Thanks nitely for getting back to me, as much as I hoped you were wrong I think your right, so do you think it's possible to push that side shaft out of the bearing housing and replace with the original, I am just about to check out your previous link so if the answer is in there don't worry about responding.

 

As I look at it again, I don't think that FWD right hand side axle replacement you have can be separated like the AWD one. Don't bother, its assembled differently. Return it and get the correct one. Seen in the link pix. You then continue to separate your original axle from bearing support. You will end up with the same axle as the link pix when you separate your original inner shaft from the CV shaft. There is a circ clip that locks it in. You need to give it a good jerk by wedging something- (pry bar) in betwen the CV housing and the bearing support. When installing the new one in, you need to line it up straight and give and few solid hammering from the axle wheel end until the circ clip locks in. Good luck.

 

Any tips on getting the ball joint nut/bolt loose? I broke one socket extension. I put a beefier one on with a breaker bar and a 3 ft cheater pipe and it's not busting loose. I put some PB blaster on it already. I don't have a 17mm impact socket, so unless I go buy/borrow one tomorrow, that's not an option.

 

If possible go to Home Depot and buy a cordless electrical impact gun. Use it to get the bolt but off and then return it. This is what I did when I replaced the lower control arms on my Murano.

 

Got the impact sockets this morning and got the ball joint nut & bolt off and the 3 bolts holding the axle to the hub, but I'm unsure how to get the ball joint apart.

Can somebody describe where the 3 bolts are on the LCA so that I can separate the ball joint that way instead of using a puller?

 

There are some discussions of ball joint replacement here.

Here's page 2 of a 3-page discussion including pictures!
http://www.nissanmurano.org/forums/...org/forums/82-1st-gen-2003-2007/14142-front-lower-ball-joint-replacement-2.html

 

You need a press to remove and reinstall a new ball joint on the LCA. There is a diy. or change the entire LCA and no need to get a ball joint. Good idea if the LCA bushings are close to needing service. Good luck.

Sorry, if you are just separating the ball joint/LCA off the knuckle and you have the bolts out, just use a piece of wood and hammer and pound down the LCA closes to the ball joint and it should slide down.

 

How do you separate the cv axle from the carrier bearing?

 

How do you separate the cv axle from the carrier bearing?

 

Just doing my passenger side cv axle. It is found you don't have to remove the ABS sensor(wheel sensor). Mime is stuck and after careful examination, the sensor is not in the way so it doesn't need removal.

 

I did this recently and I could not get the bearing out of the carrier while attached to the vehicle. I had to undo the carrier bracket and remove the axle ith the bracket still attached.

I had to use a hammer to slowly get it out then 2 large screwdrivers to pry it appart.

 

Lots of good info on this thread. Wonder why it was not a sticky. It is now...

 

Can the passenger side CV axle be removed from the side shaft while in the vehicle on an AWD Murano. The service manual seems to say so in a couple locations. Any suggestions on tools to get it out. I've tried a couple pry bars, but neither seems to get much leverage to pop it loose. The axle came out of the bearing quite easily, but it's the other side being a pain.

I can see the clip on the replacement axle I bought which needs to be overcome to get it out.

 

I have the new shaft to install on the passenger side. What is the trick to get the new shaft on with the C-clip in place? Is there a trick to compress the C-clip?

Thanks
2004 AWD

 

My experience (2004 AWD) : I just replaced the passenger side of the drive shaft. Here are the key items:

removed "outside" shaft without a problem. Used pry bar to separate shaft.

Replacement part did not come with new C-ring as required by Nissan. Was forced to use old one. Ring was so stiff from age I could not get new shaft installed. BE SURE TO ORDER NEW C-RING WITH NEW PART.

Had to remove "inner" shaft to get the proper leverage to install outer shaft. Removing inner shaft causes loss of transfer case oil.

With both parts removed, was able to connect the two drive shaft parts. Re-installation of whole shaft was easy.

PITA ALERT: accessing the transfer case oil filler screw is almost impossible. requires EXTRA long 12mm open ended wrench, socket wrenches will not fit. nothing else fits. I could not find local retailer with proper tool so had to take car to shop and pay to have a few ounces of oil added!!! VERY frustrating.

 

Side oil differential seal, did anyone change it?

Noticed service manaul recommends changing the seal prior to installing new drive shaft. Anyone do this or had luck with it??

 

I did the drivers side on my 07 AWD Saturday and changed the seal. It had a very slight leak for a long time so I knew it needed to be done. Since I was already borrowing a 32mm socket from autozone's free tool rental program I grabbed their slide hammer as well. It popped the old seal out like nothing. I got lucky and one of the round adapters in the kit happened to fit just perfectly around the seal so I used it and a regular hammer to drive the new seal in without damaging it. My plan was to find a socket or piece of pvc pipe that would contact just the outside rim of the seal and use that to hammer it in.

I also cheated and jacked the drivers side up quite high, allowing me to do the swap and only lose a couple spoonfuls of CVT fluid.

 

Anybody have the Nissan part number for the side Oil seal? Dealership was no help on figuring out which seal.

 

I didn't get the part through the dealer so I can't help you there. I got all my parts from RockAuto and just got the one listed as drivers side output shaft seal.

My invoice shows: NATIONAL 710632

 

Search is your friend. Look here.....http://www.nissanmurano.org/forums/75-awd-vdc/18347-axle-seal-part-numbers.html

 

Gonna tackle this in a couple weeks, a 2006 AWD there seems to be some confusion regarding cvt fluid. Is it or isn't it a concern and if so, is simply draining a bit so it doesn't cross contaminate sufficient?

 

I saw a couple people mention they damaged their tie rod ends and ball joints getting them to come out. I have done axles a few times and I never release the ball joints or tie rod ends. What I do instead is disconnect the steering knuckle from the strut and then the top of the knuckle drops away from the car about 8 inches and then you can pivot the knuckle all over the place. If you need more clearance or a different angle, you can turn the steering wheel to rotate the knuckle to accomplish this. Eventually you'll find a spot that works and you can push the spline right out of the hub. You WILL need to remove the speed sensors doing it this way. It's a single 10mm bolt and then the sensors slide right out. I zip tie them up out of the way so I don't damage them.

I've attached a pic of the bolts to remove to release the steering knuckle from the strut.

Thanks for the site and I hope my contribution helps save a few ball joints and tie rod ends!

 

Any suggestions on getting the new CV axle connected to the center drive shaft after taking them apart. This is the second time I've had to replace the CV, but I can't remember how I did it last time. All I remember was that it was a PITA.

 

Was planning on only doing my passenger side axle after inner boot tear and ended up doing both sides. Here is some my observations.

1. Passenger side, when I pulled it out no oil came out, that said I didn't take off the 3 bolt triangle piece so just slid out the axle and slid the new on back in. I didn't change the gasket as I had a heck of time doing it on the driver side so took a risk so far so good. Not sure if my cvt level was low or if it cross contaminated.. I did a cvt oil drop just in case and was going to anyway, plan on replacing the to oil in spring if not sooner anyway as it has never been changed.

2. I didn't take off any abs stuff, just undid pinch bolt and hammer out ball joint and you can maneuver out the axle, back in with the help of a 5lb sledge and put back on the pinch bolt.

Needed to wrestle it out mind you with the help of a big screw driver and pry bar to detach from the triangle piece. My neighbour helped out as a 2nd hand makes everything sook much easier and faster with guiding pieces and hammering.

3. Driver side, I was doing my lower control arm and the cv axle literally feel apart... Opened the inner boot and soooo sloppy and so much metal filings. Super lucky I caught it now.

definitely see if you can get a buddy to help, 4 hands helps a lot. 1 person is fine but will be significantly more tough. I had the car up on stands, took just under 2 hrs for both sides. Lots of muscling and and heavy pulling etc.. Not a job for the faint of heart!

Getting the pinch bolt off is easy, impact on the front and a wrench on the nut on the back by the tie rod or even adjustable wrench and bang right off.

Thanks for the great thread, save me a tone of cash and great learning experience.

Inside aftermarket cv axles from a parts wholesaler. I'll see how they hold up.

Now I gotta do both stabilizer links!! Seriously.. Both lca have been done, both axles and now both links all pretty much failed at the same time!

 

Did my passenger side this weekend (06 SL AWD) and here's my observations:

• replacement axle (Carquest brand) was bought online from Advance Auto Parts for $50 after coupon (they always have coupons) and picked up at the local store
  
• outer tie rod ball joint was spinning with the nut so left it attached and disconnected hub assembly at the lower control arm ball joint and strut instead
  
• removed caliper and rotor from hub assembly
  
• disconnected speed sensor for clearance
  
• did not have a slide hammer but was able to disconnect axle from intermediate axle by going up with a screwdriver from underneath the car (no place to lever the screwdriver but with a wrench attached on the screwdriver handle I was able to twist the screwdriver and lever the axle off the circlip fairly easily, it may bend the outer flange on the old axle but that's ok if you're not keeping it)
  
• I thought the tough part was over but the new axle was not going over the circlip no matter how much pounding from a 5lb sledge (with nut on axle to protect from mushrooming)
  
• look at the attached pics and you can understand why people may have various experiences on how hard/easy it can be, the receiving end of the axle has a taper machined into it and it's the taper that compresses the circlip as the axle is pushed on; stock axle had a long taper which should require less force, my aftermarket had a short taper
  
• at this point it was either pull the intermediate axle out of the transmission and try to assemble off the car or remove the strut and try to get better leverage, I removed the strut which isn't as bad as it sounds, you only have to remove half of the plastic trim from the top and can use the 3 strut holes to remove the strut nuts (using a magnet to retrieve any bolts which falls down underneath the fairing) you'll also need to jack the entire front of the car to remove the stress on the swaybar strut mount so it can be detached
  
  
  
  
  

  • coated circlip with a coating of heavy grease to hold it centered
  • with everything now out of the way I was able to hold the axle perfectly perpendicular and it popped in with just 2 hits from the sledgehammer and could have probably done it without the sledgehammer

Just to make everything more difficult the replacement axle had a nut which was about 1mm larger than stock but still had the same size threads so I reused the original nut rather than having to buy a new socket.

 

I'm replacing my driver side CV axle for the second time, however this time I can't get the axle to stay clipped in. Once I seat the axle in all the way, I can pull it out by hand without a pry bar. I've tried two axles from Autozone, both with the same problem. There doesn't appear to be any damage in the transmission, so I'm puzzled why it won't stay clipped in. Any advice would be appreciated as I've generally had the opposite challenge in my years.

 

Line it up straight. Use a jack stand to help the middle part, and then use a 3-4 lb. hammer and tap it in on the axle nut end. That was how I did it many years back. Good luck.

 

It's not an issue with getting the axle in all the way. The issue is that I can basically pull the axle out by hand with just a little jimmying of it. If the clip won't seat in properly then the axle will slide out as soon as I drive it.

I did double check the transmission slot and there's a small chip on the edge where the clip sits in. I'm not sure if that would be causing the problem, but I see it as one possible culprit - a very bad one if it's the case.

 

You need to get the clip at the end of the axle going into the cvt to lock. Do what I suggested and should work. You may need to give it a few solid hammering. Make sure its level and straight. And yes, when you giving it a pull, it should not come off. If it does, it has not locked yet. Try rotating it a little while its in there. And then hammer away on the other end of the axle.

BTW, were you careful when putting back the axle into the cvt? The seal at the lip can get banged up and cause a leak at times. I might even replace it since you are there already.

 

Is that a good idea to hammer it? I didn't have to hammer on my old Max.

 

I used my short handle 3 lb. sledge to tap it in to the cvt. I was not swinging away like its a home run hit. So yeah, a couple of taps should push it in enough to lock. Pushing by hand was not working then. Anyway, its been a while and my 04 MO is still running great.