I've got me a 1990 CRX si with 112,000 miles on it and it needs new C/V boots. I'm new to repairing cars and this car was a recent purchase so I'd like to try to replace the boots on my own. I need as much help as possible in doing this. I've order Chilton's manual for my car. I'm going out to buy a floor jack and jack stands (anyone know of good brand/price?). I'm a zealous new owner of a CRX that wants to fix his own ish. SO, can anyone give me an idea which tools I need for this? Does anyone have documented instructions on how to do this procedure? Any kind of help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

The tools that you will need will be found in the repair manuel. If the price for the new CV boot is almost the price for a new drive axle, just buy a new drive axle. Some sell for $80. Good luck. Remember the lubercations.

 

I have a limited understanding in the relation between the CV boot and a new drive axle. If I buy a new drive axle, does it come with new CV boots then? Or would I have to buy a new axle AND new CV Boots? I've read somewhere that the outer and inner boots require different types of grease. Is this true? Is chilton's manual a high quality manual? Thanks for the input btw.

 

Dude- 99% of aftermarket driveaxles (the "new" ones mentioned above) are junk. If your joints aren't making any noise you can put boots on them. Get the boots from HONDA. They will be @$16 ea. If you have the original joints/shafts/boots on your car- the boot bands will be reusable. Get a Helms manual- chilton is a generalized concoction of automotive hewha. Hayne's is slightly better. You will need a lug wrench, 32 mm socket and big bar or impact to loosen axle nuts, side cuts, 17mm socket and ratchet (if you have no impact), a good size hammer and a decent sized prybar, and a utility knife. Don't forget 2 new cotter pins to put in the ball joint castle nuts. DO NOT USE A PICKLE FORK to separate the ball joint from the lower control arm- pickle forks are for hillbillies and jackasses. They damage ball joint boots. Break 32mm nut in center of hub with wheels on ground. Jack up and put on jack stands. Remove wheels. Take out cotter pins in lower balljoint castle nuts. Remove 17mm castle nuts. Hit control arm with hammer to "break the taper" and separate knuckle from lower control arm. Use prybar between tranny and inner cv joint to pry out axles. Axles will NOT fit through shock fork. Use utility knife to pry up boot band tabs. Remove bands. Whack outside edge of cv joint with hammer (leave boot over joint)- joint will come off. Clean up grease. Remove boot. Slip on new boot. Push joint onto shaft. While maintaining pressure, use small flathead screwdriver to "compress" retaining clip partially into joint inner race. While maintaining pressure and retaining ring alignment, grab hammer and tap joint onto axle until it stops. Apply liberal amount of grease. Position boot on joint and "burp" the boot at the small end with a small screwdriver. Reinstall old boot bands. Re-assemble. Stake 32mm nut and put new cotter pin in. Put the wheels on. go play.

 

true...

just loosen the nut while hitting the lower control arm just in case you miss , the nut will protect the threads of the lower ball joint..

 

Modified by CardDealer at 4:28 AM 11/16/2006

 

I don't think so. That part of the tranny is filled with grease, no tranny fluid.

 

no and yes- some older models will spit out a little fluid which needs to be replaced- these models will have a fill plug that is lower than the bottom of the axle seal opening. Newer (88+up civics, 90+up accords)models don't have fluid above the axle seal opening- however- if they are overfilled, some fluid will come out when the axle is removed.

Breakstuff is right- leave the castle nut on some to protect the ball joint threads-

 

No, but it will leak a little bit of tranny fluid, but not even 1/4th of an ounce, if even that much.

 

gee wiz guys...you're all the BEST! I'm waiting to get the CV boot kits from honda. From what I'm told, the kit includes the outer and inner boot. Did the instructions you gave me also cover the inner boot too? I've also got to go buy some hardware/tools/jacks. Does anyone recommend a good/cheap place to buy some? Thanks again!

 

The inner boots need to come off after you remove the outer joint. Slide them down the shaft and off. Blue grease is for outer and yellow baby **** is for inner joint. You will need lots of rags to clean up all that grease.

 

fixhondas,

what are sidecuts? and what should I use to separate the ball joint from the lower control arm? should I use a ball joint separator? If so, I've looked at kragen/autozone/pepboys and the ball joint separator tool seems to only have one size, is this the correct size? I'm waiting on a Helm's manual on CD in .pdf format before I really jump into this, so things are still a bit hazy for me. Again, I really appreciate your help!! Thanks!

 

Just replace the axels. They are about $60 or so a each w/o the core charge. Its time consuming to replace the CV joint and boot. The remanufactured axles are the same thing thats on your car. They are someones old core refurbished. If they go bad you at least have a warranty.

 

You WILL need to replace the tranny fluid. Once you pull out the axles it will drain all over the ground.

 

You don't need to drain the fluid if the car is level when you are removing the axles. If some comes out, it is because it was over-filled.

MOST remanufactured axles are garbage. Don't trade in your good honda axles for some knocking pieces of crap.
Sidecuts is another name for diagonal cutters.

A good sized ball peen hammer and some controlled swings will get the ball joint separated from the lower control arm. If you use the "separator" be sure the nut is on the bottom threads, don't put alot of pressure on the balljoint itself or you will mushroom it with the separator. Push on the nut, not the threads- catch my drift?

 

Modified by CardDealer at 4:29 AM 11/16/2006

 

actually 88 and up civics and crx's are that way, you don't need to drain the oil- it's the ZC that is different- it uses a totally different trans.

 

I'm using my stock Si tranny (L3) on my ZC block.

 

ZC trannys use the same L3 casing as all 4-5 speed 88-91 Civics. You have to drain about 1/2 quart (just change it all!) when you pull the axles.

 

I must have a different form of gravity here in columbus. I was thinking the zc is like the first gen teg with the black case on the end of the trans. Maybe you guys have the front of the car jacked up and that is why you are loosing tranny fluid, I have the luxury of a lift to work on. So when I pull an axle the tranny is level and nothing comes out.

 

All right,

I'm a dummy. I've got all my tools ready, and I can't take off the damn 32mm nut. Aside from getting an impact wrench to take it off, what other options do I have? I've followed fixhondas' instructions, but haven't the strength to loosen it. What do I do? Thanks again.

 

Have you unstaked the nut? Use a long pipe over the handle of a breaker bar or ratchet.

 

Just replace the axles. Replacing the boots is a nasty messy job that requires special tools and the boots cost almost as much as a new axle anyway. Guess how i know all this.

Just get new ones, its cheap insurance.

Mike