RustyPopcorn

Hi, new to the forums, everyone here seems to have quite a bit of knowledge to be able to add to any situation, so I thank you in advance for any help you give.

I got this 95 Civic DX that the last guy had done a bunch of work to (and should not have judging by the crap job he did) so it's got the D16Z6 from another (EX I guess?) and the S24 auto tranny (why, God, put an automatic in along with a VTEC???). Anyway, I went to change the passenger axle and the new one is about 1 - 1.25" shorter than the one I took out. A knowledgeable gent at Advance said it was not a big deal (since all the parts on all the sites are listed the same and the tranny-side part of the CV joint is the same size), but my mechanic, a very very reliable guy said that's just not good and could be catastrophic, recalling he had to send axles out to be rebuilt since the sites were wrong at times...

I haven't had anything disastrous happen (yet) though I have only done some low-speed city driving since, and although it may have been my imagination (and terrible alignment which still needs tending to) I thought I felt a sort of shimmying when going downhill.

The only helpful information I've found so far was (in favor of it being the wrong axle) general "got the wrong axle and almost died" kind of situation, and (in favor of it being the right axle) a more specific situation where the manual axle is just a hair longer than the auto one (and my car used to be man...did he just reuse the same axle...?).

If it helps any, the axle I bought and still have installed is Cardone 664064. Thanks again all, and glad to have joined!

Nave43

Hmmm i have definitely heard of parts stores giving people the wrong axel but im not sure if that the case here. Though an inch is a big difference for something like a Axel. Some CVs have a weight half way up the shaft that keeps them stable. Does your new one have one? what about the old one ?

TomCat39

When I looked up the part number on Cardone I got this as the list of vehicles it was for:



And I can't read.... It's the listed part for your car so I believe will be fine. I noticed my cv joints compressed even further when I was installing them so I believe there is a bit of wiggle room.

sidewayz2013

IIRC, when an axle is made, the cv joints are supposed to have some room to come out, to move with the suspension and steering knuckles. Maybe when you pulled out your old ones, the cv joints weren't... Compressed? Sure. Maybe they weren't compressed towards the shaft all the way.
I know on mine, its a completely stock 99 civic LX, when I replaced my axles, both were longer than the replacements because of how I pulled them out.

tony_2018

The probably weren't compressed....the old ones.

RustyPopcorn

No, neither has a weight

Yeah I tried compressing them both to measure and the center shaft piece was clearly longer on the old one. The new one has the ABS ring on it but all sites list the same axle for both AT and MT no matter the brand.

Thanks for the input, has anyone else ran into this?

Nave43

If neither of them have weights that's not your problem with the wobble...

Im thinking it may have something to do with the engine swap? But that would take a bit of research to confirm either way...

RustyPopcorn

Ok, my main concern is just that the next time I hit the highway it pops out at fatal speeds. The wobble or whatever it is might have been my imagination, but I'm getting an alignment this week sometime so I'll try to keep you guys posted.

Still wondering about what my mech said on having to send axles out to be rebuilt since the sites were wrong sometimes. If this was the case with the 5th & 6th gen Civics wouldn't I have happened across that article or thread already? Thanks guys

tony_2018

There's a C-clip on one end, and it has an axle nut on the other, its rare that the joint would pop of of the shaft but if it did than its a manufacture issue and not yours.

Which article are you talking about?

RustyPopcorn

I mean I did quite a bit of searching before deciding to bother you guys if an answer already existed. I searched this and other forums mostly for similar threads, just speed-read them.

So if it doesn't pop out, what problems could it cause just by being an inch shorter?

Nave43

Thank you for actually using the search feature, its much appreciated Although in my opinion its pretty worthless. I have better luck Googleing "Honda Tech insert problem here" and being redirected. I almost always find more info that way.

I am pretty sure the OP misread your last post. Also while its highly unlikely to pop out on the bolted end, the c clip end is the part i would worry about, its just clipped in after all. I do disagree about it being the manufacture problem tho, if you wreck its definitely your problem... If only one side popped out it may cause some control issues.

If it doesn't pop out my main concern would be wear on the differential, from it pulling on it on bumps and stuff. Its unlikely but IMO is possible. Or worst case scenario popping out like you said. If it was to long i wouldn't worry about it at all.

Have you considered its a problem with the swap? Did you buy CVs for your motor or for you vehicle itself? They may have different lengths due to different body widths. On the list tom cat provided the del sol Si (d16z6) is not listed.

tony_2018

Than buy it from another local part store and see if it's still an inch short.

sidewayz2013

Is the S24 tranny the ex or dx auto trans? Or same?

sowellman88011

Ive seen alot of NEW parts stores cv shafts be short, if you got a new 1 from them switch it out to a reman. It seems like when they make the shaft maybe theyre not making them as long to save some metal. It happened to me in a b16 and ive seen atleast 5 others, all new AM.

Nave43

Did you or any of the people you know have any problems with it? When i replaced mine awhile back i never even thought to check the length... Hindsight is 20/20.

RustyPopcorn

Yeah Google is what got me here lol. I checked a couple different CV joints going between 1.5 and 1.6 (RockAuto.com only differentiates between the engine sizes) and they were the same for both. I know the EX, SI, DX, etc. were the same body but the del sol was slightly different. I'll look through some other sites like Advance, O'Reilly, etc. just to see if they list any different between the models.

S24 was in all Civics 92-00, but this DX was man because my center console doesn't match the shifter box. My guess is the guy took it out of the same car as the 1.6 he dropped in(EX or SI, I don't know).

oooO There's an idea...I'll go to Advance tomorrow since I'm headed that way anyhow and bring a tape measure with me. I'll have them haul out one each reman, new and rebuilt. Thanks for the advice!! I'll let you know how it turns out.

TomCat39

Now that it's installed and you have driven some on it, just inspect it. Is it still fully inserted in the transmission on both the half shaft and the full shaft?

I suspect it is. Now drive more normally instead of babying it. Then inspect again. 50 bucks says it's still fully inserted in the transmission and as long as the axle seals were still good on the tranny, no leaks.

Cardone is offering the same limited lifetime warranty on the axles and list them for your car. They wouldn't do that if they didn't fit your vehicle properly or meet or exceed OE spec. That would be a serious liability as well as a bad business decision to save a few bucks on an inch of metal.

Also I was told by a Honda Technician to avoid re-manufactured axles. He told me to stick to new. I guess there is much less problems with new over reman. Just passing that along from a long time Honda/Acura mechanic who is known (and by known I mean has a following from far and wide) to provide quality work and not gouge his customers doing it.

tony_2018

I don't think the 92-95 civics had half shafts.

W/ what the Honda technician stated its true basicly, visual inspection has fallen when it comes to rebuilds, but hey we're all budgeting.

TomCat39

I probably called it wrong but the drivers side axle is twice as long as the passenger side so I always correlated the term "half shaft" to the short axle. I could definitely be wrong in my assumption.

If you could clarify what a true half shaft is, I will gladly be corrected.

TomCat39

Hey tony, thanks for questioning the half shaft terminology.

After a little google reading, the axles on a front wheel drive are both considered half shafts. I assumed it was the short one being it is almost half the length.

Instead it's because it's broken into two drive shafts for front wheel drive, while rear wheel drive has a single drive shaft going to a rear differential.

So in reality, our Hondas have a drivers side half shaft and a passenger side half shaft.

Had you not brought up the doubt..... I would never have learned my error in assumption by looking it up.

Thank you, seriously, I truly appreciate it.

Ciao

MadVladCivic

Exactly. Re-manufacture your own axles. No surprises. Fitment is
Gare-own-teed!

Pop it an' slop it!

sowellman88011

yeah I had them in a eg w/ a b16 and about every 4 days it would pop out id just pull over lay down and pop it back in. I replaced them a few times then tried a remanned and didnt have any issues since. When i got the remanned we stood them up next to each other and there was atleast a .5 of an inch difference and the boots were kinda stretched before and not after.