So I decided to do a little maintenance on my brakes before the winter period. I said to myself why not paint the calipers red? Not only will it make them last longer because I had to sand all the rust off, it also looks kinda cool, kinda tacky (I wish I had real brembo red) but lets have fun. Passenger wheel went good. But when I was bleeding my driver side, i saw this:




2 years ago, I turned off VSA to drag against a friend and right on start my CV axle broke in half. I'm not sure if in this case the structural integrity of the axle is compromised, but lately i've been having a little fun with the car, again with VSA off and so far nothing. I touched the part where it looks broken and little chards of rust are falling off.

I'm a little tight on cash right now and cannot afford purchasing the part even if i'll do the repair myself, but how long do you guys think I have? days? weeks? months?

 

nobody? really?

 

What is your cholesterol and sugar level?

As far as your car goes I think it can last forever as long as you do not drive it.

 

Hmmm, yes, i'm sure if you leave a car alone without driving it, it will last longer. I put my money on drive it or it'll rust up to death.

What I wanted to know is i dont have the internal composition of the axel. As far as I know, it can be some kind of isolation that hardened up but the metal frame is untouched. As I mentioned, I pushed the car a lot lately and it still drives, so my guess goes to show I might be one some path of truth. Maybe the picture just looks worse than it is. And thats the reason for reaching out...not asked about stupid stuff only somebody, well i'll let you complete the phrase

 

Googling would have been helpful, the part is the axle and the failed part is a rubber boot packed with grease that should protect the CV (constant Velocity) joint. It's now missing and the joint is rusting.

Sooner or later the CV joint will fail. The axle will then come out of the CV joint. You now have a steel shaft that is oh say 30" long (more or less) failing around under your car at either the RPM of the tire (Inner joint failure) or the RPM of the output of the transmission (outer joint failure)
What will that failing do?
It could do any or all of the following:

Destroy the oil pan
Destroy the entire engine (hole in the block)
Destroy the transmission
Destroy the rack and pinion
Tear a fuel line and start a fire
drop down and catch in the pavement which vaults the car


If a CV joint comes apart at speed, it is very damn serious.

Owning a car is a responsibility. If you can afford to fill it up and drive spiritedly, you should have enough money to keep it in running condition.

 

Thank you for your response. I did, as I always do, research before posting and expecting a free answer right away. The only problem is there were many types of components at the exact same spot dependant on the model, and I didnt know if it were the boot, the balls, the this or that, So I asked. And thank you for confirming what i said previously. Serious, but not critical, as in i've got days, if not hours of driving time. Rust is like cholesterol, it takes years and I have always sprayed some WD40 plus other rustproof agents every tire change and break change...even it it looks like rust, its mostly dirt and I can scrape it off easy with a credit card.

As for the judgement call, please refrain from making such stupid assumptions that I cannot afford a car. Who are you to teach me anything in life? I'm closing 30 and I bought this car 17 000$ 5 years ago, paid 12 000$ cash and the rest I was strongly suggested to take a monthly payment for at least 2 years in order to make my credit score better and add to my already great credit situation and the creditor would warranty the car for the duration of the payment plan. And so you know and think about what you're saying and to whom, I just made a cashdown on a house with my future wife. So even 200$ will be a little tight for about a month or 2 until the next commission check comes in.

 

That looks to me like a vibration damper on the axle not the cv joint. Seems odd to be rusting there. The rust does look pretty advanced though and the shaft is compromised.

 

We have a winner! Dynamic Damper
Looks like you can drive it without any problems as the axle won't come apart.

 

Thanks guys.

Can you just confirm that this is what I have to replace?

2005 Acura TL First Equipment Quality Cv Axle Assembly in Canada - AutoPartsWAY.ca

Also is there anything i have to purchase with that for the repair? Some special grease, gasket or what not?

 

Not loose, just let it go. If you purchase an aftermarket axle assembly chances are it won't come with the damper, so if the damper is tight as stated before just let it be. To replace the damper ($18 list) the axle needs to be split so labor is not your friend, but if the clamp becomes loose or broken you can replace just that part with an aftermarket clamp.

 

After zooming in to your picture some more, it does look like what appeared to be cracking is just the paint flaking off the axle. Like turbonut mentions you can probably just let it be or maybe cut it off as it is rubber. That may introduce some slight vibration but I'm thinking doubtful

 

Hey guys, i just wanted to keep you posted. My axle cracked in half today on my way to work. I was lucky in my disluck because i was at a red light and applied gas, the car managed to shift into 2nd and CRACKED right there. I had just enough momentum to drive into the parking lot of a small plaza where there was a mechanic garage. We pushed the car on the lift, I showed him the picture and he also thought it was only a damper, but when examining the car, the axle was broke clean in half. He ordered the part and got it repair the same day, total cost was 315$ Canadian.

It sucks because I just ordered the complete axle 2 days ago, i was able to cancel the order but i would have saved close to 200$ on labor.

 

Wow that stinks. Glad it happened at slow speed and apparently in a good spot. Guess my first inclination that the axle may be compromised was right although still kinda surprised

 

The guy was very surprised also. He said the axles on the TLs are some of the toughest in the business. It was the first time he saw it. He also said the rust was not the same...werdly the unprotected parts were the least rusted while parts that were supposed to be protected were almost eaten through. I should have taken a picture of the axle while the car was jacked

 

Rust is slow but the damage it does to important components is not. The Axles undergo a lot of forces and vibrations, any sort of stress fracture, rust or degraded strength is bound to lead to a failure.

Nowhere did I state that you can't afford your car. I simply stated that you should have done the maintenance rather than ask how much longer you could wait until it fails. Failing parts cost people lives. If your failure had happened on the highway it could have hurt your family or others.

I could care less what you financial situation is, your age, demographic, etc. Endangering others because you want to be cheap and not replace important, clearly failing parts is where I have an issue.

FYI, Betterment.com has great advice. I'm surprised you don't have at least one month of cushion liquid in the event of an emergency. You should have at least 3 months once you get your house, new central air is around 2-12K depending on the size of your home. I'm not here to insult you, just to help.

I'm glad you got it replaced but sorry you had to pay more money than you wanted. Preventative is always cheaper than reactionary.

 

This is the reason of my entire thread! There is a reason why its called how much time do i got. I knew I had a big spending coming up and I rather not use money on something that could wait a few weeks. But when push comes to shove, i had no choice but to spend double to keep the car running. There is a difference between selective spending and living paycheck by paycheck.
Anyways, thanks all for the advise. I usually do all my maintenance and check the underside of my car every 2-3 months for any looseness in the parts. I changed my motor mounts 2 months ago and this was not visible at all. I'm just so surprised that in 60 days, it failed catastrophically.

 

OP I don't think you understand csmeance's advice..


Let me sum it up for you:

"Rather than spend the time to post a thread asking how much time you had, it was highly suggested that you fix the part immediately." Looked like the part was living on borrowed time already.

You took a risk this time and paid very minimally in the grand scheme of things.. It could have been significantly worse. "Selective spending"?! I'd like to think 'a good functional car' would have been on that list.


You "posted a thread" asking for advice. Some of the members on here give GREAT advice.. You can't go and then chastise them for it.

 

I was asking for technical advise...not financial. And I gave credit where credit was due.

Case closed.

Thank you to all.