A friend has a '95 Accord wagon and has found both front CV shafts in need of replacement. I told him he can use my shop to replace them and that I'll help; however I'm not experienced with Hondas at all and I just wanted to pop in here to ask if there are any special tools needed, or perhaps procedures to make it easier or to avoid problems, certain things to 'look for', etc. Or is it (like I'd expect) a pretty straightforward job?
It takes a couple of semi-special tools to do two parts of the job. First, the axle nut is not only staked on (meaning it will need a hammer and punch at least to unstake it) but it is supremely tight. It can be broken loose with a several foot breaker bar on a socket (the socket will also will not be in any normal socket set; it is more than 30 mm - sizes vary) and lots of inventive language, or with an impact driver and impact socket. I recommend renting an electric impact driver with socket unless money is *really* tight. It makes a hard job easy. Measure the axle nut; it will be an even number of mm. I've seen 34 and 36 mm.
The other hard part is separating the ball joint to allow the hub to swing far enough out to get the axle loose. DO NOT use a "pickle fork" as it will almost certainly destroy the grease boot - those are only useful if the ball joint is not going to be reused. See TeGGeR's page at
Mike
i think it's 32mm like most honda fwd's.
or use a 3/4" drive breaker bar. just keep the wheel on the ground.
indeed.
well, you can't use untoothed on a vehicle that has an abs sensor, naturally, but you /can/ use toothed on a vehicle without sensor - if the other features are the same. the real deal is that there's a spline count change on the drive some time, but i think it's around '90. basically, as long as that's ok, you're set.
I have a 32 and a 36 impact socket (I was mistaken about the 34). One fits a '93 Accord and the other fits a '94 Integra. I don't recall which is which.
Mike
If you go the breaker bar route, take the trouble to find a 3/4 inch specimen. Having changed two 92 accord axles recently, I can say with some authority that a 1/2 breaker bar will likely....break. After killing one bar, I drown the nut in penetrating lubricant - it didn't seem to do a dang thing, and I broke the next, more heavily built, bar (admittedly, it was a $10 Harbor Freight lump.)
Looking around, I could't find a 36mm (your size may vary) socket in
3/4, so I eventually bought a cheap air compresser and impact wrench at the local Big Box. (they had a sale on a nice Ingersol gun + 3/8 wrench kit.) 5 seconds of full reverse and that #%^$@ nut was off.I've heard stories of the less robust electric guns not getting it done. Rent the bigest one you can find. Depending on the rental shop, you might even sweet talk them into a "5 minute rental" for cheap. Buz the nut loose, then you can then tighten it with the bar, drive home, and easily remove it to do the work.
Along the same lines, if you have a regular mechanic, he will probably buz the thing loose for a few bucks. I had a hell of a time convincing the local shops that a loose nut wouldn't wreck the bearings or fall off within 5 seconds. YMMV.
There is one more tool to look into. Buy a short, wide, pry bar to pop the axle out of the transmission. The retaining circlip can put up a bit of a fight.
Another tip: Jack both sides off the ground OR remove the sway bar linkage. Otherwise the bar will fight you as you try to move the lower control arm down and off the ball joint.
-Greg
One more word of advice. Avoid the $80 rebuilt shafts. Look for remanufactured HONDA shafts (from the $tealership), visit raxles.com, or, at the very least, get new aftermarket. (The 'Cardone Select' line supposedly uses brand new joints.) The cheap remanufactured units invariably shred themselve within 50~100K miles, often sooner.
-Greg
i agree with you that aftermarket's don't last as long as oem, and that you should avoid the cheapo ones, but aftermarket's should be considered based on economics.
oem don't last 300k miles usually because the boots break, and when they do, game over. it's better then to spend $90, twice, for a reasonable quality aftermarket and get 150k out of them [say 75k each set], than spend $300+ for oem and get 100k. because oem boots only last about that long.
would i go oem for ultimate quality? yes. but when i do the work myself and changing a shaft, with the right tools, only takes about 20 minutes, and it costs $90 for an all-new napa brand shaft with lifetime warranty, then i go aftermarket.
Caveat - the tightness of the nut ensures it doesn't let the splines shift. If the splined pieces rub against each other it will damage the splines, resulting in a maddening situation where both pieces have to be replaced simultaneously to stop the disease. Driving home with the nut as tight as hand tools will get it should be no problem.
Mike
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