I have had this rapid clicking noise when I turn my wheel and either go in reverse, turn or on a hill.. driving straight no issues.. I have brought it to a mechanic to diagnose.. He told me me my outer cv boot (which is what i suspected) is not torn at all nor is my inner boots.. Says the don't go bad unless they tear first.. He said not to worry about it...

My lower control arm bushings seems to be ok from my inspection..


Im going to be putting new struts on within the next week.. waiting on parts..

1. Would it be worth putting a new drivers side cv axle assembly on in the process? (id rather a new one than just a boot rebuild kit)

2. I notice the prices are all over the place for one.. as low as 50.00 as high as 600.00 oem..

what do you guys think.....

 

Check Rockauto.com and buy one from them for less than $100....Be very careful....make sure the clip is seated in the transaxle.

 

the part number is:

43420-48042 SHAFT ASSY, FRONT DRIVE, LH

the cheapest OE price was 664.50

I see a ton of new non OEM parts ranging from 70-150...

I also see a few remanufactured ones pretty cheap...


I know a lot on this board are OE or bust, but in this situation would you guys pony up the money for the OE, a non OE, or remanufactured?

thanks..

 

I recommend OE for sensors and plugs.

Next if the Original gave you plenty of miles and you want to keep the vehicle for a while then it is worth the extra price. Also the OE comes with sure fit guaranty and that has a lot of value for me as a DIYer. Best part is that I can save on labor and diverts/save money that would have gone to the mechanic.

Reason I dont recommend aftermarket or refurbished is that I dont know how well they are built or serviced. With lifetime warranty and you do your own labor, then it would be viable choice ... specially if the store is local. If your mechanic is going ti install it then get his opinion on the issue too.

Salim

 

i've had my mix of luck with refurbished axles. I've had good ones that i've put on a ton of miles, and others that leaked grease after a week from an unseen pinhole in the boot, only for me to do an axle swap again.
The great thing about local refurbed axles are the cost. If you have the option, find any axle from a junkyard or someone throwing away and use it as a core deposit at your local autoparts store. Keep your OEM axle and rebuild it at your own pace.
FWIW, out of the refurbs i tried and used, EMPI brand used the best parts.

 

Taking the passenger side CV axle out of the motor mount bracket is a real PIA. Be prepared for all kind is issues getting it out if you can get it out at all. If you don't under stand what I am talking about I can post some pics

 

Can you elaborate?

Did you take out the wheel side of the shaft and swung away the hub? You are then supposed to remove the bearing lock bolt and the snap ring.

Invest in the service manual if you dont have one.


Salim

 

On a 2001 Lexus passenger side the CV axle passes through a motor mount bracket. Getting the CV axle out of that bracket was really tough and in fact I had to remove the bracket with the CV axle which was a real pain. The motor mount bracket has alignment pins so you can't just remove the bracket from the engine and expect it to slide off, you have to lift it off the alignment pins and with the CV axle installed it is not easy to move. I barely got it done with the engine out of the car and could not imagine how hard it would be with the engine in the car. There is a you tube about a guy who cuts the CV axle in half to get it out but I did not have to go that far. Once I got it out of the car I had to press the axle out of the bracket. When I put it together I greased it and it went right together. Also if you pull it apart that far you should change the seal on the transmission side, I did it and it was easy.

 

Here are pics

 

It could that some thing was going on with your vehicle.

Since I did not remove the shaft from the transmission, I just loosened the coupling hex bolts took the wheel off, separated the spindle joint and pulled off the hub to separate the wheel end of the shaft. Then removed the bearing lock bolt and pulled of the snap ring at the bearing [bearing is the middle support point]. That freed the shaft and I could drop the the coupling end and pulled the shaft out from the engine side.

Salim

 

man... went to my mechanic.. this is the second guy to hear the clicking noise when i turn all the way to the left in forward or reverse to tell me its not the axle, but have no answer to whats causing the clicking noise...

very frustrating...

 

Well, I'm about to do all sorts of uglies to my front end after doing a few uglies to it last summer.

I had/have something similar going on. After swapping out new strut mounts, something like that started going on. The lower strut mount bolts were loose which caused the noise when turning. It usually only happened when the wheel was almost completely turned. I have my suspicions how it happened, but it wasn't for lack of torque-ing to spec.

I also serviced the power steering pump and even after a thorough and painfully long bleed-out, it still took a little while to get all the bubbles out. I could feel that in the steering wheel. Could it be that?

This year I started getting something similar to the loose strut, but not quite as clunky sounding, on the passenger side. I got my neighbor to help turn the wheel and we both decided it was the ball joint (which is thoroughly blown). For the past few months every so often on the driver's side I heard something similar and thought it was my CV axle. However, it has recently gotten worse and now sounds similar to the ball joint on the other side. It's only when turning and only when the wheel is almost completely turned. Up until it started sounded like the passenger side, the driver's side ball joint looked intact. Now I'm noticing some tears but no grease. I suspect all the grease is long dead and the joint worn..

Sooo, the short answer is, if you haven't replaced your bushings, etc. maybe they are all fatigued and worn out even if they still look OK.

There is supposed to be a way to use a crow bar and push/pull/lift on the various components to test for worn-out parts but I'm wimpy, so I went the highly dangerous route of watching the components move while my neighbor turned the wheel.