eldiosyeldiablo

My driver's side axle is making noise while it rotates. Right now I have the rear of the car on jack stands and if I run the engine and put it in first gear and let it turn at idle I can hear a clunk clunk clunk noise coming from it.
Is there any way to tell if I need to order the whole half shaft or if I just need the inner CV joint?

I have an '88 911 Targa and my understanding is that the outer CV is not replacable.

Also, my torque wrench does not go up to the 300+ ft-lb that the self-locking nut requires. Do I need to get a new self-locking nut too?

Thank you,
David

Peter Zimmermann

David: Have you tried lubing the joint? Of course, this only works if the boot is in good condition. Buy an old-fashioned grease gun (hand pump type) from Pep Boys, etc., and fill it with a high quality grease compatible with both moly and lithium based grease. Now you have to take a piece of 8mm (5/16th) fuel hose, about a foot long, and put it on the end of the grease gun tube (unscrew the zerk fitting device first). At the other end of the hose you have to make a fitting that will slide between the small end of the CV boot and the axle. I used a 3" piece of 8mm copper tubing, hammered one end flat with a finising nail stuck in it to leave a hole for the grease to pass through. Slip the tube inside the fuel hose and clamp the hose at the gun and at the tube. Slide the flattened tube (you may have to shape it a little - like an eyebrow) inside the boot and start pumping. When you see the boot start to slowly expand it has enough grease in it. Do the outer joint the same way and go for a gentle drive. It'll take a few miles for the grease to work its way into the bearing. With a little work, and a little luck, you might save yourself a few hundred dollars.
Pete

Peter Zimmermann

Of course, DO NOT go under the car unless it is properly supported on stands, etc., and it is safe to work under! Given the wide variety of products out there you might have to get creative with the hose/gun setup. The important thing is that you get grease into the CV boot without damaging the boot. Also, there will probably be a clamp on the boot that you must remove. After filling the boot, if the clamp was destroyed during removal, you can use a good quality wire ty-rap in its place.
Pete

eldiosyeldiablo

I have not tried this. I looked at the boots yesterday and they are both in excellent shape. No cracks, splits, etc.

How safe is it for me to drive the car with it making that noise?

I will go by some lub. and try to pump some more lub into both boots. I don't think I can do the copper part that you mentioned but I will try with some plastic tubing I have and go from there.

Thanks. I need to save every penny that I can since I was laid off on Friday of last week.

-David

Peter Zimmermann

I would not drive it until you've injected the grease. It's already saying it doesn't want to work anymore, so if you drive it failure may occur.
Pete

jyoon

it will probably make a larger noise while jacked up because the angle of the driveshafts. i would say it's not too good to do that too much. is the noise loud when driving?

eldiosyeldiablo

It was loud enough for me to immediately hear when I backed out of my driveway. I had not even gone more than 20 feet before I puled into another driveway becuase of the noise.

Peter Zimmermann

Grease time - immediately!
Pete

r911

Read & Heed ^

The noise you hear is from pieces of metal smashing into each other. So....

qbvu911

Check your axle nut, make sure they are tight

eldiosyeldiablo

Well I found the problem and it makes perfect sense. It was not the axle. Even though I lifted up the car and removed the wheel and watch the engine turn the wheel and such.

When I replace my rotors I had taken the brake shield off one of the wheels. I had placed the thin washer on the wrong side of the bolt which caused the bolts to rub against my brand new rotor.
But the lesson was learned and no real damage was done. I'll chalk that up as another stupid "duh" error.

-David

redtdi96

GReat, While it is up check the allen heads that bolt the axle to the tranny/diff flange.

A good way to trouble shoot is to think "what did I do last"!

My87Targa

i have a rip in my cv boot, can i buy new cv boots or should i just get a new half shaft?

r911

new boots unless you just want to burn $$ bills -- in the latter case Email me and I can burn them for you!

redtdi96

I may be wrong but if you jack and let the wheels hang, the CV joints are operated at a very aggressive angle and may rumble.

Personally I'd look into a new 1/2 shaft..... it's a porshaaaa.
I bought mine from IAN's a few years back.