[guzabri]

so im finally getting my GLHS done and i put in a new reman passenger axle from NAPA. I was so happy when i finally backed it out of the shop. I put it in first and let out the clutch and a horrible grinding noise. and the whole car felt like it shook. My smile went to i opened up the hood and looked around and i found the cv joint on the passenger side that went to the straight part of the axle to tranny was pulled out a little bit and the boot was twisted around. Got the new axle today and i might get it in yet today. Pretty sure the cv joint just ripped apart. So did i just get a bad cv joint in my axle? I hope the next one lasts longer than going 100 feet. Anybody having problems like this with reman axles?
Thanks

 

[ol"blue]

Did you check your measurements to make sure that the engine & trans. are centered side to side in the engine compartment ?

 

[guzabri]

no, would that be doing it because i put in another new axle tonight and made it a little farther than last time then the same thing happened. Im getting really frustrated. So what should the measurements be? and how do i take these measurements? That what might be doing it because i dont think i could get two bad axles in a row. Anybody else have any input on what might be doing it because i dont want to waste another 2 hours on something that will break right away. Thanks for any and all help.

 

[ATaylorRacing]

Back when my 11 second GLH turbo needed new axles at 100,000 miles I had them replaced with some "lifetime warranty" ones (had a late nodel automatic)
while the tranny was being rebuilt. The tech snapped one on the lift while slightly power braking it and testing te rebuild....I was there when it happened. I took the axle back and got a replacement....then the other one snapped on a test drive by the mechanic while I rode with him....went back and got another one......then while I dove it the next day I floored it and broke the other side again! I then ordered 2 Chrysler remaned ones for a late model L body 4 dr automatic and they were still dig fine when I sold the car many burnouts and nitrous passes later. The store would not give me my money back, but gave me one to replace the broke one again. I ended up eventually using them in Matchbox with no troubles, but that car dont have but a third of the turbo's power.

 

[guzabri]

so what you are saying is that these actually could just be bad. I hope Napa keeps taking them back for no cost. Should i get the axles from somewhere else or what? And when they break i am just releasing the clutch at a low rpm to make it up our driveway which is a kind of a hill. so its not like im dropping the clutch at a high rpm.

 

[oklamopar]

I use napa axles all the time and never had that problem.
correct length?

 

[guzabri]

yeah we compared the reman axles with the original that we took out and they were the same. There must be something else going on.

 

[ol"blue]

Anytime you R&R the drivetrain in these vehicles, mounting bolt location's should be marked. If not, upon reinstallation the engine/tranny assy. can be moved side to side a little , using the slotted holes in the mounts. The FSM shows the procedure & gives the dimension's for your particular vehicle. This insures that the driveshaft's & CV joint's are within spec's and aren't compressed or stretched apart, which indeed can lead to separation and /or failure of the CV joint. It happened to me before.

 

[guzabri]

i didnt know that i had to mark them and i did put in a new 525/555 hybrid and a new headgasket so im sure the motor got moved around a little bit.

 

[Screamin4banger]

Did you replace the right-side (by timing belt) motor mount?
I've seen people put them in upside down... Makes that side higher.
That will tilt the engine and trans enough to cause some problems.

 

[guzabri]

im pretty sure that i put it back in the right way but I might end up taking it out just to see because i dont want to break another axle. The farthest ive got is like 100 feet and i hope to get thousands of miles on the next one.

 

[speeduphoria]

manual trans cars are harder on axles especially if they are heavy cars. Sloppy or worn motor mounts along with what everyone else said can cause issues.

But if your just driving normally then I would think that the motor is not centered or level causing it to bind.

 

[guzabri]

so should i order some new motormounts from polybushings.com or should i try to adjust the motor a little and see if that works. My dad said we are going to put in the old axle this next time i take it apart to see if it blows that one out also. The old one wasnt broken but it was starting to bind a little bit so we thought we better replace it before it breaks. Ill prolly adjust motor put in old axle and hope it works then put in the new axle and see if that holds.

 

[franklin]

I was going through the papers that came with this van I just bought, and there was a warning sheet that came with a new axle the previous owner had installed. It had a big warning about making sure the engine/tranny was centered in the vehicle. I read it, and what I got out of it was you take the axles loose out at the wheels on both sides, push on the end of the axle inward till it stops, and take a measuring tape and measure from the end of the axle to a reference point on the hub. Youhave to do this for both sides. They said both measurements must be within 1/4".

 

[guzabri]

thanks ill do that im guessing mine are off by more than a 1/4 inch...

 

[Sittn86]

manual trans cars are harder on axles especially if they are heavy cars.

It's a GLHS

 

[guzabri]

heres an update

I got the original axle back in and adjusted the engine. We moved the motor towards the passenger side about 1/4 inch. Got everything together and made it a lot farther then i have before. So far ive put on like 18 miles. This week sometime i will be taking out the original axle and putting in another reman axle. So if the new axle breaks we know that the axle is bad not the position of my motor. The original axle grinded when i moved the joint around by hand before i put it in but it isnt making any noise while moving in the car. Thanks for the help guys.

 

[Wizard]

Correct way is get axle nuts off and push each axle stub in and measure the distrance on each and adjust engine position till you have distrance equal for both axles.

Have to be very certain.

Cheers, Wizard

 

[guzabri]

yeah we adjusted the motor then we pushed them in and they were within an 1/8 inch or less so we thought that it was good enough.

 

[guzabri]

so everything seems fine but when i let out the clutch slowly sometimes in town the whole car seems like its shaking. Is it because the old cv joint is prolly ready to break? could my new clutch be doing helping out in the shaking it too?