Bad Half Shaft?

[prljeep]

95 GA SE, 2.3L MT 152k

Remember when you would stick a baseball card in your spokes on your bike? Well, my GA basically sounds like that when it runs.

I jacked up the front tonight and put it in first gear and let it run. The tire where the noise is coming from would spin, but when I would stop it with my foot- it would not start spinning again.

So is it a bad half shaft? Do I need any special tools to fix this?

TIA- RL

[pokesmot]

check the rubber boots on both CV half shafts.

are any of them torn? it should be fairly obvious if one of them is, as it will fling grease all over the inside of your wheel or inside your engine bay.

you say that when you stopped the one wheel with your foot it would stop spinning. this is normal, but does the noise stop when you stop the one wheel?

a bad cv halfshaft is usually most obvious when you are doing hard cornering, it will sound like a clicking noise.

only special tool you will need for the halfshaft is a 29mm (not 100% if its 29mm, others will have to help with this) axle hub nut socket.

[prljeep]

No grease anywhere-

Yes, I have a clicking noise when I make tight turns.

When I stop the wheel on the other side with my foot, it will start spinning again. This one stops and kind of ticks back and forth.

On a scale of 1 being simple and 10 being insanely hard to fix- where would you rate this?

TIA

[pokesmot]

assuming you have basic mech knowledge, maybe a 6 or 7.

I would suggest soaking the threads on the end of the halfshaft with some type of lube for a few hours, then crack the nut loose and remove the axle hub nut with the car still on the ground.

loosen but do not remove the 3 strut mount bolts under the hood.

remove the cotter pin and remove the castle nut on the lower ball joint, pop the ball joint off of the steering knuckle. This should allow you to be able to swing the strut / knuckle assemlby just enough to get it off the halfshaft.

the halfshaft pops out of the tranny, I recommend using a prybar.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v118/MnKyOfHaTe/untitled.jpg

pic i drew up in paint to help someone else, you just need a little bit of force to pop it loose and it will slide out. careful not to damage the seal on the side of the diff.