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On my way home last night I heard a mechanical clank when shifting from 3rd to 4th, then while leaving a light in first gear I heard a loud metallic snap and then the car was no longer able to motivate itself; like the clutch was permanently disengaged.
I had a look under the car to confirm my suspicion and -
So I'm pretty sure via reading some older threads I've figured out two things that definitely played a role, but there's a third factor that's niggling in my brain.
Things I'm pretty sure played a role:
1. My car spent a decent amount of time prior to my ownership quite low on Function Form coil-overs. General consensus is that the geometry being altered affects the axle. Will mild lowering also strain axles? I just ordered Koni Yellows and H&R Sports for the car.
2. Corrosion near the balancer-thing in the middle of the axle. I saw quite a few threads where others broke axles in pretty much precisely the same spot, and you can see my axle is quite crusty there as well.
Now on to the bit that has me worried:
3. My car has a lightweight flywheel, upgraded ETD, and clutch hydraulics without dampening valves. I've removed many elements of the drivetrain designed to dampen or prevent shock. I do not drive the car hard at all, but I definitely wonder if it had an impact on the axle failing.
For reference, my car has ~245,000km or ~152,000 miles, and I'm pretty sure this is the original axle. I've had the flywheel, etc, in the car since ~230,000km.
The car is currently sitting at my local Acura dealer waiting for an OEM axle.. similarly to when it's cat was stolen last year.
This was what my axle looked like under the rubber vibration damper. Caught it before it broke, being that you're in Canada I'm sure corrosion played a big role. If I ever have to do axles again I will probably go for the APWI instead of spending about $500 for OEM axles.
I had a quick look today on Rockauto.com for APWI axles, but I didn't see any available for MT.
With a decent back order on the oem and the potential for me to break more axles in the future maybe I should try something else?
I just checked for my 2006 6MT; it seems the Right side is available, however, the left side, which is common to both the automatic and manual models is currently out of stock; here is the URL to the 6MT right side axle:
The problem is 100% corrosion. Salty water gets under the rubber by way of "wicking" and stays there because it's protected from any water spray.
As the pic from 860_TypeS shows, the corrosion ultimately reduces the amount of material, thereby reducing the strength. The OEM axles aren't
super hard steel like a performance aftermarket axle. FYI, I have a set of mint (from a California car) axles with 90K miles that I don't need. PM if interested.
A simple way to prevent this failure in the future is to remove the dampers. Due to their small size, they don't have much impact on NVH.
For reference, here are my custom DriveShaft Shop Level 2.9 axles:
Last edited by Euro-R_Spec_TSX; 06-20-2021 at 08:00 PM.
A couple friends had issues with Insane Shafts related to quality control. I would not recommend them.
The DriveShaft Shop on the other hand has a great reputation and excellent customer service. I have no problem recommending them.
Indeed corrosion. Mine failed the same way under the harmonic dampener. APWI axles did not come with a donut ring like that for my replacements. I'm sure someone here with a 6MT will be able to plug a good replacement brand for you.
OP, whatever you do, DON'T get rebuilt axles! Both Paul, our star master mechanic here in Nawth Jerzy, and my best bud from high school who owned an auto parts store for 25 years say to not use them. New replacements are pretty good nowadays and you can get new Cardon axles from rockauto for a few dollars more than rebuilts. I replaced my axels a few years ago with APWI's and haven't had a problem since.
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can you just cut the rubber damper off to help prevent this? does it actually need to be there?
Good question. I would have to assume that since the damper is there on the OEM axles, it does indeed serve a purpose. Even though various aftermarket ones have no damper, and seem to work fine.
However, with how tough that rubber was, I think it would be damn near impossible to remove those cleanly, without removing the axles from the car. I would also assume that those of us in the midwest are in worse shape, considering the water and salt that gets stuck under that damper - leading to faster corrosion than our west coast friends.
Good question. I would have to assume that since the damper is there on the OEM axles, it does indeed serve a purpose. Even though various aftermarket ones have no damper, and seem to work fine.
However, with how tough that rubber was, I think it would be damn near impossible to remove those cleanly, without removing the axles from the car. I would also assume that those of us in the midwest are in worse shape, considering the water and salt that gets stuck under that damper - leading to faster corrosion than our west coast friends.
my TL is low miles less than 50k all original. I live in WI so i was just thinking maybe i could cut them off to help them last longer. but i dont know if that would send noticeable vibrations into the car.
I just checked for my 2006 6MT; it seems the Right side is available, however, the left side, which is common to both the automatic and manual models is currently out of stock; here is the URL to the 6MT right side axle:
Just to confirm what I've read in your post, the left side axle shaft is the same between manual and automatic TLs? For clarity I'm in need of a left axle shaft and my car is a TL-S manual.
As far as OEM axles, the MT axles have a larger diameter shaft than the automatic axles, so they are stronger.
I don't know about actual fitment though, but I would definitely opt for the MT axles.
As far as OEM axles, the MT axles have a larger diameter shaft than the automatic axles, so they are stronger.
I don't know about actual fitment though, but I would definitely opt for the MT axles.
Ah! Thanks for the info. Trying to find precise info on the differences has been difficult.
Originally Posted by sweeT n Lo
I've had GSP axles on my MT for around three years now and I have no complaints.
So I think I've decided to put a GSP axle in my car, perhaps temporarily, or perhaps permanently depending on how it goes.
It seems my Acura dealer fibbed a little bit- they said that there was an ETA on the axle, but now I'm being told it's backordered without ETA, so I could be waiting months. Whole thing is quite stinky.
As far as OEM axles, the MT axles have a larger diameter shaft than the automatic axles, so they are stronger.
I don't know about actual fitment though, but I would definitely opt for the MT axles.
Can you confirm where you got that information? Granted it has been a while since I checked, but if I recall correctly the left side OEM axles for both the automatic have the identical part number.
Can you confirm where you got that information? Granted it has been a while since I checked, but if I recall correctly the left side OEM axles for both the automatic have the identical part number.
there are 2 different axle shafts available for TL-S, one is for auto other for manual. This is for both sides. The spline count may be the same but MT is probably beefed up as it needs to handle more loads vs the AT that can dampen some loads.
Ah! Thanks for the info. Trying to find precise info on the differences has been difficult.
So I think I've decided to put a GSP axle in my car, perhaps temporarily, or perhaps permanently depending on how it goes.
It seems my Acura dealer fibbed a little bit- they said that there was an ETA on the axle, but now I'm being told it's backordered without ETA, so I could be waiting months. Whole thing is quite stinky.
The GSP axles are currently available on Amazon. I would recommend buying an axle that is directly sold by Amazon.com and not from a third party.
Part # NCV36127 - Driver side for AT/MT (Universal)
there are 2 different axle shafts available for TL-S, one is for auto other for manual. This is for both sides. The spline count may be the same but MT is probably beefed up as it needs to handle more loads vs the AT that can dampen some loads.
So, I just went back and checked my notes from 2017 and see all of the 6MT models from 2004-2008 have the exact same following two axles:
DRIVESHAFT ASSY., R. -- 44305-SEP-A02
DRIVESHAFT ASSY., L. -- 44306-SEP-A02
I suppose things have might changed since then, but that is what I recorded about four years ago.
Yes. I had already compiled that chart a while back. I had the spreadsheet open and had been looking at it when I saw this thread, so I figured I'd share.
I had recently encountered a scenario where I was surprised that the 3g TL 6MT right axle was different from 7g Accord V6 6MT.
My car is functional again. I ordered a GSP brand axle from Rockauto and so far all is well. I don't think I've got any vibration from said axle so far but time will tell. Rockautos shipping is heckin' fast. I ordered the part to Canada and it arrived in 2 business days, and I chose the cheapest shipping option.
The GSP brand left front axle that I replaced in this thread is still going strong, and I haven't noticed any sort of vibration or other issues.
The right front axle on my car, however, snapped tonight in precisely the same spot as the left one, likely due to corrosion. If only there was some way I could have seen this coming!
How much mileage did you accumulate before it snapped again?
The left side axle snapped when I originally posted this thread in June 2021. Replaced that with a GSP brand axle from Rockauto which is still working great, zero complaints.
The right side axle snapped this time, it's the original axle as far as I'm aware, car has ~265,000km or ~164,000 miles currently.
Only a 12k (miles) difference is a surprisingly consistent window of failure.... Though it's obvious what the lesson here is
For what it's worth, I killed another one of my replacement axles when I had a lower ball joint failure a year or two ago.... the failure ripped the axle right out of the boot. The original ball joints had damn near 250k miles on them. And I think I might have over-torqued them after I replaced my axles....
If you have a high mileage car, and are going to replace both axles, this would also be a great time to inspect those ball joints and decide if you ought to replace them while you have the wheel knuckle/assembly accessible. There is some banging on those ball joints during this job to remove the joint from the lower control arm, as well as popping them back in, which *could* affect the joints...
06-19-2021, 09:14 PM
