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Cv joints are going bad. Went to dealership asked how much for parts and he said, they didn't sell em. Says they would have to take my factory one's off the car and send em to be refurbished WTF? Does anyone know if there is any truth to this? I was able to find a site that had the CV covers but I think my whole rod thingy needs to be replaced, because it's been torn for a while now.

P.S. - I was planning on doing the job myself, by way of instructions I got off of Motivate.com, Has anyone done this before? Should I even waste my time?

All advice/comments much appreciated!

Capitone

 

The job isn't very difficult.

Go to PepBoys, Autozone, Advanced Auto, etc. They carry remanufactured units for about $70 bucks a side after the core charge is refunded.

In a nutshell:
Driver's side:
1. Jack the car up
2. Pull the wheel off
3. Take of the brake caliper and brake pads/hardware
4. Take off the actual brake caliper bracket and pull the rotor off.
5. Pull the pin out of the center shaft of the axle sticking out and take out the metal retainer piece.
5. Take a large 36MM socket and take off the large nut on the shaft (air tools), or can be done by hand.
6. Take off the two lower strut bolts/nuts.
7. Pull the hub off the strut.
8. Now, tap/hit the end of the shaft to knock the axle out of the hub (may be rusted on so you do this.)
9. Then, with some force, pull out and down on the hub to clear the shaft of the hub and pull it out.
10. Then, since the axle is bad, just pull out on the axle to get it out of the tranny.
11. Once it is out, replace the CV axle seal on the tranny and re-install the new (reman.) axle in reverse order.

Passenger's side:
This is the same process, except for one thing. The axle is longer and it has a mounting point where it actually mounts to the frame of the car. There are three 13mm bolts that hold it on. Once removed, you may need to separate the axle from that mounting point with a sharp wooded chisel since it may be rusted together. Once done, the axle is free and can be removed from the tranny.

This would be a much easier process if you also had a Haynes manual.....

 

I would also suggest NOT to buy a boot rebuild kit because since you have driven around on the busted boots, dirt and debris may have already gotten on inside the boot. This dirt can work its way onto the bearings, scratching them, rendering them useless. The reman. axles have new bearings and new boots, and after the tedious process of rebuilding yours, it is much easier to just go and but the reman. axles.....

 

Hey Cool! Talk about thorough! Thanks Man. I do have the manual, but I'll be truthfull to ya.... intructions for this job is a little confusing. I've used it to help with a few DIY jobs, and eventually managed to get things done, but some steps they choose to omit I guess because they feel it's "common Knowledge", the pictures they choose to show for some jobs, and the way they word the location of some things, makes working w/this book difficult at times.....at least for me None the less, the book has already paid for itself 100 times fold...LITERALLY! One more question for you, is this Reman kit you mentioned, the kit that comes with the CV joints, or is it separate from that? Thanks again for the excellent info.