dirver's side axle problem

[Vanilla Sky]

well, my car is dead... AGAIN... this time, my driver's side axle popped out of the transaxle... this happened about a week ago, and it happened again today... what the hell can be causing this? the ONLY things i can think of is me not getting it seated properly, or the lockring is defective... anything else? i mean, to the best of my knowledge, that's about all that can cause this kind of problem...

it started a bit over a week ago when i ran into a deep pothole... decent speed, too... i'm assuming this has something to do with it...

all i can say is that today, i'm happy that i didn't go to clean up mt grandma's yard today... i would have been left stranded alongside the highway...

any tips? extra napalm laying around? anything?? come on... one of you guys have GOT to have ran into something similar before... PLEASE HELP :pc: :pc: :pc:

[NXRacer]

your axle nut might not be on tight enough so its alowing more play then normal. That or your lockring might be broken or something.

[Vanilla Sky]

the nut is plenty tight... i'm betting on that lockring, though... i probably snapped it off, or i'm not seating the axle properly...

[nswst8]

Between the knuckle and the transaxle. If the knuckle is in the correct place in reference to the transaxle then the drive shaft won't pop out.
You said you hit a pot hole, I'd start there. The snap ring is a no brainer if it broke then I would be concerned if it would piece itself in the transaxle and there can be all kinds of problems there.

Check the lower ball joint, axle nut, tie rod, upper balljoint, radius rod arm.

If the knuckle is in its correct position then the axle can't keep popping out.

[Vanilla Sky]

nswst8... i never thought of that... i guess i need to get the car up on a lift or take it in for an alignment... that's about the only real way to tell if it's out of position...

[Vanilla Sky]

could a broken lug, causing undue vibration, cause the axle to disledge from the transmission housing? i went to take my wheel off and off comes a lugnut with the damned wheel stud still attached... could that be why the axle came out after i reseated it? i can see how a pothole can have popped it out, but is this maybe my problem?

[markmdz89hatch]

A missing lug is not that much cause for concern. I've run many of my cars in the past on only 3 (of 4) lugs without any problem. I'm with Phil on this one. If you didn't actually replace the axle with a new one, and this problem mysteriously appeared after the pot-hole incedent, then I would guess you bent something. Either the knuckle, or one of the control arms.

Good luck.

[POS carb]

the pothole probably broke your stud and axle c-clip, get a new pair of clips. The nut doesn't really have anything to do with it, overtightening the axle at the hub would only aggrivate the problem, the more you tighten that nut the more the axle gets pulled towards the wheel and therefore away from the trans. Maybe also your lower control arm bushings are shot and the arm moves out?
Anyway my $ is on the c-clips

[nswst8]

This is where you need to examine everything. And make sure its all okay. If your lucky then just retouque everything and you might be okay. If it happens again something is bent.
Good luck.

[Vanilla Sky]

i believe i'll get my axle back in, then just drive it across the yard and lift the car up and replace anything bent... i for sure will retorque everything and make sure i'm good... it seems surprisingly easy to bend parts in these cars... no matter, it's gonna get fixed... i like the car too much to make something like this convince me to get rid of the car... matter of fact, i'm going to be dual DCOE after i rebuild them... i'm helping a member after he wrecked his car by storig it at my place for a while because his landlord said it must be removed by the first... right now, he needs the help, so i've diverted some attention from my car to his...

anyways, it's gonna be fixed... the sooner i get it fixed, the sooner i can score a job and start sinking money into my car loan (at least i'm borrowing from the parents and not a bank)... after i get it payed up, i'll have my car pretty much overhauled... i'm greatful to have made several good friends that are knowledgable in cars and are around to help me when i need some help...

i wouldn't know what i would do without this board... seriously...

[nswst8]

:rockon: :rockon: :rockon:
We are glad to be of help. Just remember to "PAY IT FOWARD"

[Vanilla Sky]

lol... that happens when i'm bored...

[89AccordLX2dr]

I don't see how it would be possible for a c/v shaft to come out of the trans with the hub holding it in place. Unless the control arm is detached from the frame and allowing the distances between the hub and trans to exceed tolerance, or you have the incorrect c/v shaft (eg. shorter length passenger side) installed in the drivers side. Even if a suspension component were bent, I still don't see how the c/v shaft could pull out the required 4 or so inches to exit the trans. BTW that little clip does nothing, you can pop that thing free with a tireiron, imagine what forces the vehicle puts on it with normal driving, physics keeps the shaft in place. I'm really curious to see what's causing this, keep us updated :)

[Vanilla Sky]

well, it's not ever come OUT of the housing, but it has come out enough that it stopped turning and just made a lot of grinding noise... you know, like when the splines would turn in a transmission housing... know what i mean?

[89AccordLX2dr]

Have you taken the axel out yet to check the damage on the splines? I hope the trans splines aren't damaged too badly :sad2:

[Vanilla Sky]

nope, haven't been out to the parts store to borrow the socket yet... i keep forgetting...

[SHURIK]

ur running a 5spd so that means that somehow the cv joint ur using is from an auto before it might have held its place but not now ,also make shure the iner nukel isent jamed cause its sopose to come out like 3 inches if its jamed in and dosent come out it yankes ur joint out of ur trany or the body is so roted that the motor shifted over i think if u get a new cv joint for ur kinda car corect for the trany ur using u might get buy ok i think its most likely the iner nuckel

[Vanilla Sky]

no, i'm still automatic... i'm leaning towards the clip being bad... i'll have it out this weekend... i'll know for sure then

[Vanilla Sky]

well, i pulled my axle finally... the clip looks fine, but i couldn't see into the transmission to see if there was any damage... the splines felt good, almost like brand new...

BUT, i got the axle into the workshop, and i noticed something wasn't right with the inboard CV joint... it was binding up... to me, this sounds like what's causing my problem... what do you guys think?

i opened up the joint, and for sure, it was binding... no excessive wear on any parts in there, BUT, i had some old broken down grease in there... the crap had gotten hard and was jamming things up... i believe that before i think about replacing the axle (as i now believe that it is my problem), i'll rebuild the one on my car... it's not that old, but the grease was really crappy... when it goes back together, it'll get a new boot, clamps, and synthetic grease...

while i have the car on blocks, i WILL check for anything out of line... from what i saw tonight, it all looked good...

i still wonder why i wasn't experiencing this until i hit that pothole... maybe it wasn't the pothole, but the fact that i was going 3/4 throttle through a really bad road, braking and turning a good bit... maybe it was just one of those things that was gonna happen anyways... maybe the pothole was what made the axle start binding, and excess heat is what broke the grease down... the bearing "spider" (sorry, i'm only an accidental mechanic...) was bound up because of this... it is stuck, and on my passenger axle i tore down, the spider/spindle/whatever simply came out...

nonetheless, further inspection ensues

Derick

[89AccordLX2dr]

Save yourself the headache, and get a c/v shaft from the wrecking yard. They'll take it off for you and only give you one that has good boots (unless FL has con-artist boneyards). If you do decide to rebuild that c/v shaft, use c/v grease, and by the sounds of it, if it's grinding somewhere, then you're wasting your time.. just replace the entire unit (cheaper that way too).

[Vanilla Sky]

it's not frinding or clicking or making any noise... it's just binding...

[Vanilla Sky]

well, i found the culprit... badly matche bearings in a badly machined housing... luckily i have some that are in better shape (both the housing and the bearings)... it's not gonna be like a good rebuilt one, but it'll hold me over until i can get the parts together for the manual swap, which does require a new driver's side axle... right now, $16 is better than $60...