hosrom_951

I marked the CV joint and cleaned it.

I cannot find any obvious cracks or nicks of any sorts.

Is there any indication that a cv joint is worn when diss-assembled?

yellowline

Examine all of the little ball bearings and the races (tracks for the *****) for pitting or irregularity.

hosrom_951

If i cannot get the ball bearings to snap in place, does it mean that they are worn?

yellowline

They lock on the cage by pushing them in one direction.

Put the bearing into the cage, then push it to lock. You can also pull the bearing backwards and lock it. There's a certain order to doing this, or else the joint locks up when you assemble it. It isn't broken, it just needs reassembly a different way.

You kind of need to get a feel for it. It took me about an hour to get those right on the first axle I serviced.