CV shaft clicking

[harpon]

My left CV is clicking a bit now turning right- I've heard this is the sign it needs replacing. I have two new shafts out in the garage, ready for installation.

My questions are then these:

How long can I keep driving this, and what are any consequences or other damage that could happen.?

Obviously it's the dead of winter-the noise isn't very bad -no where near constant- only turning- and I haven't enough time yet to tell if or how fast it might get worse.

and then-what kind of cost is a ballpark price to have the new CV's put in? What else might be needed or expedient to have done at that time? Could it be something else like a front bearing? Is that good to have replaced if the assembly is off for the CV or vice versa?

It's a 96 Aspire, 127 K with press in bearings- so that has never been done

Also, is there any procedure to buy time? Has anyone put a small hole in the boots and put gear oil in them or anything like that?

Thank you for replies in advance.

[FestYboy]

Clicking while turning is like the squealer tabs on brakes, it's your warning before bad things happen. The clicking is usually due to the bearings drying out from a torn boot. Normally it'll hold out for months, but if one of the bearings fails, the car becomes immediately undrivable (severe vibration).

As for cost, you have the parts, get in there and get your hands dirty! . If the hub bearings are tight and quiet, leave them be.

Just reading the last question: if the boot is intact, and there is clicking, adding grease won't do much and you can't add anything thinner as it will find is way out.

[WmWatt]

You can re-pack the bearings. sort of, by removing the metal band holding the boot on, pushing it up the shaft to expose the bearings, wipe as much of the old grease off as you can, and push fresh grease into the bearings, then, if you were careful removing the metal band you can reuse it to clamp the boot back onto the shaft, or some people use nylon cable ties to hold the boot in place. Don't know how long that would prolong the life of your axle but it's pretty cheap and easy to do.

[harpon]

As for cost, you have the parts, get in there and get your hands dirty! . If the hub bearings are tight and quiet, leave them be.

Ah-I'm 64, suffer hypertension, don't have the best set of tools and just a rickety old shed to work in- I can barely change my own oil anymore!

So what might an installation run for both? should I get new boots to install, or aren't these already on? I got the axles a year and a half ago when I thought the shifter falling meant I needed a new tranny- haven't looked at them out of the boxes, and they're in the shed- very cold and dark!

I see some mobile mechanics mention the repair in their ads, but I may be more inclined to have it done in a real shop, if I can still drive it there.

ccasion5:

[WmWatt]

Axles come greased with boots. For installation cost call around a few shops and ask. Cost will be local and vary. Big shops use published times for estimates. Smaller shops sometimes just charge for time it takes and have a lower hourly rate. Nothing special about changing Festiva axles. Don't thave to take wheels apart or even remove from vehicle.

[harpon]

I've also got a set of ball joints and tie rod ends. At one point I thought I might park it awhile and have the whole front end rebuilt. There don't seem to be any real issues otherwise with them- that's really another project isn't it?

I also have a new rebuilt alternator ready to go on, and new brake calipers were put on two years back, with some 87 Honda accord alloy wheels. With 155 wide tires, it handles much more like a stock Festy and steers much easier than with the 175s I ran before- except it doesn't push on the larger 13"tires so much cornering at speed.

The 96 aspire has been my daily driver since 2003- I got it at 35 K and no rust still- oil clean as a whistle with no leaking

The water pump I guess was leaking a little Sept 2016, but some copper block seal has that down to almost nothing and I haven't added a whole gallon of coolant since then. Same for the transaxle- a very tiny amount-maybe two oz- and some thick gear oil has arrested that leak as well since last Spring-

the years slowly tick by......

Happy 2018.

[harpon]

OK- an update here and thought I'd pass this along: I'm still driving this along, easing off it a bit and have tried to buy time while I get some projects on the old house moving forward-

What I just discovered is that grease DEFINITELY helps the situation-

Five months ago in January when I started this thread- I was virtually dead to all car repair- age and arthritis really becomes prohibitive of any mechanical efforts I might still muster. So I've been driving mostly very locally waiting to see how bad the clicking might get or progress, and was pleased it wasn't progressing.

I've got someone who wlll probably do the replacement very soon.

When the late winter here hung on the click got just slightly worse- and I was at a loss as to deal with it, and partly because I didn't have either a grease gun or needle injector fitting for one- but a couple of weeks back while I was checking the transaxle level- and a silght bit of seal has virtually stopped all fluid loss there for now- I noticed one of the boots right under me and probably accessible from the top- (it's horrible these days in Florida with FLEAS, even through the winter now, trying to get on the ground)

Anyway I thought "If I could just get some grease or even heavy oil into that boot it might help the noise. I endeavored to order a grease gun and needle hose on ebay then, but was hit with an inspiration "Why not use my Oil Gun" It was empty at the time-

so I concocted a mixture - half heavy gear oil =145 SAE and half red grease- stirred it up and lo and behold- it comes out the can just fine. So I took my 13" switchblade- we have mad dogs here and I walk in the middle of the night- and made just a slit to get the can spout into and put in half a can or 3-4 oz. Since it'll be changed soon I'm not worried about the boot, yet a little slit at the top probably wouldn't make much difference- NO CHANGE in to clicking sound on test runs, but seemed smoother somehow.

So I figured it must be the other boot- and I'd have to get down on the ground for that- maybe even raise up that side on jackstands

Anyway- when I finally got under there- I wasn't expecting the boot to be so right up against the wheel but there it was. and torn in half- I think I had looked it over maybe a year and a half maybe two back and saw no problem, but now it was totally separated- whether before the click or after movement developed I could not tell-

anyway the point is that if I had seen it and gotten to it- I probably wouldn't be lining up the repair :woc:

So with the boot split- the grease gun and needle points on order became a moot point- I simply got my little tub of red grease and pressed in a handful of it as best as I could- a few miles later the clicking is greatly quieted, but still discernable- in fast sweeping right turns- it's been really bad in a cloverleaf to the right which I rarely drive- but I've also tried to adjust my driving and slow it down a little in situations it clicks under that helps too

So anyway- I have no boot kit to install and probably wouldn't waste one anyway, the new parts are waiting install- but I have a piece of rubber foam wrapping material cut to that length and I may go out and wrap it around the boot- I can close it with plastic ties- but I still haven't done it-
And I'll be avoiding bad weather like heavy rain- not hard here-

So if I was younger and more able-bodied, I'd probably try to somehow lubricate the CV axles BEFORE any wear develops- if you have a boot that tears just think of it as a great opportunity to press in a bunch of grease and then replace the boot with the split half kit.

bet they'd go many more miles with some lube every year or two


You live and you learn and it really does help to think!
RUIDD:

aspire cat.jpg