engine and drivetrain Cv Joint Failure?

[gregmharrison]

 

Hey All,

 

I have a horrible shuddering and clunking coming from the rear of my car whenever I try to take off.  I climbed under the car today to see what was up and I noticed two of the six bolts that hold the cv joint to the differential have sheared off on the passenger side. 

 

I'm guessing this is the source of my problem, but is it also possible that the diff is failing/has failed and that caused the CV bolts to shear? 

 

How hard is the CV joint to replace and is it best left to a shop? 

 

I am new to '02s, but not to auto restoration. 

 

I attached some pics above. 

 

Thanks for any advice and have a great day!

 

Greg

[GreenSwede]

I would try spinning wheels and drive shaft, feeling how the diff seems to work and sound. If it seems ok - new bolts and a careful test drive.

 

With fingers crossed, of course.

[M3M3M3]

+1.  could be just that two nuts came off.  the noise was the bolts destroying themselves on the diff.  diff and cv joint could be fine. 

 

looks like the bolt in the pic is in backwards anyway.  nut should be on diff side of cv joint.

[gregmharrison]

I tried turning both sides and they turn, but it sounds and feels like there is a TON of play in the rear end, also like it is bone dry, but both wheels and half shafts are nice and tight.  The passenger side with the two missing bolts has a bit of play in the CV joint, which makes sense. 

 

One of the bolts definitely sheared off since the bolt end with the nut fell out into my hand and another has been missing for who knows how long. 

 

Oh there isn't just a noise, but also a terrible shudder like the car's entire rear end is going to fall out of the car, also a noise like the half shaft is rattling around and hitting the bottom of the car, but it isn't.

 

I was really hoping it wasn't going to be something serious, but it doen't seem like the CV joint alone could make all that racket and cause the rear to shudder so much.   

 

Thanks all for the tips and I'll start by replacing those two bolts in the CV joint as well as checking the fluid level in my diff.   

[GreenSwede]

My car was like that once. A bit at least. Vibrations and noise, on taking off but mostly when cornering. One day I parked in front of a store and when I came out and was about to back it out, nothing happened when I released the clutch. Leaned down and saw the drive shaft spinning, then towed it home.

 

I opened up the diff and found most of the bolts holding the.. larger wheel/sprocket (don´t know what it´s called in english, translated directly from swedish "crown wheel"), laying on the bottom. A few had came loose, and the last ones broke. I guess the first one made the noises in the corners, being pushed sideways and hitting moving parts inside the diff=)

 

Remove the drain plug an poke around with something, feeling for loose things. Fill up with oil and try it without the pieces of bolt sticking out the CV?

 

It´s not a LSD, is it?

Edited September 16, 2013 by GreenSwede

[gregmharrison]

Hi Ola,

 

Yeah, I will pull the diff plug and poke around to see what's up.  I'll also replace those CV joint bolts and hope that helps a bit.  No, it isn't a posi, just a stock 3.64 open diff. 

 

If it turns out to be a bad diff, I'll probably swap in a 3.91 as I hope to switch to a 5-speed overdrive one day.

 

Thanks!

[mikebontoft]

How's the prop shaft support bearing look?

[TobyB]

There are supposed to be 6 bolts holding the CV to the flange.  Usually, when that happens, you need 6 new bolts

and a bit of patience to replace them, and you're on your way.

 

Sometimes it  macks the end of the flange up a bit, and you need to flatten the flange back out so that

the CV sits down evenly on it.

 

It's unusual for anything to be damaged much beyond what you can obviously see.

 

If your diff is dry (unlikely) that's a different problem.

 

t

[FB73tii]

You are lucky only two bolts sheared off before you noticed. Usually when they are loose they all back out at the same rate and then all 6 shear at once under acceleration. If it is the outer CV that lets go then the half shaft is spun by the diff and whack, bam on the subframe. Of, if you are moving and the inner breaks loose also whack bam and the spinning shaft can take out part of the aluminum diff rear cover--happened to me. A loose CV can make a lot of noise and it may be that with new bolts you are fine. But if your diff really is dry then other maintenance items likely not dealt with and perhaps CV's toast as well. Best to take the CV's apart and clean, inspect the balls, cages and boots, regrease and put back together. There are a few tricks, but it is not hard.

 

Fred '74tii and '69

[mikebontoft]

Since it was mentioned someone installed one bolt backwards, you can probably bet they didn't tighten them down very well either.

[gregmharrison]

There wasn't a bolt installed backwards, but my picture above of the nut on the bolt end falling out after shearing off probably looked like a bolt end instead, but it wasn't.  I'll try replacing the two bolts and see if I can limp the car to my local mechanic about 5 miles away on surface streets.  I'll also check the diff for low fluid levels and loose parts, hopefully I find neither.  I don't think any bearings are bad since the wheels still spin freely, but the problems/noises/clunking, etc. seem to lie somewhere from the inner CV Joints and onwards into the diff itself.  Thanks again for all the great tips and I'm sure I'll have the ol' girl back on the road in no time.  Greg 

[Mike Self]

One more thing to check...the differential mount.  It has rubber bushings pressed into a steel frame.  If the bushings have died, it will allow the diff to wander about some.  This motion will also allow the driveshaft to shift a bit, possibly banging into things (like the exhaust), or if you're unlucky, damaging the driveshaft U-joint(s).

 

I've had those CV joint bolts back themselves out more than once, even though they were properly torqued down.  New bolts solved the problem.  And in 460,000+ miles, I have yet to have a CV joint (or a diff) fail...

 

mike

[FB73tii]

I've had those CV joint bolts back themselves out more than once, even though they were properly torqued down.  New bolts solved the problem.

 

I'm just paranoid....new class 12.9 bolts, loctite, properly torqued and safety wire. Those suckers are going nowhere

--Fred

[Johnson]

Mike, I guess I`m not as lucky as you.  My car has a bit over 300,000 on the cv`s, and one of the passenger side seems to be going out.  I have a couple spares, so tomorrow I will make sure one is greased and slap it in. 

[gregmharrison]

Wow, that is a lot of helpful info.  I'll check the mounts as well, since they could definitely be shot after 40+ years.  I'll also double check the torque specs on the rest of the CV joints, check for loose parts rattling around in the diff, and then see what else may be going awry down there.  Thanks again for all the great info and I'll keep you posted on my progress...