1997 Honda Accord LX 2.2L 4-door. 175K on the odometer.

Hey everyone, quick question for ya but a little back story first. The brakes on my girlfriends car went out so I decided I would do it for her because brakes and rotors are easy....boy was I wrong. Courtesy of the genious engineers at Honda. They turned a 20 minute a side job into a 2+hour a side job.

So after I got the hub/knuckle off and got the new rotor pressed on I realized the axle shaft either isn't far enough back in the transaxle or the inner CV joint(?) isn't all the way together. If I push the axle into transmission I can turn it back and forth a tiny bit and hear the trans clicking like it should but if I don't put pressure on that inner joint and turn it, I can feel that joint start to push outward and seperate. Is that normal or is something wackerjacked? If I put the shaft in the wheel bearing and connect the lower ball joint there's about a 4" gap between the upper ball joint and where it mounts to the knuckle.

I searched google and this forum and all I could find was people that couldn't get the axle back in after it was removed, since I was just doing brakes/rotors I didn't remove the axle. There was no clicking on turns so I don't think the CV joint was bad to begin with so I don't know what the heck is going on. I'm fairly mechanically inclined but this one has me stumped. Any input is greatly appreciated!

 

Correct me if Im wrong, why do you have to take the axles off for a rotor/brake job?

 

If the shaft is seated into the trans proper...there is the chance that you could have pulled the inner joint loose,,,,rare but can happen.

"shawn"- I don't think the op pulled the shafts out,,,,the fun of the HOR design on this gen,,,not the best design in my mind.

 

I removed the hub/knuckle assembly and had the old rotor pressed off and the new one pressed on. I never removed the axle because I wasn't replacing anything on it.

So if you twist the shaft without pressure on it that inner joint shouldn't feel like it's starting to seperate? Meaning is there a clip in there that holds that joint together? I've never seen the inside of one of those CV boots so I'm clueless. Could it be a 'tooth off', so to speak, and not allowing the shaft to seat properly?

Again, any help is greatly appreciated. I really NEED to get this thing done tonight.

 

I did the same thing. If you were to grab the axle in the middle, and then pull on the end that goes into the hub, you would feel that it starts to move outward. Anyway, the last time I did the brakes I did the same thing, pulled that too hard when I was pulling the hub off, and it was like it was a couple of inches too long now. I just pushed it back in. I was worried that something might be off but it's been working fine for a couple of months now. So just see if you can put some pressure on it and push it back in. I couldn't explain exactly how it works, cause I haven't seen one without the boot on, but it's worked just fine for me so far.

 

So my step dad ended up tearing into it before I could get home from work. He pulled the shaft out and the CV joint had come apart so he put it back together and it went together flawlessly.

Sweet, right? Wrong.

Took it for the second test drive (yes, second) and I stopped at an intersection that's on a hill and as soon as I hit the gas the RPMs revved and I rolled backwards...FML. Tried to put it in park and see what happened and then the trans, or I think the trans, made a god-awful grinding noise, like trying to find a gear in a manual...problem is, it's an auto. I would say I either didn't give it enough time to come apart the first time, or the extra load of making a right turn from a stop on a hill was enough to get something to come apart.

Thankfully her Dad has AAA. I'm amazed how calm he remained because I was not the least bit happy with myself. I didn't want to redneck tow it home if the axle shaft was half way in the trans or something and risk breaking more stuff.

So now that we've pulled the shaft, either the shaft didn't fully lock into the trans, or the CV joint is toast. Correct? Should I just say screw it and go ahead and put a new shaft in?

 

Pulled the CV shaft and confirmed my worst fears. The splines on the end of the shaft are pretty much gone. The god-awful grind noise was the splines being eaten off of it. Next course of action: I looked inside the trans and suprisingly enough the splines inside there look good. Maybe Honda did something smart and made the shafts out of a softer metal!!!

So should I try and spray the trans with some brake clean to get the splines clean? Should I grease the splines before install? I already picked up a new CV shaft. Oh and is that little metal ring what holds the shaft in the trans? If so, how do I get the old one on the new one without messing it up?

 

I feel like I'm writing a 'how to' here. Sprayed the trans out with some brake clean and wiped up the excess. Lubed the halfshaft and the trans seal with some red grease and reinstalled, making sure to hammer it in until it seats this time! Oh and the new halfshaft came with the spring thing, I just didn't see it on there. Drove the dog p*** out of it and it's good now.