So, what have you guys spent for this repair? Looks like 1000+, no?

 

$880 with a 10% off coupon. It was not fun but it felt like my car had regained some lost power and best of all no vibrations!

 

Just replace the axle, its cheaper....

 

How many miles do you have? My 1993 Accord went 150,000 before needing them. My friend's 1998 Camry is at 120,000 and has never needed them. Another friend has an Accord that is just now needing them at 165,000.

 

CV shafts will last until the boot gets torn and you lose the grease. You should be able to pick these up at a local "Autozone" type store for around $45 each. If you can turn a wrench you can do these yourself in a few hours. If not, it's the labor that drives the price up. I think it is a book time of 3+ hours. Any good tire shop can do these at a reasonable price.

 

thanks for the suggestions, I really don't wanna spend that kinda scratch Acura stores want. I'm good w/ my hands but don't have the time.

 

It takes about 1.5 hours to swap out both sides. The most difficult part is breaking the ball joint loose from the spindle.

 

hey chief,

how many miles do you have on your cl?

 

anyone have a list of parts I'll need?

 

I'm assuming you're talking about the boots. If so, don't bother. Once the boot rips, you're letting in all kinds of road debris, dirt, etc. and there is no point in just replacing the boots.

Chief F1 Fan,

Go to www.acuraautomotiveparts.org, select your car and choose Driveshaft from the list. It give you the list of stuff you may or may not need.

 

Thanks NSX-I'll go there later.


mr5arkle: 97,700, and 3 transmissions later

I'll buy the parts and have a friend of mine who owns a garage do it. I don't feel like getting a#s raped.

 

my accord needed cv's at like 50k my CL is going strong at 80k...so a good preventive maint. suggestion would be to jack the car up and check the boots?

 

My wife's Altima just got two new CV boots at 45K miles. AT least the boots were replaced before the grease spit out and trashed the joints from lack of lube.

Depending on how the car is driven *and* if something tore a boot, they could go bad very early on.

BTW, I'm not dissagreing that they will generally go for a long time, but...


YMMV

 

I'd have to disagree – at lease in part -- on this one. If you can look at them and see how much grease was left in them, there is a very large argument for ONLY replacing the boots if the CV joints are cleaned and examined for wear. IMO, the most important item (outside of pricing) to consider would be: what does the CV joint look like with the boot pulled back and/or removed...

The difference in price for our Altima was huge (boots vs. shafts) and looking at the Acura prices, $225 for a shaft is a lot more than $26 for the inboard boot kit ($26 for 'outboard' side). And, in general, it is the outer boots (same price – hey?) that go do to the increased flexion/travel.

I had to replace two sets of boots on just one car (not the Altima) -- I had it for many years -- and replacing the boots was all that was required for about 200K miles of service.

The condition of the CV joints -- and pricing (as you mentioned) should be factors to consider when deciding what to do. Obviously, if the cost of a new aftermarket or factory axle is < boot repair, why not go for the whole enchilada (as you suggested). In the case of our Altima, there was a HUGE difference in pricing between the cost of the two new axles vs. two boot replacements (I checked a number of vendors and labor and other factors were considered.

YMMV

 

No one replaces boots. It's the exact same job to replace the shaft or the boot. I meant you should be able to get a reman shaft for $45 at a local parts house. If not, contact me. I can get shafts for $45.

 

HuH???????

 

I would disagree. In many cases, it's better to replace the boot if it's caught in time. Remanufactured shafts are a crapshoot and many times don't last. Often, rebooting, cleaning and repacking a shaft you're familiar with will be better than the remanufactured ones.

 

Yeah - I didn't buy that one either.

 

IF you catch it in time. That would be purely luck. When was the last time you crawled under your car to check the boots? I never have and do not know anyone that does. If you were to check them every oil change that's still every 3000 miles or so. How many weeks of driving is that for the average person. It takes very little driving to lose the grease once the boot is damaged. A simple rain storm, (daily in Tampa) or one trip through snow, sludge or ice. Once you lose it, all the road crap starts tearing apart the joint. You would have to disassemble the joints to inspect each journal for wear. There are thousands of reman CV shafts installed daily replacing the OEM shafts that failed. The reman shafts are the OEM units being remanufactured.