clicking driveshaft

[civichack]

Hi guys, I have a clicking driveshaft but am not sure which and am not game to buy and replace only to find out it was the other one. Does anyone know a reliable way to tell which is the culprit?

[EK1.6LCIV]

Im going to have a stab in the dark and suggest it's your left inner driveshaft

just jack it up, put the stands on, take the wheels off, on mine the boot was torn and grease leaked out and eventually wore the joint...

check the inner boot and outter boots

hope that helps

[Frankie]

just full lock the steering wheel to left and right and start moving forward both ways and one start will clickin. Iam guessing that will work

[Henessaayyy]

My left one is gone, so Im gonna say its your left.
Turn off your doofa doofa (music) and listen when you're turning corners.
Mine isn't just clicking, it sounds more like a knocking sound and its very noticeable that it's from the left side.

How many K's is your car? If it has high Kilometres and you plan on keeping it for a long time (over a year) then I suggest just replacing both. You can get a major discount by trading in your old, damaged ones and buy new reconditioned ones (the shaft is old, but all the boots and whatever else has been replaced).

If you're in South Western Sydney, Ozie Auto Spares at 181 Sackville Street, Fairfield do really really good prices. (Try and haggle as much as you can)
Best of luck :)

[phwoaaa]

hey mate

it should be noticable to tell which side is screwd when ur turning the wheel

unless both ur wheels are screwd..

if not then full lock to one side and just feel the rubber bushes which are behind ur wheels they most definatley should be splitted if ur driveshafts are clicking/knocking.

cost anywhere between 150-250$ to replace each driveshaft or you can just d.i.y it if you know how to for about 50-100$ per driveshaft.

hope it helps :)

[civichack]

Thank you guys.

I will try and see if my next door neighbour wants to turn their doof-doof down for five minutes, thanks.

I have replaced the boots on both driveshafts some time ago (years) and they're still good, so no problems there.

The car has about 300kKm on the clock, but having been driven nicely it still has the original driveshafts (and everything else). I checked by hand on rotational/axial play and can't feel anything wrong.

The clicking is rather discreet and only happens occasionally, not all the time.

The reason I asked the question is that I remember from my youth people used to lock the steering and reverse the car up a ramp to assess the driveshafts. Can't remember how to tell which side was clicking.

I wouldn't use second hand or rebuilt driveshafts because very rarely are they worth the money and effort to replace. I would rather buy new even though they are expensive (I think from memory about 600-800$ a side). That's why I wouldn't just buy one and replace it. It's a 50-50 chance I will replace the good one.

I'll keep digging.

[EK1.6LCIV]

next time your at your mech working on something, mention this problem, they'll pin point it for you

and for the shafts you're looking at around $700 for the left side alone... for that price you can get billet items from America funnily enough....

[civichack]

I am afraid no mechanic is going to lay hands on this car again. The first time my wife took it to the mechanic (ultratune) they put the timing belt one tooth off, the second time my son took it to the RAC, they doubled their initial quote to change the front suspension bushings from 300 to 600$ and then forgot to tighten the right lower control arm bolt as I found when I got the car home. That's why I am going to keep doing the work myself.

I know, Honda parts aren't cheap. On the other hand, over 300kKm on a pair of driveshafts is pretty good value for money.

[EK1.6LCIV]

yea driveshafts and trans are pretty involved

take it to Honda then, they'll at least do it right :D

[civichack]

Yes, but Honda will charge an arm and a leg for labour costs. I have done all the work on the car myself (timing belts, crankshaft seals, camshaft seals, and just about everything else) in the past as I said and even driveshafts I have replaced I think all four boots on them and didn't think it was too difficult, but changing a driveshaft when I am not sure it's the one at fault is a financial risk I am not willing to take if there's a way to avoid it.

[markoJEK1]

If you want to diagnose which side is gone. If you hear the click while going in straight line one of the inners are gone, if you can only make it click while on full lock one of the outside cv's are gone. Jack car up, have a spin of the wheels full lock either way, or while straight to see left or right

[civichack]

Good idea, thanks. I'll try that and probably use my stethoscope (for the first time it might actually do something). It's on tight turns that it clicks and even then very rarely.

[markoJEK1]

Half way there then, you know its the outside, just determine if its left or right now

[Henessaayyy]

If you want to diagnose which side is gone. If you hear the click while going in straight line one of the inners are gone, if you can only make it click while on full lock one of the outside cv's are gone. Jack car up, have a spin of the wheels full lock either way, or while straight to see left or right

Thats wrong actually, I only heard the knocking/clicking sound when I was turning. Nothing when going straight. And turns out, it was my inner boot.

INFACT! When I pulled the CV joint out, it just COLLAPSED and the inner boot sat in the gearbox and the bearing fell out. So, that isn't really the case.



As I said before, drive around and make a 90 degree turn left or right and listen out for the knocking.
If you turn right and you hear the knocking, its your left CVJ, turning left, its the right one. You will hear the right CVJ a whole lot louder than the left as its right infront of you.

Best of luck, let us know how you go. The reconditioned ones aren't so bad. They come with warranties too.

[markoJEK1]

Ok point taken, that statement isnt 100% correct all the time, but most of the time the symptons described and the diagnosis Ive found has been true

[vinnY]

uh regarding Henessaayyy's post, the inboard joints are plunge joints, they're designed to pop out
the outboard joints are fixed, they won't just pop out but they are capable of more acute angles

[Henessaayyy]

uh regarding Henessaayyy's post, the inboard joints are plunge joints, they're designed to pop out
the outboard joints are fixed, they won't just pop out but they are capable of more acute angles

So you're saying when pulling the CV joint out of the gearbox, the boot is meant to come apart and bearings are meant to fall out? It doesn't seem right.


No dramas marco, just saying it isnt 'entirely' the case which you mentioned. It is possible though :)

[vinnY]

well thats why you're supposed to pop the joint out and hold the inboard joint while removing the entire shaft so it doesn't happen
the split boot is probably the reason why you're even taking it out in the first place

[phwoaaa]

next time your at your mech working on something, mention this problem, they'll pin point it for you

and for the shafts you're looking at around $700 for the left side alone... for that price you can get billet items from America funnily enough....

700$ for a new driveshaft? o__o

u can get aftermarket ones for under 100$ if u know where to get from..

[EK1.6LCIV]

yea better off if you want new ones sourcing from the US, they do 60% off shipping for billet items that are cheaper than oem ones and can hold 400hp lol

[Henessaayyy]

well thats why you're supposed to pop the joint out and hold the inboard joint while removing the entire shaft so it doesn't happen
the split boot is probably the reason why you're even taking it out in the first place

Yeah, it was messed up and knocking, so I had to fix the problem...

[mocchi]

about $200 for a brand new driveshaft per side here in melbourne. if i remember the $ figure correctly, $85 for refurbished i think..

can i say the shop name or is it better to pm?
ppl might think i work there or something :|

[civichack]

Half way there then, you know its the outside, just determine if its left or right now

Yes, and it only took one page to get where we started from.

I think it's the left driveshaft though. I drove the car round and round with windows opened (both, or in turn, left-open, right closed, and so on) until I thought I could hear the click coming from the left, or maybe it was just my ears ringing and my head spinning from all that driving in a circle.

Mocchi, if you know where to get new driveshafts in Melbourne for 200$ I am interested, thank you. Are they Honda?

I am tired of using after market this and that. It is false economy in the long run and unreliable to say the least. Driving long distances as we do in oz, you don't want to get stuck halfway to your destination because of a dodgy part big or small (even more infuriating), especially when it is not straghtforward to replace and in case of a breakdown compound your loss with towing costs over hundreds of kilometers.

[Frankie]

what do mechanics roughly charge to change a whole driveshaft on an auto lude per side

[Henessaayyy]

Depends what they charge per hour. It's about an hour's job. Took my cousin (he's a mechanic) about 40 minutes to get mine off and put the new one in. Mind you, we had a few dramas which slowed us down abit too.

I don't think they should charge you more than their hourly rate to put it in.

[civichack]

As my nickname suggests I am at best a hack mechanic, but from my experience, as far as front wheel drive cars go, ED hondas are very straightforward to replace driveshafts. The double wishbone suspension they run is easy to get off and get to the driveshaft. Other cars with double wishbone front suspension can be a nightmare to compress springs and disentagle the various bits that are in the way when doing the same job. I have a good assortment of quality tools and enough determination and from past experience, I would agree, one hour is about enough to get a driveshaft out and replace it. One trick I would suggest to anyone attempting it is use plenty of WD40 on suspicious bolts before trying to undo them, perhaps a good soaking the night before attempting the job can't go amiss. That being said, Honda (and perhaps other japanese manufacturers) have the bad habit of doing up the bolts/nuts in their cars as if the entire fate of the human race depended on them never coming loose. I have managed to break a 100$ ratchet (japanese made to boot) when trying to undo the driveshaft nut. I used a 1metre long piece of galvanised pipe on its handle an jumped up and down on it, so I could not fault the manufacturer, but that'll give you some idea of the torque needed to undo it. Of course, I broke the ratchet and the nut didn't even flinch. (Forgot to mention, I had straightened the nut where it is bent in the notch, but that wasn't enough to free it, apparently).

Anyway, don't do what I did. Get a serious socket (perhaps one of those intended for impact drivers with 3/4 inch drive), and a good extension bar (they come in about half metre long), put the car in reverse and apply the handbrake, have someone in the car with the foot firmly planted on the brake, and nothing can resist that (I am no Schwarzenegger either). Needless to say, when I put the driveshafts back, I didn't do the nuts to such animalic torque and they didn't have any problems for the next 200kKm or so (this work was done shortly after I bought the car and had to replace the boots). I also replaced the nuts with self locking teflon nuts which are good enough for the job (they are used by a lot of other manufacturers on their cars).

Learning this whole routine is going to come in handy when you attempt changing the timing belt and have to get the crankshaft pulley off!

Or it may be useful when you take your car to the mechanic and have to tell them how to do it. It may sound strange, but even qualified mechanics are sometimes at a loss when it comes to some of the car specific tricks to do this or that.

[mocchi]

As my nickname suggests I am at best a hack mechanic, but from my experience, as far as front wheel drive cars go, ED hondas are very straightforward to replace driveshafts. The McPherson strut they run is easy to get off and get to the driveshaft. Other cars with double wishbone front suspension can be a nightmare to compress springs and disentagle the various bits that are in the way when doing the same job. I have a good assortment of quality tools and enough determination and from past experience, I would agree, one hour is about enough to get a driveshaft out and replace it. One trick I would suggest to anyone attempting it is use plendty of WD40 on suspicious bolts befroe trying to undo them, prehaps a good soaking the night before attempting the job can't go amiss. That being said, Honda (and perhaps other japanese manufacturers) have the bad habit of doing up the bolts/nuts in their cars as if the entire fate of the human race depepnded on them never coming loose. I have managed to break a 100$ ratchet (japanese made to boot) when trying to undo the driveshaft nut. I used a 1metre long piece of galvanised pipe on its handle, so I could not fault the manufacturer, but that'll give you some idea of the torque needed to undo it. Of course, I broke the ratchet and the nut didn't even flinch. (Forgot to mention, I had straightened the nut where it is bent in the notch, but that wasn't enough to free it, apparently).

Anyway, don't do what I did. Get a serious socket (perhaps one of those intended for impact drivers with 3/4 inch drive), and a good extension bar (they come in about half metre long), put the car in reverse and apply the handbrake, have someone in the car with the foot firmly planted on the brake, and nothing can resist that (I am no Schwarzenegger either). Needless to say, when I put the driveshafts back, I didn't do the nuts to such animalic torque and they didn't have any problems for the next 200kKm or so (this work was done shortly after I bought the car and had to replace the boots).

Learning this whole routine is going to come in handy when you attempt changing the timing belt and have to get the crankshaft pulley off!

It may be surprinsing to some of you but even qualified mechanics are sometimes at a loss when it comes to some of the car specific tricks to do this or that.

you tried to undo spindle nut with a rachet? lol hack indeed.
breaker bar boss :thumbsup:

[civichack]

you tried to undo spindle nut with a rachet? lol hack indeed.
breaker bar boss :thumbsup:

Yep, I confess. In my defense, it was a solid ratchet which had been successfull on other cars at the same job. Since then I don't approach japanese cars with such relaxed attitude, though.

[vinnY]

the nut's only 136ft-lbs, just have to un-notch it before you undo the nut otherwise it'll make life harder
i just keep the wheel on and do it with the car on the ground, nothing a bit of shock can't fix

[mocchi]

im just always scared of the cracking sound hahah. fkn crankshaft bolt does that too.

[civichack]

I once asked Honda how do their mechanics take the crankshaft bolt off and their answer was brute force, so I didn't feel that bad anymore. Breaking the crankshaft pulley bolt though is difficult because the engine will just spin and the clutch will slip before the bolt breaks loose. I had to tie the pulley to the front towing hook with a chain to stop the crankshaft spinning.

Other cars have specialised service tools to block the crankshaft, so I thought perhaps Honda did too and I could copy such a tool. Turns out they don't.