Front Axle Shaft

[deepseacatfish]

I have a 94 Legacy Station Wagon that has about 150k miles on it and
still runs great, but I took it in to get the oil changed and was told
that the front axle shaft was cracked and this sticky stuff was
exposed. However, it was late in the day and the mechanics decided not
to do anything about it. I haven't driven the car much since then, but
haven't had a chance to go in and get it fixed. How soon should I go
in and do this? I would have done this earlier but live far enough
away from a mechanics (I'm out in a rural area) that I can't just go
and do it easily, and this has been a busy week. Would I be able to
make a 400 mile (roundtrip) Thanksgiving drive on this without creating
more problems? That would be great, because then I can just get it in
afterwards, but I don't want to cause damage that would add to the
cost.

Thanks.

 

[Joe Kultgen]

(e-mail address removed) wrote in @m73g2000cwd.googlegroups.com:

I have a 94 Legacy Station Wagon that has about 150k miles on it and
still runs great, but I took it in to get the oil changed and was told
that the front axle shaft was cracked and this sticky stuff was
exposed. However, it was late in the day and the mechanics decided not
to do anything about it. I haven't driven the car much since then, but
haven't had a chance to go in and get it fixed. How soon should I go
in and do this? I would have done this earlier but live far enough
away from a mechanics (I'm out in a rural area) that I can't just go
and do it easily, and this has been a busy week. Would I be able to
make a 400 mile (roundtrip) Thanksgiving drive on this without creating
more problems? That would be great, because then I can just get it in
afterwards, but I don't want to cause damage that would add to the
cost.

Thanks.

From your description it sounds like you have a split in one of the
rubber boots that cover the axel joints.

If you don't replace the boot the grease will get contaminated with road
dirt and eventually flung out until the joint is running dry. You'll
start hearing a clicking noise while turning which will slowly get louder
until it turns into a crunching noise as the axel joint is totally
destroyed.

This whole deal is a slow process. I've driven thousands of miles with a
split boot. The thing is if you get the axel re-lubed and the boot
replaced soon it should run about $20 for parts plus the labor to remove
and replace the axel. If you wait until the joint is destroyed you're
looking at the same labor charge and roughly $150 for a rebuilt axel.

It's pay now or more later.


Joe

 

[Todd H.]

I have a 94 Legacy Station Wagon that has about 150k miles on it and
still runs great, but I took it in to get the oil changed and was told
that the front axle shaft was cracked and this sticky stuff was
exposed. However, it was late in the day and the mechanics decided not
to do anything about it. I haven't driven the car much since then, but
haven't had a chance to go in and get it fixed. How soon should I go
in and do this?

If you hope to get away with only replacing the boot, do it ASAFP,
otherwise the small repair of the boot will become a very costly half
shaft replacement.

I would have done this earlier but live far enough
away from a mechanics (I'm out in a rural area) that I can't just go
and do it easily, and this has been a busy week. Would I be able to
make a 400 mile (roundtrip) Thanksgiving drive on this without creating
more problems?

No, I'm afraid this is not advised unless you're resigned to half
shaft replacment eventually. That'd be a long way to go to throw the
grease out and collect road debris. Can you get to a car parts store
and perhaps get a split boot kit to slap on there? I might even
consider duct tape of all things to try to keep the joint clean as
possible.

That would be great, because then I can just get it in afterwards,
but I don't want to cause damage that would add to the cost.

You do run that risk, but you're about out of time to do anything
about it if you have to travel tomorrow. Wish I had better news.

 

[Ray]

No, I'm afraid this is not advised unless you're resigned to half
shaft replacment eventually. That'd be a long way to go to throw the
grease out and collect road debris. Can you get to a car parts store
and perhaps get a split boot kit to slap on there? I might even
consider duct tape of all things to try to keep the joint clean as
possible.

On my wife's old Beretta, when the boot split, I just started pumping CV
grease in there during oil changes until I got around to doing the axle
- the price of both boots almost added up to a whole new axle.
(and I put new struts on it at the same time.)

But... we have a second vehicle, so once the CV joint started clicking I
could park it until I changed it.

Ray

 

[Guest]

I'm not sure what your mechanic meant by a cracked axle slinging grease
because there is no grease in an axle. There is grease in the connected CV
joint and boot. Assuming its an exposed CV joint via a split boot...
I just replaced the two front axle shafts on my wife's 98 Forester. The
boots were split and throwing grease. The CV joints were not clicking yet
but I still decided to do them right away and do them myself. (Nearly a
$500.00 quote from the garage!) The parts after core exchange was only
$60.00 each axle at NAPA. It's not worth just having the boots replaced. You
don't know how long those CV joints have been exposed to the elements. With
some mechanical knowledge and some good tools including a big compressor and
impact wrench which helps, the trick is to get the axle retaining nut off
with a 33mm socket, pull the brakes, steering arm, upper strut connection,
get the roll pin out of the transmission side of the CV joint an pull the
whole axle out and away from the wheel mechanism. So if you try this
yourself, give yourself the day on the first one and a half day on the
second one. Otherwise as previously mentioned, if the joint doesn't "click"
get some joint grease in there and wrap it up with duct tape for a temporary
fix. Regards..RAM

 

[Jim Stewart]

I have a 94 Legacy Station Wagon that has about 150k miles on it and
still runs great, but I took it in to get the oil changed and was told
that the front axle shaft was cracked and this sticky stuff was
exposed. However, it was late in the day and the mechanics decided not
to do anything about it. I haven't driven the car much since then, but
haven't had a chance to go in and get it fixed. How soon should I go
in and do this? I would have done this earlier but live far enough
away from a mechanics (I'm out in a rural area) that I can't just go
and do it easily, and this has been a busy week. Would I be able to
make a 400 mile (roundtrip) Thanksgiving drive on this without creating
more problems? That would be great, because then I can just get it in
afterwards, but I don't want to cause damage that would add to the
cost.

If it doesn't make any clicking or popping
noises when you make a hard slow turn, you're
fine. If the noise is excessive, you should
get it fixed soon.