CV axle boot replacement thread?

kaya · Jan 18, 2015

man, you've really got some demons going on there. firstly, i never said i separated the shaft by hand. in fact, no one could break the lock of the c clip by hand. not possible. that's how it stays locked into the intermediate shaft. i put it in a vice and separated it using a large brass drift. however, when installing, you're not trying to break the lock so it's not necessary to impact it. not when you know how to compress the c clip without beating on it. in fact by beating on it like that, you risk damaging the clip and possibly the tri-pot assy. i honestly don't care whether you believe me or not. all i care is that my post is informative to those looking to perform the procedure. because beating on the shaft with a dead blow, no matter what forums you read it on, is not the ideal method. sure it gets it done. but there's a much greater likelihood of damaging critical components in the shaft assy.
i think that's the last i have to say on this topic

Carguy75 · Jan 18, 2015

kaya said:
man, you've really got some demons going on there. firstly, i never said i separated the shaft by hand. in fact, no one could break the lock of the c clip by hand. not possible. that's how it stays locked into the intermediate shaft. i put it in a vice and separated it using a large brass drift. however, when installing, you're not trying to break the lock so it's not necessary to impact it. not when you know how to compress the c clip without beating on it. in fact by beating on it like that, you risk damaging the clip and possibly the tri-pot assy. i honestly don't care whether you believe me or not. all i care is that my post is informative to those looking to perform the procedure. because beating on the shaft with a dead blow, no matter what forums you read it on, is not the ideal method. sure it gets it done. but there's a much greater likelihood of damaging critical components in the shaft assy.
i think that's the last i have to say on this topic

No demons here.

I just love to debate the facts.

I asked(sarcastically) did you separate the shaft by hand since you stated that it can be hand pressed on by twisting it correctly to lock the circlip, so I assumed that you know a way to twist the inner bearing cup off the circlip to remove it by hand.

My problem with your story is that the Nissan FSM even states that you need to use a slide hammer to remove the inner bearing cup off the center bearing mount, and that it need to be press fitted back on to the AWD passenger side axle bearing.

In your defense, it could mean hand-pressed.

However, the FSM do not states any thing about rotating the inner axle cup to set the circlip.

You are saying that even though the half-axle have to be slide hammered off the center bearing, you can easily push it back on the bearing by hand it you compress the circlip correctly and slide it on the shaft by hand only.

Well, if you say it works on the AWD models then maybe it does.

I guess someone else will try it your way, and to be honest I hope it works because it would save a lot head ache and pain then trying to bang it on like seemly everyone else who have the AWD who posted on doing the job except yourself.

Fire and brimstones

Pilgrim · Jan 18, 2015

Just to inject a note of "it depends" here....

The more mechanical experience one has, sometimes the better their feel for projects like this.

I have been on both sides of this - some things have fallen together for me easily, and other things have been a huge challenge.

nitely · Jan 18, 2015

True.

Half the time I learn things the hard way specially when in a rush. That is why I always read on present and future repairs I will be facing as much as I can before actually tackling it. Picking up tips and tricks on how to do the job properly, head warning signs to lessen the chance of mistakes/repeats, and perform a quality repair in the most economical way possible. This axle replacement is a fairly easy job when you are well prepared.

Carguy75 · Jan 19, 2015

I guess to be fair to all involved in this matter I will say that no repair will be the same for everyone who does it.

There are too many factors that come into place that varies from vehicle to vehicle, even among the same models, like rust, age, defective parts,etc. that will affect how a repair will go.

So what may be simple for me, may be a headache to someone else if they run into complications along the way.

Plus, experience does help make things go smoother when dealing with non-text book situations.

If I will have to do this again it would goes a lot smoother due to the fact the I have learned a lot about how to do the job, and how to better go about it next time.

Pilgrim · Jan 19, 2015

This is a valuable thread. It is the best discussion of this axle procedure on the forum. Thanks!

littleredbirds · Jan 19, 2015

Carguy, in post #10 of the first page you show a picture of the center axle mount bolts removed. Just wondering why you went ahead and did this since you didn't remove the entire axle. Also, what did you hook the slide hammer on when removing the half ax?

Carguy75 · Jan 20, 2015

littleredbirds said:
Carguy, in post #10 of the first page you show a picture of the center axle mount bolts removed. Just wondering why you went ahead and did this since you didn't remove the entire axle. Also, what did you hook the slide hammer on when removing the half ax?

I removed the three bolts, because I was originally going to remove the entire axle bracket from the car until realized that I could just slide-hammer the inner cup off the mount with the bracket on the car.:redface:

Funny thing was, I was just checking to see if the slide-hammer would work at all due to the rust on the center bearing ,and was pleasantly surprised that the inner cup moved so easy after a couple hits so I just kept going until the inner cup came off.

However, you do not have to remove the bolts unless you really are going to remove the whole half-axle from the transfer-case.

I hooked the inner edge of the inner bearing cup on the side closer to the oil filter.

There is a gap between the inner cup and center bearing that goes around the whole assembly, but I found it easier to work on the side closer to the oil filter since I still had my right strut still attached at the time and that side of the inner bearing cup had the wider area to hook the slide hammer on.

Note: I did hit the opposite side twice toward the end to finish knocking the inner bearing cup off the bearing splines.

YeeMurano · Jan 20, 2015

Carguy75 said:
The cv axle swap is complete, as well as the oil change I was originally going to do after my successful test drive.

I have learned a few things from the job.

1. Do not even waste time trying to change out the cv boot on the original Nissan inner cv joint, because the aftermarket cv boots can not seal around the irregular x-like shape of the inner bearing cup.

2. Check your axles in the store, even if you have to cut the box open at the counter to be sure that the axle itself is correct even if the box has the correct part number.

3. If you install new aftermarket axle be very careful due to some having very soft silicon boots on the inner cv boots that can easily be punctured while handling.

4. Last but not least, use the outer cv joint and axle as a slide-hammer while holding the inner axle cup on the center bearing splines to re-install the half-shaft pass the circlip if you have a stiff or hard to press on circlip on the passenger side(AWD owners).

Mission complete:29:

Carguy75, thanks for sharing.

littleredbirds · Jan 20, 2015

Carguy75 said:
I removed the three bolts, because I was originally going to remove the entire axle bracket from the car until realized that I could just slide-hammer the inner cup off the mount with the bracket on the car.:redface:

Funny thing was, I was just checking to see if the slide-hammer would work at all due to the rust on the center bearing ,and was pleasantly surprised that the inner cup moved so easy after a couple hits so I just kept going until the inner cup came off.

However, you do not have to remove the bolts unless you really are going to remove the whole half-axle from the transfer-case.

I hooked the inner edge of the inner bearing cup on the side closer to the oil filter.

There is a gap between the inner cup and center bearing that goes around the whole assembly, but I found it easier to work on the side closer to the oil filter since I still had my right strut still attached at the time and that side of the inner bearing cup had the wider area to hook the slide hammer on.

Note: I did hit the opposite side twice toward the end to finish knocking the inner bearing cup off the bearing splines.

Awesome thanks man. The reason I asked about yhe bolts is because the only picture that shows them off is post axle removal.

Roycape04 · Jan 28, 2015

Thanks for all this information guys. My passenger side inner CV axle boot just split on an 07 AWD MO. No noise coming from the axle, so I'll change it when the weather warms up in 6 weeks or so. The split occurred on the outer part of the boot so there was not as much grease all over the place as some of the others I've seen. I already bought the CV axle from AutoZone for $60.

After reading a number of threads, I was wondereing if you could have done it like Carguy suggested, ie. without having to remove the intermediate shaft from the TC and replacing the fluids etc. Now I know you can. Hopefully mine will come out relatively easy since I do have a slide hammer and hopefully it's not rusted in there. If it is, then I guess I'll have to remove the whole thing and separate the intermediate shaft out of the car.

However all the information is useful to me so I'll try all the tricks recommended here if need be.

Carguy75 · Jan 31, 2015

Roycape04 said:
Thanks for all this information guys. My passenger side inner CV axle boot just split on an 07 AWD MO. No noise coming from the axle, so I'll change it when the weather warms up in 6 weeks or so. The split occurred on the outer part of the boot so there was not as much grease all over the place as some of the others I've seen. I already bought the CV axle from AutoZone for $60.

After reading a number of threads, I was wondereing if you could have done it like Carguy suggested, ie. without having to remove the intermediate shaft from the TC and replacing the fluids etc. Now I know you can. Hopefully mine will come out relatively easy since I do have a slide hammer and hopefully it's not rusted in there. If it is, then I guess I'll have to remove the whole thing and separate the intermediate shaft out of the car.

However all the information is useful to me so I'll try all the tricks recommended here if need be.

No problem.

I believe you should have an easy time doing the job with the right tools and applying the various tips from the thread.

My advice would be to just remove the passenger strut assembly to have more room to work with ,and most importantly to prevent the CV boots from accidentally getting punctured by the sharp points on the strut assembly while working.

I believe I ripped my cv axle inner boot from Advance Auto parts by letting one of the sharp points on the strut rip into the boot when I was test fitting it against the bearing hub to see if the splines matched up. :redface:

The silicon inner boots on the new aftermarket cv axles are softer than the stiffer rubber used on the OEM boots(more flexible which is good for how the inner boot moves but not as puncture resistant), well at least on the new Advance Auto parts cv axles.

However, the inner boot are not prone to puncture due to its location by the engine, so the silicone boots is just a problem for cv axle installation novices like myself.

Good luck and please keep us posted on the progress and what method best worked for you.

wirth315 · Feb 24, 2015

Yes, there is more than 1 way to skin a cat... I found it MUCH easier to remove the entire shaft, and avoid damage to the new boots working in an open environment. I read from a Nissan Master Mechanic to align the clips upward in the same direction when putting the new half shaft onto the inner shaft. ALWAYS buy a new axle seal bearing to have on hand. RARELY will you need to replace it IF you don't cobble it up.

I stood the new 1/2 shaft up on end on a 2x4, and firmly tapped with my shot peen hammer and the shafts magically popped together. I also sprayed tri-flow lubricant onto all parts as Teflon is super slick. Hardest part of job is separating and joining the shafts together... making many DIY damage new 1/2 shaft seals etc... If the entire whole shaft could be bought as one, this would make the job DIY for more people.

Simply drain a few quarts of CVT and you will not have contamination of your transfer case fluid... Better yet change the transfer case fluid just after re-installing the axle shaft, as the Transfer case fluid is the most overlooked service item on our Murano's. Only 8-10 oz! Super black every time I change mine which is every 30k miles. I have 2 Muranos and 2 Rogues... so I am now a PRO at transfer case fluid change. I use a simple plastic T fitting to fill from my hand pump bottle. I plug one end of the tee and let the 90 degree T hang into the transfer case fill hole and pump the Mobil 1 75w-90 synthetic gear oil bottle up / down to fill the transfer case. Only an inch of clearance to fill that hole. But once you've done it it's not that hard. I also put Teflon tape on the threads as they are hydraulic threads or whatever... meaning there is not a crush washer like other transfer cases etc... just threads that you thread till in and not necessarily tightend to a specific torque.

Good job, you WON the battle in the end.

I did my lower control arm at same time as ball joint had play. Now Murano drives / steers like new.

wirth315 · Feb 24, 2015

Here is a helpful view for others to see how cross contamination can occur when your remove the passenger side CV axle completely. CVT fluid is inner most and transfer case outer end. 12mm socket and a few minutes removes the 3 carrier bolts that hold the inner shaft in.

Simply drain a few quarts of CVT out and refill through dipstick at completion of job.

Makes splitting / pressing new 1/2 shaft back together so much easier to avoid damage to new boots.

Pilgrim · Feb 24, 2015

Am I correct in thinking that the outer half of that passenger side CV axle can be replaced without disturbing the inner half?

CV axle boot replacement thread?

kaya

Carguy75

Pilgrim

nitely

Carguy75

Pilgrim

littleredbirds

Carguy75

YeeMurano

littleredbirds

Roycape04

Carguy75

wirth315

wirth315

Pilgrim

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