subwayhello

I'm pretty new to pretty much anything vehicle related, with that in mind I
recently bought a 1997 maxima that needed the front struts changed, since I live in ny and will drive it in the winter just went with kyb struts for now. when I replaced the drivers side strut I noticed that the hub assembly had a lot more play in it then when I took the strut out. I put everything together, put the car on the ground and went to start the car and found that when I put the car in drive it won't move. It won't move in Reverse. When I put in Park it makes some noise like Ddddrrrrrr. (so I immediately put it into neutral turned the car off and shifted into park) and that in park the car acted like it was in neutral. freaked out a little came here and found these two very helpful threads:

https://maxima.org/forums/4th-genera...ont-strut.html
and this
https://maxima.org/forums/4th-genera...e-reverse.html

so I lifted the car back up removed everything and saw that the cv axle was about 1/4 inch out of the transmission. I tried to push it back in but no luck and after searching on the internet found that I should take the axle out of the hub to get the axle straight and hit it in with a rubber hammer. I also saw videos of how to change an axle in which once you remove the axle transmission fluid will supposedly come out. So I bought a 36mm socket and put everything together (put wheel on) and lowered the car to be able to unscrew the axle nut through the center wheel hole (more leverage that way) but the 36 mm socket didn't fit through the socket hole. lifted the car removed wheel and tried but the hub had too much play. After 5 hours of reading/getting food/lifting taking stuff out and putting it back dropping the car it I finally did this:

I had lifted the car from the drivers side and pulled the axle out (no transmission fluid came out) rotated the axle counterclockwise 1/4 of the way and tried to seat it into the axle. pushed with the same force I was using before with one hand on the axle and another on the hub and CLICK! but being skeptical I manipulated the hub and it came out again, so without turning the axle I put it back in and click. I was very weary that the axle came out so easily once it was seated in, but I put the strut and tire back on lowered the car and was able to drive reverse and turn (about 10 feet each) then I lifted the car back up and found that the axle was in much tighter than before.
I'm posting this because I couldn't find this information (take out turn a 1/4 and replace) anywhere, thought someone might save some time and frustration.

I would however, like to know whether the front drivers side tire should turn freely if I lift the drivers side of the car and try to rotate the tire forward / backward. I've heard mixed things and as of now the tire/wheel/axle only has a little play in terms of forward and backward rotation. For now I'm keeping the car in the driveway for a day or two before driving around the block (I'm blocked in by a couple other cars).

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

I'm glad that you were able to figure out the problem. If you want another challenge, try replacing the axle oil seal on the passenger axle.

If the car has an automatic transmission, very little oil will come out when you remove an axle. The higher the front end is raised, the less oil will come out.

If the car has a manual transmission, you have to drain the transmission or you'll have a mess.

As for your question, the one wheel will turn when you are in park. This is because of the differential gear design. If you had both wheels off the ground when you did this, the other wheel would have turned in the reverse direction.

However, not all cars, Maxima included, will do this. If the car is equipped with a limited slip differential, if you have only one wheel off the ground, it will not spin. You would need to have both wheels off the ground and then you would see that both wheels turned in the same direction.

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

Are you sure about the axle and trans junction? What I've seen happen is that the outer CV joint slides off the splined shaft under the boot. Remove the outer axle boot, slide the CV back onto the shaft and reassemble. It's a messy job.

subwayhello

when I placed the axle to the transmission, I could see the outer boot and the inner cv joint and knew the cv shaft was placed into the tranny as is in the attached picture. I didnt check the outer shaft outer boot or outer spline. I was unable to remove the axle nut / barely even tried when I was thinking about removing it as I read the bearings are dependant on the torqued axle nut.

subwayhello

just checked my cv axle and took some pictures (below)
couple questions/clarifications:

1. when I tried to remove the axle nut from the hub I broke the cotter pin and just replaced it with one from ace hardware, just as thick and a little longer but made sure the ends of the cotter pin weren't interfering with the wheel when the wheel is attached. does it matter that its not an autograde cotter pin?


2. if you look at the first two pictures you can see that there is some play in the axle, its seated and I was unable to pull it out of the transmission. Is this amount of play (i can push on the cv joint and it moves in as pictured above (second pic), pulling once its in will only allow it to move out as pictured in the first pic. is this ok?


3. the last three pictures are of the outer cv boot and joint. I know it looks like there's grease all over the outer cv boot but I'm sure its the hydraulic fluid from the strut I replaced as the strut was dirty as hell and there is no spatter pattern around the wheel well like there would be if there was a broken boot.


Thanks for all your help so far. have yet to drive it around the block.

arcticracer

1. That's fine
2. Normal to have a slight amount of play
3. clean it up and check on it every one in a while

Make sure axle nut is pretty darn tight or better yet torque it to spec.

MaxiNoob98

I have a simple question hopefully someone can answer. Does anyone know if its a bad idea to remove both cv axle from the tranny? I read that the gears inside might get misaligned but there isn't a definite answer.

Fakie J Farkerton

iTrader: (51)

That's misinformation.

Pull them both if you need to.

CS_AR

Here a picture of a "see through" 5-MT with both CV axles removed.

Hey look -- there's light at the end of the tunnel.