CV joint bad?

I got some creaking noise in the front right side...sounds like a bad cv joint....what is the best way to determine if this is the cause? the boot on the right side is cracked open, and i figured that was the best way to tell if its bad...

[J.McDonald Knives]

If the boot is messed up in any way its the CV and the whole axle has to be replaced. I had on that was cut all the way around.

[Mikey97D]

I got some creaking noise in the front right side...sounds like a bad cv joint....what is the best way to determine if this is the cause? the boot on the right side is cracked open, and i figured that was the best way to tell if its bad...

In a parking lot from a stop, turn the wheel all the way to either the right or left and slowly accelerate. You would hear a clicking or clacking noise. Try this in both directions of the steering wheel. The side the noise generates from is the cv joint.

If the side of the car with the ripped boot doesn't make noise, you can just replace the boot. Most garages will just replace the whole axle because the labor is about the same and a remanufactured axle is about $60-90. I would suggest spending the money for OEM axles if you go that route. I have an aftermarket axle from NAPA and it makes noise, clicks in the spline, and does some other funny crap.

[Airgne]

I got some creaking noise in the front right side...sounds like a bad cv joint....what is the best way to determine if this is the cause? the boot on the right side is cracked open, and i figured that was the best way to tell if its bad...

In a parking lot from a stop, turn the wheel all the way to either the right or left and slowly accelerate. You would hear a clicking or clacking noise. Try this in both directions of the steering wheel. The side the noise generates from is the cv joint.

If the side of the car with the ripped boot doesn't make noise, you can just replace the boot. Most garages will just replace the whole axle because the labor is about the same and a remanufactured axle is about $60-90. I would suggest spending the money for OEM axles if you go that route. I have an aftermarket axle from NAPA and it makes noise, clicks in the spline, and does some other funny crap.

+1 on this, but for me i would only do OEM subaru parts for the driveline. ive had bad exp with reman parts.

Ok, I will go try this out.

Sure enough, the popping sound is coming from the right hand side, where the cv boot is ripped. Sounds to me like a cv joint. Darn it. How long before I HAVE to have this replaced? Is it an emergent issue or can it wait awhile?

[J.McDonald Knives]

ASAP!!

Ah man, don't tell me that! I just spent over $500 at my mechanic this past week. GAH!!

[J.McDonald Knives]

Would you like to be able to drive it on it and then have to replace more stuff later or replace it now and be done with it for a lot longer.

True, true. Well, guess I'll see what it's going to cost to replace the boot vs the whole axle and boot. We're pretty broke right now...

[J.McDonald Knives]

If its clicking then its past repair and will need a new axle. The reason why it clicks is because the ball bearings are gone.

Ok, so where's the best place to buy a remanufactured axle? Definitely NOT the dealer. I hate dealers with a passion.

[J.McDonald Knives]

I would suggest spending the money for OEM axles if you go that route. I have an aftermarket axle from NAPA and it makes noise, clicks in the spline, and does some other funny crap.

^^^^^^+1

Go with OEM.

Argh that's aggravating. Will have to see if I can find one.

[J.McDonald Knives]

Call the dealership. The one in San Antonio always gives me list price and not sale price so I get stuff cheaper.

I've never had good luck with prices here at dealerships for ANY cars/trucks that I've had.

[Mikey97D]

Just tell your mechanic you want an OEM axle. Let them get the part from the dealer and then you don't need to deal with them.

My dad said he would help my husband put the axle in...so there's alot less money in labor costs lol. Gonna search around here for a good remanufactured axle.

[Mikey97D]

uugghh, your gonna dislike that reman. axle. Mine drives me nuts.

Why, what's it do or should I say doesn't do?

[Grafton]

my reman works fine...

How much did your reman cost and where did you get it?

[Huffer]

I bought two axles from ebay for $100 shipped...

[Airgne]

hansonmotors.com has brand new OEM cv halfshaft for around 300.

[track8]

I've used both OEM reman's and NAPA reman's on my Subies, and they both work fine so far. Just did the NAPA ones this spring so, we'll see how they are in a year or two.

I've had good results in the past with NAPA CV's on non-Subaru vehicles also, FWIW.

As with anything in life, your results may vary.

[1-3-2-4]

ASAP!!

Agree.. I did not do so and I had the CV fall apart just after making a turn.. it was also a Automatic and so it would grind when putting it in park.

Yeah, there's an ebay seller selling a pair of front axles for 112 shipped. I just have to save the money....we're broke as of this moment.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v663/nikbait/000_0103.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v663/nikbait/000_0104.jpg
That's the left side, I took the car to Meineke...they said it was the rack and pinion that is bad, are these boots the rack and pinion?
They showed me the CV joints, the boots are good on both sides, but there are two boots towards the inside of the axle that are both torn....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v663/nikbait/000_0100.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v663/nikbait/000_0102.jpg

[1-3-2-4]

Yes that is the rack and pinion boots I've never had any Subaru's that had them tear but I bet it's a PITA to replace :-/

[decke48]

the boots are $28 each and you need to take off the outer tie rod to pull the boot off.

I'm taking the car in wednesday to have everything that I can think of looked at, we'll see what they say.

Turns out that the right front wheel hub/bearings are bad. SOOO, guess we will have to have that fixed before an alignment is done. They said the boots are no big deal, to just wait until the tie rods are bad then replace them.

[Huffer]

Hang on, the boots will help prevent things from going bad...so replace the boots and enjoy a less expensive repair.

yeah, but the guy said it could be only a matter of time before those tie rods go, we dont know how long the boots have been that way.

[J.McDonald Knives]

yeah, but the guy said it could be only a matter of time before those tie rods go, we dont know how long the boots have been that way.Half of the mechanics don't know what they are talking about when it comes to Subarus. Sounds like your mechanic is just trying to pull a sheet over your head so that he can make more money off of you. You come here asking for help from us and you still want to listen to your mechanic instead of us when we combined know everything there is to know about our cars. If you don't want to listen to our advise and instead go with a shotty mechanic then go right ahead but don't come back to us when other things start to break down for not listening to us and still using the same mechanic. It was even suggested that you find a different mechanic, one who knows his head from his ass when it comes to Subarus including the older generations like ours. Sorry if I hurt your feelings but I'm just trying to bluntly put it to keep you from getting screwed worse than a gay sex offender in prison.

I DID take it to another mechanic! RIght now, we're broke. We may not even be able to have this fixed right now. I'm trying to go about it the best way possible for us right now. Another $80 on top of the $415 we'd have to pay to get the hub and bearings fixed, and to fix the boots right now is just not possible. We still have not had money to pay off our mechanic that did the struts....I'm just so frustrated.

[J.McDonald Knives]

We have all been there before. You may have to take out a loan to get the repairs done.

[decke48]

$415 to do one wheel bearing? or are they doing both? geez i only charge $200 to do one front wheel bearing thats at $70 a hour at book time

The $415 is to do the front right wheel bearing, the hub and the parts and four wheel alignment. To fix the boots he said would be about another $80.

[Huffer]

Definitely don't take out a loan to have the repairs done... try to get as much of the repair work done at a quality mechanic - preferably someone who has worked on Subarus.

It sounds like you bought a bit of a lemon, with all this work being needed.

If you're broke, check out the links in my signature. You may find some hope there. :)

Well, we have no clue who owned this car before we bought it, and instead of doing my homework like I usually do, we were in a bit of a rush and so we bought it. However, I do believe once we get these little things done, things will be fine.

[LegacyRob]

I'm on your side, if the boots have been ripped for a while then I'd wait till the inner rod ends go and do it all at once. Just remember that you will have to get it alignment after doing the rod ends. You don't want to have to pay for 2 alignments.