Good morning,

I have a 98 Honda Prelude Base. I had a CV shaft that was leaking so instead of replacing the boot I replaced the entire shaft. The shaft I got was from Advanced Auto and it seems that its to small in length. The first time I put one on it stretched the boot so greese came out (I had the car jacked up). I brought that one back and got another and jacked up my car, put in the CV shaft and the boot stayed in place on the inner.

But now when I drive I hear a cracking noise when I start out, it goes away when I am moving. When I steer it seems to be louder.

I jacked up my car and greese seems to be coming out of the boots and the shaft just seems a tad to short. I made sure I had the correct one before I left its for my driver side.

Any thoughts? This is the third CV shaft and I have checked everything, this is not the first CV shaft I have put in I have done 4-5 cars before.

In replacing this is what I did:
1. Remove tire
2. Lower ball joint
3. Tie Rod
4. Upper ball joint
5. Brake line bolts (3)
6. CV shaft bolt
7. Removed CV shaft

Installing I put the CV shaft in, hammered the front so it would fit snug, and followed the steps above in reverse order. Did I miss something?

Thx

 

I am having that same problem but both my axles do that and my f'n tranny is stuck in 1st gear and there is loose metal in there.

 

Does anyone have the measurements of a stock CV Driverside length tip to tip?

 

This is exactly the reason why when my boots go I am REBUILDING my OEM half-shafts myself. The cost is about the same, and I will have HONDA CV boots, instead of schwag ones. The only bad thing is no lifetime warranty like the parts store ones. My OEM boots and joints are TEN YEARS old, have 137,000 miles on them, and show no sign of the rubber drying out/cracking anytime soon, so I am not worried.

 

im hoping to do this tomorrow i hope it all goes well for you!

 

I ALWAYS compare the old part to the new one to make sure they match EXACTLY before proceeding to install the new part. Have you already returned your core? If not, you can measure it.

 

This is the reason I never buy anything but rebuilt Honda axles. You dont have to worry about them being unbalanced or the wrong size. FYI, the exact lengths are in the shop manual.

 

I haven't had too many problems with the carquest axles in honda's.

When I install them I don't hammer them in, I leave the lower ball joint
disconnected and push the spindle forward towards the transmissoin until
the axle is in there snug. It should go in fairly easily.