don't see any movement on the tie rods/ball joints then its usually wheel bearings

99% of the time if your axle is clicking it will also have a torn boot.

its much more likely that you have a bad axle than a bad wheel bearing.

if its a sohc you have no intermediate shaft and will have to drain/fill the tranny regardless of which side it is.

if its clicking you will need a whole new axle. parts stores sell just boots to replace, which is a big pain in the ass, but i don't think they sell rebuild kits for the joints.

theoretically if its clicking it could disintegrate at any time, and thats what most shops will tell you to scare you into buying one that day, however i drove on a clicking axle for almost a year in my old crx. you can wait till you move to replace it, but if it starts clicking loudly, and/or a lot more frequently, or clicks when going straight, you'd better replace it soon.

[David]

alright, once I move i'll jack it up and do all the trouble shooting, doesn't sound like changing an axle would be that hard, I would just need to figure out how to remove ball joints.

thanks for the help

[Martian]

If you do end up pulling your axels, go rent a pickle fork from Vato zone or Checkers. It'll make life easier.

[David]

http://www.popstreet.com/art/DEV/jpgs/LCP402.jpg

?

[Weston]

This...

http://www.thepartsbin.com/cartools/images/otc-7266.jpg

[Martian]

http://www.popstreet.com/art/DEV/jpgs/LCP402.jpg

?
More like this, but that is funny!
Edit:Weston got a better pic

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=SEARS&sid=I0033900150001800085&pid=00947688000

[murph]

hey man sorry to hear about the cv joint problem. My advice is go change that joint/axle as soon as possible.....its true u can drive with it clicking...but why drive a car thats broken??? plus the axle is not very expensive if your going with one from a local car store, if u pay 180...ballpark figure, its better then having your car towed and being stranded in the meantime. Believe it or not a friends cv joint popped yesterday and i had to go pick him up......big headache, joint grease all over the ground.....it looked like shrek threw up lol. Good luck man, good advice previously also.

[Skaterkid]

Just an FYI I drove on a clicking joint for 2 months.

[rmcdaniels]

Every time I've had one start to click, it's been because the grease has leaked out or dried up. I just disassemble them, clean them out (brake-clean and a parts brush works, although a parts sink with some solvent is easier if you have one), then reassemble them with a packet of new CV grease and re-band the boots if they are intact. Parts/supplies needed:

Banding tool - $10

bands - 8 @ $1/ea.

CV joint grease packs - don't remember the price, but cheap, it's a small plastic bag of grease

CV boots (if they ones on the car are cracked/torn) - $12-$15/ea, max of four required.

Several cans of brake-clean @ $2-$2.5/ea.

[boostedEG]

well the steering rack/tie rod boot its self wont make a clicking noise, but getting dirt in there could be a bad thing.

i still think its an axle problem... you didnt see grease anywhere or a torn boot?

[boostedEG]

Every time I've had one start to click, it's been because the grease has leaked out or dried up. I just disassemble them, clean them out (brake-clean and a parts brush works, although a parts sink with some solvent is easier if you have one), then reassemble them with a packet of new CV grease and re-band the boots if they are intact. Parts/supplies needed:

Banding tool - $10

bands - 8 @ $1/ea.

CV joint grease packs - don't remember the price, but cheap, it's a small plastic bag of grease

CV boots (if they ones on the car are cracked/torn) - $12-$15/ea, max of four required.

Several cans of brake-clean @ $2-$2.5/ea.

so to replace one boot it would be about $30 and a fairly big messy pain in the ass.

i bought an axle for my crx for $60 from car quest or napa, i dont remember, and i now get any B or D series axle for $40 from advance auto parts, but thats with a discount.. either way i would much rather replace the whole damn thing.

[ComputerJLT]

$49 lifetime warantee autozone remans for the win!

[Chris_V=|work|=]

david, did you die of OD'ing?

[Weston]

david, did you die of OD'ing?

:werd:

[David]

How come every time I go missing for more than a day everybody thinks i've ODed?

Ima take another look at it tonight. I need this thing fixed by the end of the week :mad: