hello, I went through a day of hell trying to replace my cv axle (if not for this bolt it would have been fine). Now I am looking for some help.

When I went to separate the lower control arm from the lower ball joint I noticed the castle nut was pretty mangled (some nubs flared up) I also could not see much of the cotter pin which is usually in place. I pried out what I thought was the cotter pin and set to work unscrewing it. It moved a little and then jammed (I actually had to trim down some flared bits on the castle nut to get a wrench around it its to mangled). Unfortunately the nut is mostly stripped and I fear the remnants of the pin are jammed itside as I cant get the nut to move at all (tried heat and penetrating oil). The car goes through Canadian winters so thats why its so nasty.

Any ideas on how to get the pin out? do I cut the nut off? If I cut the bolt off I need a new lower ball joint right? and thats $$$ and not a beginner do it yourself job either. Could I take the lower control arm off farther up and still get the new axle in? Am I screwed?

Any replies would help

 

I've done that job on my '95. I'm lucky that I live farther south than you and that my dad has a compressor and impact wrench. I still remember that bolt being a bitch to remove.

Is the nut completely jammed right now? If you can still wiggle it, I'd try and align it with the hole through the bolt so you can make sure the cotter pin is gone. Maybe you could chase the hole with a piece of wire or something. Next, getting the nut off. An impact wrench will definitely help. You might be able to rent an electric one. You can sorta get the same effect by smacking a wrench with a mini sledge. If the wrench flats are completely worn down, then flatten out two parallel sides and try a pair of vice grips. And yeah, I guess you could try cutting the nut off, but you run the risk of buggering the threads.

Going in a completely different direction, there's no shame in asking a shop to remove the nut for you. You could bring along a brand new castle nut and ask them to pop off the old one and replace it with the new one. They shouldn't charge much if anything. I got a Honda dealer in Baltimore to loosen my crankshaft bolt for free, for what it's worth. Don't forget to use ample grease when you put everything back together.

Next step: do you have a plan for removing the ball joint from the lower arm? You'll almost certainly need a bearing puller. When you apply the bearing puller, put a nut on the end of the ball joint's bolt to protect the threads, and maybe a little piece of metal too. Otherwise, you can crush the holes that the cotter pin goes through.


Modified by guymontag at 9:41 PM 5/10/2008


Modified by guymontag at 9:45 PM 5/10/2008