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Loosen the lug nuts (turning counter-clockwise) to finger
tight on the front wheel with the damaged CV joint. Buy, borrow or rent a
CV nut socket. Some auto parts stores will sell you one for about $30
and refund your money when you return it. Because the CV nut in the
center of the wheel hub is locked in place with a safety
tab, it is loosened initially with a long breaker bar or a hollow pipe
placed over the ratchet handle to increase the torque needed to break
the nut free. Loosen to finger tightness.
2
Set safety brakes and jack up the front of the car toward the side of the damaged CV joint using at least a 2 1/2-ton jack. Both the car
and the jack should be on a hard, level surface and the lifting point
must be a load-bearing member on the chassis or engine cradle. Place two
jack stands under the front end and slowly lower the car onto the jack
stands so the car chassis is fully resting on the stands. Now, pull out
the jack and move it out of the way.
3
Remove the wheel lug nuts and pull off the wheel from the
hub. If it doesn't cooperate, kick the bottom of the tire sidewall with
the back of your heel or the flat of your hand to dislodge it. Unscrew
the center CV nut. To dislodge the male spline outboard end of the CV
joint that fits into the female spline in the back of the wheel hub,
take the CV nut and screw it back on three or four turns, then strike it
with a hammer to partially disengage the splines.
4
Remove the ball joint stud on the lower control arm from its socket in the spindle behind the wheel
hub, after you remove a locking bolt, cotter pin or other device that
holds the ball joint stud that protrudes from the lower control arm.
Then, wedge a pry bar (called a pickle fork) between the tie rod and
sway bar. To gain greater leverage, insert the pry bar handle into a
length of pipe and apply downward pressure to remove the ball joint stud
from the spindle.
5
Remove the CV joint and shaft. With the lower ball joint
disconnected from the wheel spindle, the hub can be moved to the side
just enough to remove the outer CV joint from the spindle socket in the
back of the wheel hub. Do not stretch the brake line that is attached to
the wheel brake cylinder as you move the hub aside. With the outboard
end of the shaft free of the wheel, pull the shaft straight out from the
transmission housing. Because of the labor involved with repairing or
replacing CV joints, it's more cost effective to simply replace the
entire shaft assembly including the two CV joints and boots.
6
Install the new shaft and CV joint assembly. Clean the
transmission seal that came off the old unit; pack it with grease and
place it over the inboard spline of the new unit before inserting new
shaft into transmission. Make sure splines are lined up before tapping
the other end of the shaft with a hammer to seat it in its socket.
Carefully insert the other end of the shaft back into the wheel hub and
loosely thread on the new CV bolt that came with the assembly.
7
Reinstall the ball joint stud into the spindle by
re-inserting the pry bar between the tie rod and the sway bar and
leveraging down the lower control arm with the ball joint stud
positioned just under the spindle hole. Then release pressure on the pry
bar so the ball joint stud re-seats into the spindle. Push the wheel
hub all the way onto the shaft spline to seat and torque down the CV nut
tight. With a flat head screwdriver tap the lip of the new CV nut into
the groove cut into the screw end. Now, re-attach the ball joint locking
bolt, put the tire back, replace lug nuts and tighten. Remove the car
from the jack stands and finish tightening the tire lug nuts.
Remove the wheel cover/hub cover from the wheel and tire assembly, then loosen the lug nuts.
Fig. 1: After removing the wheel/hub cover, loosen the lug nuts
Raise and safely support the vehicle, then remove the wheel and tire assembly. Insert a steel rod in the rotor to prevent it from turning, then remove the hub nut and washer. Discard the old hub nut.
Fig. 2: Before removing the hub nut and washer, insert a steel rod in the rotor to prevent it from turning
Fig. 3: Remove the hub nut and washer, then discard the nut, and replace with a new one during installation
Remove the nut from the ball joint to steering knuckle attaching bolts.
Drive the bolt out of the steering knuckle using a punch and hammer. Discard this bolt and nut after removal.
Fig. 4: Drive the bolt out of the front wheel knuckle using a punch and hammer, then discard the nut and bolt and replace with new ones during installation
If equipped with anti-lock brakes, remove the anti-lock brake sensor and position it aside. If equipped with air suspension, remove the height sensor bracket retaining bolt and wire sensor bracket to inner fender. Position the sensor link aside.
Fig. 5: If so equipped, remove the anti-lock brake sensor and position it aside
Separate the ball joint from the steering knuckle using a suitable prybar. Position the end of the prybar outside of the bushing pocket to avoid damage to the bushing. Use care to prevent damage to the ball joint boot. Remove the stabilizer bar link at the stabilizer bar.
Fig. 6: When separating the ball joint from the steering knuckle, be careful not to damage to ball joint boot
Slide the link shaft out of the transaxle. Support the end of the shaft by suspending it from a convenient underbody component with a piece of wire. Do not allow the shaft to hang unsupported, damage to the outboard CV-joint may occur.
Separate the outboard CV-joint from the hub using front hub remover tool T81P-1104-C or equivalent and metric adapter tools T83P-1104-BH, T86P-1104-Al and T81P-1104-A or equivalent.
NOTE: Never use a hammer to separate the outboard CV-joint stub shaft from the hub. Damage to the CV-joint threads and internal components may result. The halfshaft assembly is removed as a complete unit.
Install the CV-joint puller tool T86P-3514-A1 or equivalent, between CV-joint and transaxle case. Turn the steering hub and/or wire strut assembly aside.
Screw extension tool T86P-3514-A2 or equivalent, into the CV-joint puller and hand tighten. Screw an impact slide hammer onto the extension and remove the CV-joint.
Support the end of the shaft by suspending it from a convenient underbody component with a piece of wire. Do not allow the shaft to hang unsupported, damage to the outboard CV-joint may occur.
Separate the outboard CV-joint from the hub using front hub remover tool T81P-1104-C or equivalent and metric adapter tools T83P-1104-BH, T86P-1104-Al and T81P-1104-A or equivalent.
Remove the halfshaft assembly from the vehicle.
Fig. 7: These tools are necessary for halfshaft removal
Fig. 8: Installing the specified tools to remove the halfshaft assembly from the vehicle
Fig. 9: Support the end of the shaft by suspending it from a convenient underbody component with a piece of wire. Do not allow the shaft to hang unsupported, since damage to the outboard CV-joint may occur
Fig. 10: Separate the outboard CV-joint from the hub using front hub remover tool T81P-1104-C or equivalent, and metric adapter tools T83P-1104-BH, T86P-1104-Al and T81P-1104-A or equivalent, then remove the halfshaft assembly from the vehicle
Fig. 11: Exploded view of the halfshaft assemblies and related components - automatic transaxle
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