Im having my auto trans put in today and the mechanic said my axle is cracked.. Great, they tell me its an extra hour and a half labor but Im asking doesn't the axle shaft have to be removed anyway when doing the trans?

 

If this guy is going to charge you an hour and a half to do something that isn't taking any additional time you should be asking yourself if you want that mechanic working on your car.

Given that you said it's being put in today, I am assuming that there currently isn't a transmission in your car right now? That means there are no axles in the car. That means there is nothing for you to pay him for. If he wants, you can buy a new axle and take it into the shop and pick up the old one and put the new one in the exact spot the old one was and there obviously won't be any extra labor.

Furthermore, he has to take BOTH axles off when removing a tranmission so even if there is a tranny in there right now and he's going to pull it and put the other, the above still applies.

 

Install INCLUDES the axles because obviously....thats part of the install. That 1.5 hours is already included in the 7 hours (depending on how he's calculating the flat rate) he's flagging for doing the job in the first place

 

You didn't state which axle or what year Accord, but the removal and install of the axle is not that hard or take that long.

On a '94/'95('96/'97 most likely same)
-Remove hubcap/centercap.
-unstake axle stub nut
-loosen/remove axle stub nut
-loosen lug nuts
-jack up front of car
-place stand under frame rail of side needing replacement, lower car
-remove lug nuts/wheel
-remove brake hose to strut bolts
-remove brake hose from strut, reinstall bolts so not to loose them.
-remove cotter pins from BJ and tierod
-remove tierod nut, flip, reinstall, break tierod free from spindle with hammer.
-remove tierod
-remove BJ nut, flip, reinstall, place jack under nut, raise up, tap with hammer til it breaks free, lower jack, remove nut.
-pull spindle up off of LCA,
-pull spindle away from axle stub.
-tie spindle assembly up and out of the way.
-break inner axle joint free from transmission with large screwdriver/prybar.
-pull axle assembly through fork.

Reassembly is reverse of removal, torque nuts to spec.

30min job in the driveway.

 

15 min job in my garage with air tool.

 

Ask the mechanic. See what he has to say about that.

Sounds like he's trying to get some extra labor hours.

 

that sounds serious. are you sure he didn't mean the boot is split? if he's wanting to rebuild the axle assembly (say no!) rather than replace it that could account for the extra 1.5 hours.

 

Make sure he is not letting the axles hang in the air, this will cause undue stress on the stub axles(part with the large nut) they will crack and fail.

 

He said there was a crack in it, the passenger side axle.. its a 99 accord ex with an 01 ex motor in it.. and ya i figured that, f*cking hate these guys.. You can never win when going to a mechanic..

 

There are good mechanics out there. Don't let this discourage you.