axle keeps poping out

[1993festy]

i recently hit a ditch with my festiva. it bent the fron end and poped the axle out of the tranny. so i heated up the sway bars and bent them back to straighten the front end up and poped the drivers side axle back into place. it drove fine for a little bit but the problem i am having is the axle keeps poping out. is there a keeper on the end of the axle that holds it in, because if there is i might have broken it off? can anyone help?

[elcamino1]

There is only one sway bar on front of festiva.
Yes there is a round spring type clip or keeper that keeps the axle from sliding out

[Guest]

Yes, there's a circlip on the end of the axle. When you install it does it feel like it's locking in? Can you pull it out easily?

[1993festy]

yeah i can pull it out easily, thats the problem i am having. i pop it in then when im driving it pops out. i guess that circlip is broken. does anyone know where i can get a new one? or do i have to get a new axle?

[Dave G]

yeah i can pull it out easily, thats the problem i am having. i pop it in then when im driving it pops out. i guess that circlip is broken. does anyone know where i can get a new one? or do i have to get a new axle?

If it's so far out of whack that the axle pops out, that circlip is the least of your problems (the axle is not designed as a tension member!). And I don't know for sure, but I seriously doubt that a sway bar that has been heated and bent is structurally sound. Plus, if you hit something hard enough to bend that, you probably bent some other things too. You really ought to take it to a shop that has the expertise to evaluate the damage. Just my 2 cents...

"Sway bar" is really a misnomer in the case of the Festiva - that thing is not just an accessory stablizer like a "sway bar" on the rear end of a rear wheel drive car. It's the main trailing link, very important :!:

[mechanicaldj]

have a 4 whell alignment done

it will give you an idea where to start looking for what is still bent

[Guest]

You can get one at any c/v shop. Mine was hit and consequently it had the same problem as yours, even after I took it to a frame shop to have it fixed and replaced the circlip. After I replaced the circlip, it stayed in longer, but it still would pop out if I hit a bump while turning to the right. So I had a c/v modified so that it would not come out. Small mod,but it worked. It didn't pop out in the 2 years since. Try a new circlip, and if all else fails, I have that modded passenger side axle. As I am doing a B6T/G25M-R swap on that car now.

[b3 madness]

How is the CV joint modified? Must be the inner CV? I would think that the outer would be hard to mess with.

[Guest]

yes the inner. We extended the play by about 3/4". Basically we slid passenger most side of the joint to the end of the shaft and tigged it to the shaft.

[b3 madness]

Gotcha, Thanks DJ.