I changed my oil and noticed my driver side boot has split all the way around. No noise yet. Seems like the best fix is a complete axle although I am new to front wheel drive and may be wrong. This is my first front wheel drive car. How long before I notice any noise and what happens if I push this thing to far? Car is 1997 LX 2.2 automatic with 140,000.

 

i had a civic that had broken boots and i couldnt afford to fix it. i drove it about 6 months and it never made a noise.

in all honesty tho, if you can afford to get it fixed...do it.

 

The most sanitary way to address this is to put a Remanufactured Axle Assembly rather than repairing it. Repairing it (at this point) would cost about the same.

As to how long it will go before bad things happen?
One Day
One Week
One Month
Pick one, there's no way of knowing.
But it will fail, it's just a matter of where.

P