tomjensen

I'll try to be brief but, it's never been a strong point. I bought a 93 Lexus es300 (automatic) a few years back from a mechanic who had done a top end job. The engine ran great until it needed a fuel injector but it never seemed to have much power for a 6 cylinder. I thought it was a 4 banger. Recently, I was at a stop sign and when I accelerated, I heard a clunk and the car took off and drove fine for a few days until it happened again and did the same thing. I tried driving it to the shop but the engine would rev to about 3500 to 4000 and I was going about 20 mph. I limped it home into the garage. It felt like the tranny was slipping. I may have been wrong in my assessment but after a few estimates, I decided to do the job myself. I located a transaxle in a junk yard for $375. I've gotten to the point where just about everything was loose from the engine except for the drive axle. The book and manual said I should be able to pop the axle from the drivers side with a large screwdriver or crow bar. No luck so I removed the eight bolts that hold the inner barring assembly together and it slid right out. So I go to the passenger side and there is no way that I can get a tool onto the snap ring that holds the barring that supports the middle of the shaft in place so I take out the 8 bolts on that side. When I separate the shaft from the housing, ball barrings and the race fall out. Is this normal or should the barring, race and ***** all be attached to the shaft? Could this have been my problem all along? From what I can see, there are no gouges in anything and there seems to be no broken parts other than it falling apart. Any help would be appreciated.

nine3es

iTrader: (3)

sounds like the cv axle shaft was the problem you described. mine just snapped at a redlight a few months back and i changed both, its doing fine now but i couldnt drive anywhere when it happened, had to tow it.

tomjensen

Thanks, I'm at the point where I may as well pull the engine and clean everything up. I have a steering leak somewhere and the engine is filthy. The problem is that this is my daily driver so time is a factor.

yeldogt

You must have pulled the CV joint apart -- the ends can and do stick into the hubs.


The shaft could not have been your problem if the car ever moved after you had the high rpm incident.

If you snapped both of the shafts -- the car would never move again.


I admire your wrench gusto -- to take on such a job.

tomjensen

Thanks, I did take the CV apart. I'll just clean and repack them. I'm having a hard time getting the driver's side out, though. According to the manual it is supposed to pop out pretty easily. Since I got the shafts out, it may be easy enough to pull the engine, separate the transaxle and let a trans shop take them out. I'm a little reluctant to try to rebuild the transmission myself. If I had a workbench and the tools, I might attempt it but it's a job, I'm sure. I have no choice but to save money. I've been out of work since December. It was wishful thinking that the CV might have been the problem. Thanks.

tomjensen

Update: I am waiting for a transaxle to arrive from San Francisco (http://www.engineworldusa.com/ci.htm). Guaranteed under 50,000 miles. It will be here today. I am a month into and I'm still cleaning parts. The engine compartment had wheel bearing grease and dirt on the drivers side, power steering unit was covered in something, the front has an oil leak somewhere and I don't think it was the valve cover. It looks like it is coming from somewhere around the oil filter. The front of the engine wasn't too bad. The steering components were all covered in dirt and grease. It's clean now. I'm a little behind. I have to order a rear crank seal, exhaust gaskets, oil pan gasket. I think I'm going to rebuild the drive axles. It's just elbow grease and wheel barring grease. This has been more work than I had imagined.