Inner CV joint failure after front spring replacement

[ww1dm1]

Hey, it's me with my T4 problems again. Thought it would be great to drop the car down a bit with some lowering springs. After some screaming and swearing they're in, everything looks great.

I start the car, go into first, release the clutch aaaaand... nothing. I'm just standing there in first gear with clutch engaged and not moving. Put into fourth, release the clutch, loud popping audible, typical badly worn CV joint noise. Locked the wheels while in first to one side to take a peek where I could possibly screw up on such a simple job without interacting with the CV joints directly, the right hand inner CV joint rubber boot is all moving and bulging as if it's about to give birth to a creature from Alien.

My first thought before looking was that the CV joint axle somehow popped out of the transmission during the job, but the noise and look of the inner joint indicates that there is torque passed into the joint, so it must be still in, but not doing it's job.

Any ideas what went wrong? Could I have accidentally pulled apart the inner CV joint itself by handling the whole hub-strut assembly a bit roughly? There was a lot of turning involved for that precious extra clearance.

[druid]

Sounds like you did mate, strip it down and have a look, you know you want to.

[ww1dm1]

After looking into it a bit more I believe what happened is overextension of the inner CV joint. Always thought something holds it together, turns out you can just pull it apart by yanking too hard.

Did anyone come into this problem and managed to put it back together without removing it from the car? I really don't want to remove the whole hub and spindle to take it out, nor I have the proper tools and sanity.

[richj]

Just done exactly the same to mine too. Hoping to hear about a quick fix too.

Where abouts are you, help each other sort them out

[ww1dm1]

Unfortunately I do not reside in the UK.

Read a bit more, apparently some cars don't have any clip inside the inner CV joint and tugging the spindle around without supporting it can result in this. Will probably try to take a look tomorrow, hopefully the joint didn't fall apart and I will succeed in sticking the axle back in. I'd say chances are slim, since I already tried to drive with the joint apart.

Any tips will be enormously helpful.

[steveo59]

Hi, I did this to mine when replacing front springs. I took drive shaft off and cut off the strap holding the rubber gaiter and seperated the 2 halves. I then checked nothing was actually broken but to do this you have to clean out all the grease. Replace with new grease and reassemble. I didn't have a new gaiter strap or tool to fit one so I took the drive shaft to my local tyre fitters "Tanvic" who fitted me one and did not charge me. Been fine ever since.

[ww1dm1]

Originally Posted by steveo59

Hi, I did this to mine when replacing front springs. I took drive shaft off and cut off the strap holding the rubber gaiter and seperated the 2 halves. I then checked nothing was actually broken but to do this you have to clean out all the grease. Replace with new grease and reassemble. I didn't have a new gaiter strap or tool to fit one so I took the drive shaft to my local tyre fitters "Tanvic" who fitted me one and did not charge me. Been fine ever since.

Yup, sounds exactly how I imagined it. The cleaning, reassembly and regreasing part is not what scares me, I even have suitable grease lying around. What scares me is the removal of the shaft, which involves disconnecting everything off the spindle and especially the big bad 240nm nut holding the hub. No air tools or fancy torque wrenches available, removing the rusty strut was enough of a challenge.

If it's not doable without removal I'd rather someone with the proper tools do the job.

[canis]

First thing I'd try is unbolting the wishbone and seeing if enough movement can be obtained while it's just hanging from the turret. I'd be hoping to achieve enough clearance to pull the shaft out, straighten the gaiter, and re-insert. Once the gaiter is untwisted it must be back in as it was, and hope nothing's broken.

[flyingtech55]

You have no option but to remove the driveshaft and re-assemble it on the bench. I did this too while renewing the top mount. According to the Haynes manual the inner joint is a sliding joint (sometimes called a pot joint). These can be fairly easily manipulated back into place if you overextend them. However, it is in fact a CV joint and if you accidentally overextend them they will not just push back together. You will have to disassemble the joint, capturing the six balls as they fall out of the boot, Total cleanliness is essential when re-assembling.

Secure the half of the joint which is in effect the cup upright in a vice, Carefully support the ring and feed the balls back into the joint one at a time manipulating the shaft as necessary. The last ball is very tricky to get in but it can be done; I know because I did it. Pack the joint with the correct amount of grease (not too much) and secure the boot. The tracks inside the cup and on the outside of the bit on the end of the shaft are not parallel but run at an angle. It is possible to re-assemble the shaft incorrectly. When assembled properly the 'slopes' are in opposite directions; in other words the groves where the balls run are not parallel to each other but cross each other. If you assemble the joint correctly the joint will flex or 'bend' as you would expect. However, if you assemble it incorrectly the joint will not 'bend' and the shaft will be straight and will not run at an angle.

There are some videos on youtube of how to do it.

HTH

TimR

[neanderthal]

Originally Posted by flyingtech55

You have no option but to remove the driveshaft and re-assemble it on the bench. I did this too while renewing the top mount. According to the Haynes manual the inner joint is a sliding joint (sometimes called a pot joint). These can be fairly easily manipulated back into place if you overextend them. However, it is in fact a CV joint and if you accidentally overextend them they will not just push back together. You will have to disassemble the joint, capturing the six balls as they fall out of the boot, Total cleanliness is essential when re-assembling.

Secure the half of the joint which is in effect the cup upright in a vice, Carefully support the ring and feed the balls back into the joint one at a time manipulating the shaft as necessary. The last ball is very tricky to get in but it can be done; I know because I did it. Pack the joint with the correct amount of grease (not too much) and secure the boot. The tracks inside the cup and on the outside of the bit on the end of the shaft are not parallel but run at an angle. It is possible to re-assemble the shaft incorrectly. When assembled properly the 'slopes' are in opposite directions; in other words the groves where the balls run are not parallel to each other but cross each other. If you assemble the joint correctly the joint will flex or 'bend' as you would expect. However, if you assemble it incorrectly the joint will not 'bend' and the shaft will be straight and will not run at an angle.

There are some videos on youtube of how to do it.

HTH

TimR

i can vouch for that....nightmare to do,as i had no vice.and putting the right amount of grease in to keep the ball bearings in place while lining the shaft up.ball bearings kept falling out and hands full of grease and slipping on the shaft while trying re-assemble....the trick is not to line the 6 ball bearings up with their opposite holes....go against your senses, and move the shaft round a bit away from the holes...otherwise it will lock in place,but not move freely...you will understand once you have done it.....i had 2 mechanics try it for a good 2 hours and i ended up doing it myself(bit of luck)...