When Festivas strike back.....

[Tim]

I'd just done some repair work on my Blue Festiva, and decided to take it for a spin.

Everything went Ok until I pulled into a deserted cul-de-sac to turn around. I spun the wheel around, and then it happened.

I heard a dull 'clunk' from the passenger side, and then the whole car lurched and skidded in the opposite direction I was turning.

Some genious didn't bother to tighten the nut that holds the sway bar/control arm joint in place. The sharp turn I took was enough to wrench it out of its socket and scare the sh!t out of me.

It also seriously screwed up the steering alignment and yanked out the passenger side CV joint.


It took 5 people 3 hours to pick the car up and pull it onto a trailer - a very difficult job when you have 2 wheels that want to go in opposite directions.


I was VERY lucky this didn't happen on the main road or at high speeds. I could have been killed.

Now I have to put the damn steering back together and get the stupid thing re-aligned, which is going to cost me more $$$ that I don't have!!! Even worse, it made me late for a date!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Regards,

Tim

[FB71]

that'll learn ya to do a THOUROUGH saftey inspection BEFORE road testing!

[Safety Guy]

Next time call your date from the scene of the accident so she can help load up the mess!

Women love that!

You can make it up to her by taking her to a nice junkyard sometime.

Tim wrote:

"Some genious didn't bother to tighten the nut that holds the sway bar/control arm joint in place. The sharp turn I took was enough to wrench it out of its socket and scare the sh!t out of me."

I believe that's called the "pinch bolt." If the nut were not tightened, then it would have to fall off and then the bolt itself would have to come most of the way out for the ball joint stud to fall out. Very bad yes.

Karl

[Tim]

I believe that's called the "pinch bolt." If the nut were not tightened, then it would have to fall off and then the bolt itself would have to come most of the way out for the ball joint stud to fall out. Very bad yes.

Karl

Belive It Or Not, the nut and bolt were still on there, although only finger tight. :shock:

This car was in an accident a while back, and I suspect the guy who put the car back together did a lousy job..... :evil:

It's going to be a pain in the butt putting everything back together again. What's the best way to reconnect the contro arm/ball joint? I know I have to remove/loosen/disconnect something in order to get the 2 to line up, but what?

Oh yeah - my date was like, I needed the extra 45 minutes to finish getting dressed... :roll:


Regards,

Tim

[mattswabb]

Make sure when you put it back together that it is the correct pinch bolt. If the ball joint is installed into the spindle and the correct cross bolt is installed then there is no way it can come apart. The ball joint has a groove for this bolt to fit into. The bolt is also pressed into the spindle, it has splines on one end. Even with it loose I can't see how it came off.

I'm sure you'll check everything next time

matt

[Tim]

Make sure when you put it back together that it is the correct pinch bolt. If the ball joint is installed into the spindle and the correct cross bolt is installed then there is no way it can come apart. The ball joint has a groove for this bolt to fit into. The bolt is also pressed into the spindle, it has splines on one end. Even with it loose I can't see how it came off.

I'm sure you'll check everything next time

matt

I bet it's not the right bolt.

I did see the groove in the ball joint but did not see any splines - the joint was smooth. :?:

I'll take some pics of it tomorrow.

Thanks!

Regards.

Tim

[mattswabb]

I bet it's not the right bolt.

I did see the groove in the ball joint but did not see any splines - the joint was smooth. :?:

The ball joint and the spindle are smooth. The pinch bolt should have splines under the head. When you put the bolt into the spindle you need to pound it in or pull it with the nut.

[FB71]

I just took Festers' apart, and the pinch bolt didn't have any serations on the shank. Maybe an 'early vs late' thing? And I'll bet anything the ball joint was below the bolt.... like he forgot to remove it before he installed the ball joint, then just tightened it. that would explain why it was only finger tight when Tim got to it.

[mattswabb]

That would be my guess too. The bolt was installed loose, the joint slid together.

[Tim]

Matt - you hit the nail on the head!

It appears that the bolt is not original.

This bolt is slightly thinner than the original one, and as a result it did not fill in the groove in the ball joint, allowing it to move freely and slip loose.

I bet the guy who did this had no idea that his seemingly insignficant substitution could've resulted in a loss of life. :shock:

First thing tomorrow I'm going the junkyard and getting the correct bolt off a Festiva.

EDIT:

Here's the picture I took of the Festiva. At the time of the picture, nothing had been touched.



Regards,

Tim

[Tim]

I managed to put everything back together and it seems there was no damage done to the car, except for the fender being distorted outward from where the wheel pushed it out.

I had a bit of difficulty putting the CV joint back in the transmission. Toward the end of the splines there's a groove with a little metal ring in it. This ring got bent when the CV axle was forcefully yanked out of its socket. I pulled the ring off, and put the axle back in with no problems.

What's the purpose of this little ring? Will something bad happen down the road as a result of me removing it?


Regards,

Tim

[FB71]

the purpose of the little ring is to prevent the shaft from walking out of the side gear. Without it, it can walk out enough to allow the fluid to come out from where the seal is supposed to ride on the shaft.

basically, put it back on....

[Tim]

Damn! :evil:

Just when I put the whole mess back together I learn this...


Is this ring a critical, has-to-be-on-there-at-all-times part?

I'm overhauling the engine in a few weeks anyway, so can I just drive it (max 25 miles) as is until then?


Regards,

Tim