1986 GL clicking CV joints...

[LuckyPistol]

Well,

Just when I thought I was going to get out of 2005 without another problem...

 

I suddenly heard a clicking noise when I turned the car either left or right.

(Now, this was after the coldest night this year.) I drove the car all around town, clickk, clickkkty at all turns.

 

Well, this alerted me to cv joints/axle going bad. I was bummed out. I even called parts store for prices. I did search and read quite a few posts here. It was suggested to replace the axle with rebuilt boots on them.....

 

That was fine..............I was prepared to go ahead with this...

 

I went to bed.., go up, drove the car, and WTF??? NO NOISE !! YEAH BABY!!

 

I have been driving around for 3 days now, and NO NOISE, turns are smooth..

 

How could one day, clickty , clickty, and now, all's fine.?? LOL!!

 

very strange., I figured it's the cold...(yes, the next days were warmer)

 

Now here are my questions..

 

1)Obviously (to me) it was CV joints going bad, classic clicking only on turns.

I inspected boots, and boots are very well intact.

What do you think happened?

 

2) Can I spray lube (wd40 or some silicone) into and around the boot?

 

I figure It would be safe to spray all around it, but I didn't want to do it since all is quiet now.

 

Thanks, and pray with me it stays like this.!!!! smooth and quiet....

 

thanks in advance for your answers..

[markjs]

I am no expert but I would think that spraying solvent like WD40 into the CV Joint would wash the grease out of the CV joint. I wouldn't even think too hard about it. Nothing should go on that axle but disc brake approved grease and if the boots are intact then there should be sufficient grease packed into the joints.

[LuckyPistol]

Mark, thanks...

 

I am thinking, I better not try and get into the boot. LOL -

 

I really didnt know it was inclosed.

 

But what about where the boot meets the drivetrain/transmission housing? I can see where maybe I could spray some silicone lube in there, whattya think?

 

or braking grease?

[Subieguy]

Don't spray anything in there. CV's were not designed for that. I think you had better get prepared to replace a CV axle or two in the near future. They may be quiet now but the problem is there. Maybe not all the time but it is coming. The boot does not have to be bad to have your joints to go bad. I had a 88 XT that just made horrible noise when you turned left. It was the drivers side. I replaced it and when I took it out the outside joint or the one closer to the wheel just flopped around. It bounced back and forth like it was a rubber band. The boot was perfect on it too. Easy enough to replace though. Just make sure you buy good ones when you do.

[Subarian]

The inboard end of the shaft goes onto a stub that comes out of the transmission. The stub is sealed with a conventional seal that is lubed by gear oil from the trans. I wouldn't spray anything in there unless you want to replace the trans seals.

[idosubaru]

do not spray anything anywhere near that joint. that is not a good idea at all.

 

i've said this over and over on this board, i've driven 50,000 miles on broken front boots before. i do it all the time on broken, clicking boots. it is highly unlikely that it will fail...possible yes but not likely. your tie rod ends can fail and leave you spinning out of control and rolling but i doubt you'll replace them soon. clicking is really no indication that the joint is "ready to blow" so to speak. the only axle i've ever had fail was brand new, out of the box and never made a noise, just blew up after a few miles....poor assembly i'm sure.

 

here's how i do it.....when one starts clicking i make a mental note of it and forget about it, i don't have time for pointless repairs there are plenty of other things i'd rather do and im' sure you as well! if another job comes up...brakes or something else where i have to get in there anyway, then i replace the axle. if not, i just keep driving it. if it starts clicking while driving straight...that's when i make it a priority to replace it soon.

 

rear joints are an entirely different animal......I NEVER replace these. they're all broke on my XT6's i think....might have one good boot on all 4 or 5 XT6's i have. do i care? nope. my 220,000 mile daily driver has the original rear shafts that have had broken boots for 100,000 miles.....i don't plan on replacing them any time soon because i know they won't fail.

 

if the noise got substantially worse quickly, sounds different than "normal" cv clicking or for some other reason sounds like it's not an ordinary CV issue then i'd look to replace soon.....this is highly unlikely in my oppinion. but i've only owned like 15 subarus.

 

the reason i say all this is because when i was in college and didn't know jack about cars i thought CV clicking was a terriblly dangerous thing and put money i didn't have at the time into replacing them immediately because no mechanic would be straight with me about it....then the more i learned the more i realized it is not.

 

the only issue really is in your head (the noise - pun intended).

relax and plan this out, you have plenty of time to locate parts, find space and information to get this job done. and you can make it EASILY through 2005 without worrying about this and keep your streak alive....i would make it through 2006 or 2007 as well!