Blown CV Axle or something else? Help?

[JWD06OBXT]

Did some winter driving yesterday over some mountain passes and the ol' Loyale did great with mild sections that rendered the use of 4 wheel drive. Upon driving home I noticed a slight vibration from the front end. Having just put new studded snow tires on I didn't think anything of it. After a while I began to feel the front end shimmy and sort of pop and clunk when ever I left off the gas. And occasionally when accelerating. I could feel it in my feet and the front end felt like it was shaking intermitantly side to side along with the clunk of the tire as if i ran over something. Ill inspect the CV tonight and see if there is play when off the ground but just curious if anyone has any other ideas of where to look. I did also notice when putting the snow tires on that the driver side, which is the side of question had alot of play when tightening down the lugs while the car was in the air, as the passanger side which has had the CV replaced in the past two years had no movement when putting the new tire on. The car drives fine other than that and even this morning I could not get it to replicate the jarring and popping upon letting off the gas, only vibrations at hwy speeds and acceleration.

 

any info is appreciated

 

Thanks

[DaveT]

Look for loose axle nut, loose brake caliper, bad wheel bearing , bad cvj.

[JWD06OBXT]

Look for loose axle nut, loose brake caliper, bad wheel bearing , bad cvj.

 Thanks for the reply, i'll look over all those things tonight when I get a chance.

[JWD06OBXT]

Okay so after taking off the tire and inspecting to make sure everything is tight I found the driveside hub was able to rotate with the twist of my hand. the whole front end is in the air and I'm able to spin the hub and axle. Is this normal. Also there is some play moving the CV axle horizontally not to much but it moves a bit.

 

Any help is appreciated

 

Thanks

[DaveT]

Both wheels off the ground, parking brake released, turn 1 wheel, the other will turn the opposite direction. 

 

The CV axle play - how do you mean?  What part are you pulling / pushing / what direction relative to some other parts?

[JWD06OBXT]

Both wheels off the ground, parking brake released, turn 1 wheel, the other will turn the opposite direction. 

 

The CV axle play - how do you mean?  What part are you pulling / pushing / what direction relative to some other parts?

The axle play appears to be the same for both. With movement towards the center of the car. Upon lifting the front up and starting the car, only one wheel wants to move when in 1st gear. Brakes appear to be locked up on the passenger side, as the wheel barely moves or does not move at all when given gas. I havent noticed any noise prior when driving so I'm not sure why the wheel is not turning. When on the throttle. 

 

When off the ground and I turn the wheel that will move the other side does not move at all due to i think the brake is stuck.

 

Thanks for the response.

[colemanapp]

check the ebrake on your front wheel thats hard to turn. I've had on side stick. 

You should also look at ball joints and tie rod ends for play. Even sway bar links

[JWD06OBXT]

check the ebrake on your front wheel thats hard to turn. I've had on side stick. 

You should also look at ball joints and tie rod ends for play. Even sway bar links

Okay thanks for the suggestions!

[l75eya]

Ok, number one, leave the car off, wheels in the air (tires still on), no emergency brake, car in neutral. Grab a tire, give it a spin. If you can't turn the wheel, you have a problem. If you can, good.

Next;

Sit in front of one wheel, grab it with both hands, one at 3 o clock, one at 9 o clock.

Now push with one hand as you pull with the other, gently. Do that Back and forth (alternating push/pull hands). Do this in a fashion that you're not using enough force to actually make the wheel turn, but do it firmly. There should be no rocking, no play.

 

Do the same thing again but with your hands at 6 and 12o clock. (Be mindful for the brief time your fingers are underneath that tire though)

Once again there should be no play.

[XHighOctanex]

If it feels like it's pulling in one direction my car did the exact thing and slowly got worse. I learned when it was too late the side it was pulling too was the stronger cv axle. Learned it when the left side finally blew out on me and had to drive home in 4wd. Car shakes maybe not too violent but violent enough on deceleration starts out almost as if it's warped rotors? Slowly gets worse, maybe will even turn the wheel at around 1-8mph coasting? CV axle opposite the side it's pulling. At least from what I experienced.

[JWD06OBXT]

If it feels like it's pulling in one direction my car did the exact thing and slowly got worse. I learned when it was too late the side it was pulling too was the stronger cv axle. Learned it when the left side finally blew out on me and had to drive home in 4wd. Car shakes maybe not too violent but violent enough on deceleration starts out almost as if it's warped rotors? Slowly gets worse, maybe will even turn the wheel at around 1-8mph coasting? CV axle opposite the side it's pulling. At least from what I experienced.

 

I'm not feeling any pulling at all. It's getting worse as I am not feeling a constant vibration when driving. It appears that I only get the thud, clunk and shimmying of the front end when carrying passengers. It almost feels weight dependent. And the thumping and bouncing of the front end happens in nearly the same cycle and rhythm every time it does it upon deceleration. Mind that it does not happen every time. 

 

To me when it does happen the best way I can describe the thumping and shaking and oscillating is the spinning of a top that is not balanced. It feels as if when decelerating the rotation is thrown off balance for a split second which gives me shaking and thumping feeling as if i ran something over. Then when accelerating again it goes back into a normal spin. 

 

Tire related??? 

[JWD06OBXT]

Ok, number one, leave the car off, wheels in the air (tires still on), no emergency brake, car in neutral. Grab a tire, give it a spin. If you can't turn the wheel, you have a problem. If you can, good.

Next;

Sit in front of one wheel, grab it with both hands, one at 3 o clock, one at 9 o clock.

Now push with one hand as you pull with the other, gently. Do that Back and forth (alternating push/pull hands). Do this in a fashion that you're not using enough force to actually make the wheel turn, but do it firmly. There should be no rocking, no play.

 

Do the same thing again but with your hands at 6 and 12o clock. (Be mindful for the brief time your fingers are underneath that tire though)

Once again there should be no play.

Thanks Ill give it a shot!

 

Do you mean sit in front and grab the wheel by the side walls (Perpendicular to the CV Axle) and push and pull side to side rather than spinning the tire from the outside of the fender. When I got under the car the other day and had it in the air I yanked on the cv's side to side pretty hard and both had a small even amount of play between them.

[DaveT]

When you say it does the thumping on deceleration. ... This happened to one of mine - might be worth checking...

 

The pinion shaft bearings failed in one of my wagons. Any engine braking would cause the pinion to move forward and hit the diffential carrier. Horrific sound and shuddering. It happened to the car my wife drove. Unknown to me, the gear lube had leaked out of the differential case, and ran dry for quite a while. Amazingly, these things can run low on gear oil and not get noisy enough to notice until too late.

 

I drive it home when it had gotten so bad she finally told me something was wrong.... it drove fine under load, or acceleration. But engine braking was bad. Had to keep my foot on the gas while slowing to a stop to prevent the banging.

[JWD06OBXT]

Good to 

 

When you say it does the thumping on deceleration. ... This happened to one of mine - might be worth checking...

The pinion shaft bearings failed in one of my wagons. Any engine braking would cause the pinion to move forward and hit the diffential carrier. Horrific sound and shuddering. It happened to the car my wife drove. Unknown to me, the gear lube had leaked out of the differential case, and ran dry for quite a while. Amazingly, these things can run low on gear oil and not get noisy enough to notice until too late.

I drive it home when it had gotten so bad she finally told me something was wrong.... it drove fine under load, or acceleration. But engine braking was bad. Had to keep my foot on the gas while slowing to a stop to prevent the banging.

Good to know. I'm just super stumped by this cause its so inconsistent. I drove it last weekend about an hour up a local mountain pass and it did it off and on the whole way there. But coming back it didn't do it a single time. The next day I did the same drive and it did it all the way there off and on and all the way back. I drained and replaced both front and rear differential oil last week and still experiencing same symptoms. It's so inconsistent it sucks. Gonna inspect the tires and rotate tonight along with check out the E-Brake as I believe it is sticking on one side.

 

Thanks for the info!

[DaveT]

Inconsistent makes me think more towards cvj. A really bad one. At this point, it's cvj, bearing, brake related, I would just pick a side, go through it all, then do the other.

[JWD06OBXT]

My original thought was CV and the brakes. However there is very little play side to side with the CV's when the front end is up. And none of the boots are torn on both axles.  Is it possible to feel it the wheel bearing is shot without taking the hub off?

[JWD06OBXT]

Inconsistent makes me think more towards cvj. A really bad one. At this point, it's cvj, bearing, brake related, I would just pick a side, go through it all, then do the other.

My original thought was CV and the brakes. However there is very little play side to side with the CV's when the front end is up. And none of the boots are torn on both axles.  Is it possible to feel it the wheel bearing is shot without taking the hub off?

[DaveT]

The one cj I let go really bad before swapping never showed play. It did have a torn boot, and dirt had gotten into it. It was already clicking intermittently, and I didn't have time to get at it right away. It eventually began to cause shimmy and shake the steering, making noise etc. Swapped it out, gone.

 

If the bearings are so bad they are causing your trouble, you should be able to wiggle the wheels and see them shift around in ways they shouldn't. You might have to remove the caliper to free things up though. It is often difficult to apply forces equivalent to those caused by normal operation by hand with the car in the air.

[JWD06OBXT]

The one cj I let go really bad before swapping never showed play. It did have a torn boot, and dirt had gotten into it. It was already clicking intermittently, and I didn't have time to get at it right away. It eventually began to cause shimmy and shake the steering, making noise etc. Swapped it out, gone.

 

If the bearings are so bad they are causing your trouble, you should be able to wiggle the wheels and see them shift around in ways they shouldn't. You might have to remove the caliper to free things up though. It is often difficult to apply forces equivalent to those caused by normal operation by hand with the car in the air.

Awesome! Thanks for all the info. Ill tear into it the next couple days and see if I can find anything weird going on. I'm not experiencing any clicking as of right now. And I know one of the CV had been replaced before I purchased the car within the last two years. 

 

Thanks