I drive a 1988 civic sedan 5spd. At low speeds when I make left hand turns I hear a clicking noise that seems to come from under the hood. It only started happening recently (within the past two days), and I have only driven it maybe 5 miles since the clicking began. They aren't real loud and I only noticed it driving with the window open and the radio off. Any ideas what this could be?

~Justin

 

axle

 

How certain are you that its the axle? How difficult is the axle to replace in terms of tools and total time spent?

~Justin

 

Axle.

Take nut off LCA, take off wishbone, hit with hammer to pop the joint, take of axle nuts, pull out of hub, pull out of transmission and then replace

Get Repair Manual.

 

Could be the axles clicking. Bring it in a parking lot and do really tight turns and you will hear is. Axles are fairly easy to replace and not too expensive ( 50-100 ea) depending on where you get them.

 

Very likely it is the outer CV joint. Is the CV joint boot torn? This is a strong sign that dirt has ingressed into the CV joint bearings and is destroying them. Today it is customary to replace the entire halfshaft (= one side's axle), since replacing the joint is labor intensive compared to just getting a perfect fit remanned halfshaft. Though there are still some DIYers who prefer to replace only the joint.

Some report they have driven a long time on a clicking joint.