cv boot or cv joint

Oh, yeah! $48 sounds like a lot for a special-purpose tool... until you are trying to separate the durned thing without it! Then it starts sounding real cheap.

Mike

Reply to
Michael Pardee
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In my experience, people who charge relatively little for a job like this are simply experienced or skilled enough to make it look easy. I think this one will go well.

Mike

Reply to
Michael Pardee

Thanks a million for the link! I ordered one tonight so I won't suffer as much the next time (I think my Volvo is next... something is loose in the right front). One thing I like about it is that even if the leverage can't quite convince the taper pin to let go, I can leave it in place and holding pressure while I rap on the side of the receptacle with the air hammer to upset the fit. It also has a relieved area for the boot, eliminating the worry about tearing the boot.

I completely agree about the worry of causing damage and still failing - the twin terrors of auto repair.

Mike

Reply to
Michael Pardee

Well here is the outcome,they suspected the axles that were supposed to be only 2 years were never changed,i needed new bearings,new rotors,2 axles,the final cost with oil change and oil plug and washer was 1100.00 and he only charged me 250 for labor,he is a great guy he looks out for me,and also he showed me everything that was wrong before he ordered everything,he has helped me out in the past before for hardly anything,but at least i have everything new.

Reply to
rynniki

Glad to hear of the good outcome, sad to hear the axles weren't changed to start with. Grr!

You are ahead of the game now (even $1100 poorer - you'll recover from that long before you have to go through that again). I know the rotors and bearings are fairly expensive, but getting those done while everything is apart saves paying for labor a second time.

Mike

Reply to
Michael Pardee

hmm, i guess you can say it's good that they'll not have to do this again, but at the risk of sounding like a whiner, honestly, how many hondas do you know that genuinely need /two/ new bearings plus rotors at only 120k? this is not a ford. $1100? bearings are $60 each, less if you go to the bearing store. rotors about $50 each. decent quality driveshafts are about $120 each. plus $250 labor, i still only make that a $710 job, and i think about $220 of that is unnecessary.

Reply to
jim beam

i guess you havent read my previous posts lately,they did not replace the axles in the first place when they were torn before we bought the car,my rotors were bad i looked at them,just because i am a girl doesnt mean i dont know shit about cars,plus part prices are different everywhere in the u.s. depending were you live!!!!! it's done and over with now.....,and to let you know also is labor is 75/hour in md.,but for now i still dont have the car back its still there the parts people kept bringing the wrong axle,and then the axle shaft was too short,too much drama for 2 days

Reply to
rynniki

I had one go out at around 100K and the other around 130K. Its easy to see it, just look under the car and look at the drive mechanism that goes to the wheels. The rubber boot will be split.

A symptom is hearing a clicking noise when you go through a tight turn.

As I recall I paid either $200 or $300 per boot. You replace it with a rebuilt one.

Supposedly you can just replace the rubber but that requires more labor to take it all apart - so rebuilt ones seem like a logical approach.

Reply to
kiselink

please don't flame - i made no such assertion.

agreed, but with respect, shopping around saves money. if you can buy the parts online for the prices i quoted, genuine honda parts from a honda dealer, it helps you negotiate a better price. take printouts of majestic honda's prices with you next time you need work done & see how it affects the prices you get quoted. /this is a suggestion, not a criticism./ works wonders for me.

if the car's ever had a front end collision and has not been repaired well, it's common for the engine to sit slightly askew and for a shaft to appear "too short". investigate this & check into getting a cheap & dirty "reallignment" of the engine in the bay. doesn't need to look pretty, just make sure the engine sits better. this should have been checked before the work was commenced.

Reply to
jim beam

sorry. no the car has never been in an accident.i got her back last night,so far so good ,but i do have a question about abs brakes i think thats what i have,to me the brakes feel soft ,i dont remember them feeling this way,maybe cause i havent driven it in 2 days,but do brakes feel funny after new rotors? i dont want to spend anymore money

Reply to
rynniki

No - they should feel about the way they did before. Time for a trip back to the mechanic. A good mechanic welcomes the chance to take another look at the work he's done if there might be a problem, and looking at the calipers he had to move out of the way is easy for him. The last time this happened to me was because I took the caliper off and the pads out to deglaze them, then reassembled without relubricating the slide pins. (That's probably what your mechanic did, since it would be a reasonable place to draw the line as to how much to check - the brakes are easy to get to and touching them any more than he had to risked stirring up the evil spirits.) One slide pin was rusted solid and when I reassembled the brakes that side never grabbed - the pedal was soft and I could turn that wheel by hand when the brakes were all the way down!

If you use your best conciliatory manner you may get this as a freebie even though it probably wasn't strictly speaking his fault. It sounds like he's been working with you to keep the labor down so far.

Best of luck!

Mike

Mike

Reply to
Michael Pardee

i went back this morning he readjusted the rear brakes beacuse the front was fine ,and the guy who usually works on the car said they were fine,i think its because i forgot how they felt cause i havent driven in 2 days

Reply to
rynniki

how much are brakes usually? and how about a master cylinder if i ever need one?

Reply to
rynniki

Roughly, new "linings" (the friction parts that wear out, pads for disk brakes and shoes for drum brakes) are about $100 parts and labor for each axle; that is, that much for the front and that much for the back. The front wears faster than the rear because it does more of the work in stopping the car (the weight shifts forward when braking). Figure about the same for the master cylinder. The master cylinder usually is left alone until it starts acting up - usually the pedal gets soft or sinks when you are stopped.

Most brake shops will do free brake inspections in hopes of getting the job if something is bad, and that can be a good way of making sure the brake linings don't wear out completely. When they do, you get metal to metal contact and the rotors or (in the rear axle) drums are damaged. Drums screech when the shoes wear out that far, while disk brakes make an unmistakable grinding sound when you step on the pedal. Now that you have new rotors (disks) in the front, you definitely don't want to wait for the last minute to replace the linings (like you'd want to otherwise... not!). When the friction material gets down to about 1/8 inch it's time to get new ones. 1/16th inch is really pressing your luck.

The mechanic who did the front axles can give you an estimate of how soon you should have the brakes rechecked for wear. I'm sure it won't be soon or he would have recommended new pads while he had it apart.

Mike

Reply to
Michael Pardee

The tool arrived today, and it looks good to me. The threads are stout and a good fit, the metal is heavy and the adaptability looks good. I have to investigate shaking in the right front of my old Volvo soon - I'll give this a try if the occasion comes up.

Mike

Reply to
Michael Pardee

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