[jcgss77]

My 2001 Esteem 1.8l has a knocking when I steer, brake, and accelerate. So I looked under, and both the cv joint boots are greasy/oily, so I have decided it is time to replace the cv shafts. I have been looking for youtube videos of someone else who may have done this and recorded it, but to no avail. I did a search, and tried the link to jim_naisium's guide, but it seems it is no longer hosted anywhere.

I am really just looking for info as to what I can expect. Any info/tips/tricks are appreciated! Thank you!

Forgot to mention that my car is an automatic.

 

[jim_naisium]

Hi,

Yes I severed ties with Comcast and unfortunately my website went with it I am hoping to re-host it somewhere else when I have time to do some major updates to it.

Here is what you have to do to get the axles out...

While the car is still on the ground with full weight on the wheels and the parking brake on brake the big nuts loose that are on the end of the front axles, I believe they are something like 32mm.

Jack the car up and remove the wheels, then the brakes, leave the steering tie rod connected, remove all of the bolts that hold the bottom of the strut assembly to the big metal plate that the axle goes through, you will probably need a 1/2 drive breaker bar to get them loose.

Once all that is loose the entire thing should slide right off the end of the axle, you shouldn't need to brake the steering tie rod loose.

Put the widest drain pan you can find under the transmission where the axles go into it, with a long skinny pry bar stick it between the axle and the transmission housing, your goal is to compress a large C clip back into a groove on the end of the axle and then the axle will pop right out of the transmission along with enough tranny fluid to make a mess.

Putting it back together is pretty much the reverse of taking it apart. its just time and patience.

 

[Cristos69]

CV replacement season!

I will be as informative as possible for others.

Found a free and complete 395 page Baleno repair manual, though for this specific proceedure is not detailed enough.
Free Suzuki Esteem, Baleno, SY413 SY416 SY418 Service Manual - pdftown.com

These pages were helpful too.
How to disassemle CV joint - Fixya

Suzuki Esteem cv axle replacement Problems & Solutions - Fixya

Already bought replacements assemblies for both sides. Boots are riped on both and the right side is noisey enough to worry me and fix it.

Car is jacked; wheel and calipers out of the way; got 32mm nut off easy enough; removed other bolts keeping it in place; even pulled out most of the old assembly.

PROBLEM:
1. Cannot release the rod from the rotor/ bearing hub. Lots of WD-40 and hammer hits with no movement. Is there a clip to pursuade or a rod press I need to purchase?

2. The diferential boot pulled away. Now the tripod gear shaft is still in the transmission. My replacement assembly has a new one to go in the trans. What is the best way to remove it without ruining an O-ring or another seal. Dont want to do this again if I see a leak 1 week latrer.

 

[jim_naisium]

Once you have all of the bolts from the lower A-arm and the strut removed the entire assembly should just slide right off of the end of the axle, if WD-40 doesn't work to free it try "PB-Blaster" and let it soak a few hours then try again, you can try a bigger hammer too I have a 4 pound ball-pien that is good for things like this.

Once the axle is free and just hanging from the transmission all you need to do to get it out is stick a pry bar between the axle and the transmission and pull really hard and the axle will pop right out, enough tranny fluid will come out to make a big mess so have a drain pan under it and have some old towels ready.

Your goal on getting the axle out is to force the C-clip on tranny the end of the axle back into the groove that it sits in, once its pressed in deep enough the axle will pop right out.

 

[Cristos69]

Thank you Jim for the assurance.

Only working the passanger side now. Pulled the tripod out of the transmission fine without the boot attached. The driver side has the clip in the tranny.

WOW, that tie rod is definitely stuck in the wheel assembly. Took it to O'Reilly Auto and the guy put a tie rod press on it AND used a electric impact driver with no movement!

Next gotta use a more powerful air tool or hydrolic press at a shop :c(.

 

[jim_naisium]

Oh, did you mean the drive axle was stuck in the housing or the steering tie rod?

If you meant the steering tie rod yes they can get stuck especially if someone torqued them on well beyond specifications, something that may get it off is a pickle fork and a 4 pound hammer but you will need to bolt it back into the car so that it cannot move while you are pounding on it.

But yeah, your best bet at this point is a hydraulic press, any machine shop in town will have one and may not even charge you for it.

The machine shop that I work in we had a pulley stuck to an inch wide drive shaft, in the end it took an oxy/acetylene torch and 4,000 pounds of hydraulic pressure (at the same time) to break it free of the shaft.

 

[jcgss77]

Here is an update to my repair. Thank you jim_naisium and Christos69 for all the information!

I completed the driver side cv shaft with no problems. After consultation with my father (who has been my mentor since I was 16 as we have always repaired our own cars) he suggested to me to not remove the bolts from the strut to the hub assembly, as that will then throw off the alignment on the car. Here is what I did:

-remove the hubcap & wheel

-remove the axle nut-it is 30mm. I loaned one from O'Reilly, and it fit perfectly. It was not hard at all to get off. Which concerned me, as this is the only thing keeping your wheel from coming off.

-remove the 2 bolts from the back of the brake pad assembly which bolts onto the hub assembly and then remove the brake pad assembly from the rotor. I placed onto the control arm to keep as much stress as possible from the brake line.

-remove the tierod end by straightening out the cotter pin which is in the castle nut on the bottom of the tierod and pullingit out, then remove the castle nut, and you remove the tierod by hammering on the metal part which attaches to the hub assembly. BE SURE NOT TO HIT THE TIEROD IN ANY WAY!!!! This joint is simply force-held, and if you are pulling up on the tierod while you hit down on the metal part, it will pop out quite easily.

-Remove the bolt which tightens the ball joint onto the hub assembly, and carefully tap it out with a hammer, taking care not to mushroom the bottom of the bolt. I then tapped the control arm down to "loosen" the ball joint, and simply pushed down on the control arm to drop it down from the hub assembly. This can be very difficult, or very easy. Just be careful to not damage your ball joint. Once it is down enough, the hub assembly will become flexible as the strut will allow enough play to remove the cv shaft.

-get under the car and observe the amount of free play in the inboard(transmission) cv joint. You will see it move about 1/16" in and out, and that will be it. Pay attention to how the shaft is in the transmission, as if it is not in all the way, you can be going fine until it slips out, and then you will have a running, not moving vehicle.

-Carefully use a prybar to pry between the transmission housing and cv shaft. Mine popped out quite easily, and voila! I was now holding my see-through cv shaft!

-When re-installing the new cv shaft, you may have to rotate it slightly to get it to seat in properly. I had to do this until I got a quite satisfying "clunk!" that told me I had success.

-now just re-do everything you un-did in the exact same order. A note on the ball joint-it comes out and goes back in easiest with the wheels facing straight ahead. I could not maneuver this part of the operation in any other direction.

-I was told that the torque spec for the axle nut is 54.8 ft/lbs. I torqued it to 100 ft/lbs. and then bent the flared end of the new axle nut. You will know what I am talking about once you do this.

I could not remove my passenger side. You cannot pry this off, you actually have to either hit it off or be able to pull it off. I could do neither, as I did not have the tools necessary to get the car high enough off the ground to get a good enough swing to hit the old cv shaft off. Which didn't hurt too bad, as my mechanic only charged me $40 to do it. I will be investing in better jacks in the future. After completing this repair, I found the steering is much more responsive and easier to turn the wheel. Just to note, my mechanic torqued the axle nut to 200 ft/lbs.

 

[Cristos69]

Hey jcgss77,

This thread will be the shortest and most helpful I found and for others to come. I was mostly on my own other than web search/responses. All in all it took a week to finally drive my car again!

I will add as a final, what not to do. I did a few things that added a extra time, money and stress. . .

Decided to replace both lower ball joints assemblies too. Right side had play and both rubber boots were torn. Found an excellent deal from a USA company Detroit Axle - Wheel Hub and Bearings, Rack and Pinion items in Detroit Axle store on eBay!. Another special order part that took 3 days to come in.

Both tie rods were very stuck. I eventually gave it one more attempt by torching the surrounding metal for 5-minutes. Then I suspended it off the ground on pallets and repeatedly hit it with my 10# sledge for quite a while. A hydrolic press would have been ideal. I definitely beat up the metal and lug nut threads a bit. Used a 1/4" die grinder to clean up the deformed metal so my wheel would set properly... and cleaned up the threads with a tap kit.

Everything seemed snug. I went on a test ride on the highway for 1 exit. All was great until the off ramp turn, YUP the rod was not secured in the transmission by the clip. Pushed it safely off the road myself. Luckily I had an idea what was wrong. After 10-minutes I was able ot get enough careful leverage on the boot to reseat and set the clip in place.

The front end feels snug, quiet and more responsive! :c)

 

[Brit101]

Hey jcgss77,
After 10-minutes I was able ot get enough careful leverage on the boot to reseat and set the clip in place.

A most impressive on road repair Christos69. Pushed and reinstall.

When it came time to change my driveshafts I used an impact chisel with a blunt tip to drive the shaft from the hub/knuckle, it was necessary as no other means worked.

Prime Choice Auto Parts has the same deal for control arms/balljoint assembly( both for $74.99), with free delivery. I like their ceramic brake pads, wears the rotor more than semi metallics but less servicing and with their pricing I do not mind much. Prime Choice Auto Parts is in Canada and the U.S.A.

If you live in a corrosive environment the sway bar link is worth having on hand as it may be too rusted to remove without breakage, when changing the control arm.

 

[jcgss77]

If you live in a corrosive environment the sway bar link is worth having on hand as it may be too rusted to remove without breakage, when changing the control arm.

I may be mistaken, but wasn't that the part which was recalled a few years ago?

 

[Brit101]

I may be mistaken, but wasn't that the part which was recalled a few years ago?

The part that had/has the recall is the subframe.

 

[Cristos69]

Arrrrrrg!

Just had my car towed because the clip failed again on a dangerous exit ramp, so my friend could not help this time.

Other than widening the clip and shoving it in hard and making certain it stays again.... WHAT else can I do to feel confident about it staying in? These assemblies really should have a second safty mechanism to prevent this.

 

[jcgss77]

I am sorry to come back to this so late, but if you are still having the problem, you likely have one of 2 issues-either:

-The halfshaft is not going in completely. You remedy this by removing the shaft from the transmission and rotate it slightly and pop it back in. The "pop" is the important part.

-The halfshaft is faulty. If the above fix doesn't work, then I would bring it back and try a new one.

And, as an update, I actually torqued the axle nuts to 200ft/lbs. I started at 50ft/lbs, but didn't feel confident, I wanted to make sure they weren't coming off.

 

[jim_naisium]

Sorry I'm late getting back to this too, did you ever get this resolved?

The only two things that I can thing of were that the axle is bad or the groove in the transmission's output gear that the ring snaps into is worn out/broken.

 

[dkobayas]

I just did this today on my 1998 Esteem wagon. Following Jim's instructions worked perfectly for me. Both outer CV boots were cracked so it was a messy job since grease had sprayed out everywhere. I found that popping the axles out of the transmission required just the right kind of prying instrument (ended up using one of those mini lug wrenches that has a hubcap pryer on the tip) and just a little tap of hammer and they were free. But brute force pulling or wedging a screwdriver or pickle fork in wrong spots was just an exercise in futility. I mistakenly thought rotors need to come off but they don't. And if you have ABS sensors be careful of the wire, might undo one clamp to give free play. Remember to loosen hub nut and lugs before jacking. (doh!)
Total cost ~$140 after core exchange and loaner 30mm hub socket from O'Reilly. Thanks all for this great thread!