My latest DIY mishap :)

mymomswagon · Postby **mymomswagon** » Thu Jul 06, 2017 3:40 pm

okay not all my DIYs are mishaps but...think I broke a cv joint

Did my camber plate install. Method I chose was to remove spindle+bearing+strut+spring+top mount as a unit.
Getting the spindles off the drive shafts was the only ordeal. Took a while and required some brute force to remove and put on.
Started car for test drive, no go, just a whirring sound.
in R or D, turns out drivers side axle is spinning and tire is not, while passenger side doesn't move (that's what an open diff does). Same thing on or off the ground.
With car raised, I can turn the wheel and axle end movement looks bad compared to the other side, kind of off center and clunking with each revolution.

So I'm thinking...
Best case (probably FWD noob fantasy) is remove the outer boot and see if I've knocked loose a clip that can be reset.
Worst case, I go to dealer with tail between legs and start negotiating, or buy the complete axle unit and DIY it.

any thoughts from wrenching folks? chuckles are ok too

Postby **Native** » Thu Jul 06, 2017 4:25 pm

I recently learned that CV joints can pull apart inside a sealed boot. At least some can. Perhaps that's what happened, and it just needs to be reseated?

mymomswagon · Postby **mymomswagon** » Thu Jul 06, 2017 4:48 pm

well I'm thinking I have nothing to lose but sweat by taking the boot off, so I'll get started on that tomorrow.

Postby **Native** » Thu Jul 06, 2017 4:51 pm

If in fact it just slipped apart, might could get it back in place without removing the boot?

mymomswagon · Postby **mymomswagon** » Thu Jul 06, 2017 5:58 pm

guess I could try that. Think there is a lock ring somewhere that might prevent that, but we'll see. Might as well learn some things.

Postby **Native** » Thu Jul 06, 2017 6:04 pm

Good luck!

BrilloHeadBen · Postby **BrilloHeadBen** » Thu Jul 06, 2017 7:13 pm

When replacing the shocks a friends Fit, I had the drivers side inner CV seperate on me. Sounds exactly like what happened to you. I tried to blindly fix it with the boot on, but I wasn't able. No big deal though, I cut the clamp off, put the CV back together and ziptied the boot back on. The zip tie is a legit fix, I've seen new boot kits come with zip ties now.

CaptainSquirts · Postby **CaptainSquirts** » Thu Jul 06, 2017 8:27 pm

You can take the boot clamp off without damaging it and reuse it. I replaced my boots on a cv axle recently, was kind of a pain honestly(mostly due to being stuck onto the hub)... Would make it a lot easier if had some table clamp thingy. If need be I have a bunch of clamps and the tool to crimp it to the boot if you wanted to use/borrow. But I'm sure zip ties would work as well, probably.

Postby **Loren** » Thu Jul 06, 2017 8:48 pm

I'm no expert, but if you've separated the CV joint such that one end can spin and the other end not... wouldn't that instantly shred your rubber CV boot?

Unless I'm just being daft, seems to me that it's more likely that you've pulled the axle out of the transmission. Disengage the splines on the transmission... then you get free spinning transmission with no axle movement.

If that's the case, you just need to seat the axle. It should snap into place and be retained by an internal C clip.

CaptainSquirts · Postby **CaptainSquirts** » Thu Jul 06, 2017 9:05 pm

Have you tried having the front of the car in the air and then gas. See if the axle spins. If it spins and the tire doesnt spin then it didn't seat into the hub. If it doesn't spin then it's not seated in the tranny.

mymomswagon · Postby **mymomswagon** » Thu Jul 06, 2017 10:05 pm

CaptainSquirts wrote:Have you tried having the front of the car in the air and then gas. See if the axle spins. If it spins and the tire doesnt spin then it didn't seat into the hub. If it doesn't spin then it's not seated in the tranny.

thanks yes did try. Axle spins all the way to the outer joint, tire does not. same thing on the ground.

I can't imagine the outer joint is not seated in the hub. Spent plenty of time pushing the hub on the the outer joint and watching the joint splines move closer, then pushing it further in with the axle bolt. axle bolt torqued to 150ft lbs and still seems pretty snug. Bolt is visible on outer wheel and is not spinning.

with car raised and shut off in N, rotating the tire suggests the same, where the axle meets the outer joint is like rotating an angle or bend off center.

Right side looks normal.

mymomswagon · Postby **mymomswagon** » Thu Jul 06, 2017 10:11 pm

Loren wrote:I'm no expert, but if you've separated the CV joint such that one end can spin and the other end not... wouldn't that instantly shred your rubber CV boot?

Unless I'm just being daft, seems to me that it's more likely that you've pulled the axle out of the transmission. Disengage the splines on the transmission... then you get free spinning transmission with no axle movement.

If that's the case, you just need to seat the axle. It should snap into place and be retained by an internal C clip.

no shredding but unpleasant noise. I do appreciate the comments.

Ben, good to hear there's hope of resetting. I may spend $20 on a genuine vw boot kit to avoid dealer inquiry.

mymomswagon · Postby **mymomswagon** » Fri Jul 07, 2017 1:30 pm

things are progressing.

pulled the boot, indeed the joint was off the axle. un-booting was good as it had dropped a ball bearing. joint is back on, needs to be re-packed and re-booted...and a new axle bolt as I stressed it, using it to help punch the joint off the spindle.

Steve, I'll update once things are back together. Hopefully test drive reveals no additional problems.

Thanks everyone for your encouragement and suggestions!

Postby **Native** » Fri Jul 07, 2017 3:56 pm

Good stuff! (and no dealer...)
No worries on my behalf - get yer car fixed!
Do update though - inquiring minds, huh?

mymomswagon · Postby **mymomswagon** » Fri Jul 07, 2017 4:12 pm

will update. hoping test drive reveals nothing more than "re-torque sway endlinks"

looking forward to playing with the camber plates this week and getting some rough estimates of change. Vorshlag claims 2-2.5° change; plate seems to have full range of movement bolted in.

Postby **Native** » Fri Jul 07, 2017 5:48 pm

mymomswagon wrote:plate seems to have full range of movement bolted in

Even gooder stuff! Can't wait to play!

mymomswagon · Postby **mymomswagon** » Sun Jul 09, 2017 5:08 pm

Native wrote:
mymomswagon wrote:plate seems to have full range of movement bolted in
Even gooder stuff! Can't wait to play!

everything's back together and seems normal. [emoji106]

will be registering for Saturday sometime this evening [emoji106]

Postby **Native** » Sun Jul 09, 2017 5:35 pm

Whoo-hoo!

Postby **Loren** » Sun Jul 09, 2017 7:17 pm

Hardly qualifies as a mishap! Nothing expensive broke, and nobody had to go to the ER.

mymomswagon · Postby **mymomswagon** » Thu Jul 13, 2017 3:58 pm

unfortunately, this went south.
Once with a generic type boot clamp, which ended up leaking profusely.
Today, with a genuine VW clamp. Thought I did a good job crimping but maybe not. Leaching a bit, not as bad as above but enough to warrant some form of do-over.
Anyone ever fight this issue? Is re-using a boot a bad idea (example, do they deform such that they're prone to leaking after re-clamping?)b
At least I'm getting good at tearing down the hub from the cv

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