[RayH]

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.

 

[rzsionak]

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.

 

[nitely]

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.

 

[rzsionak]

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.

 

[nitely]

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.

 

[joeh]

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

 

[nitely]

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.

 

[nigel517]

With grateful thanks to this forum I managed to remove the cv axle from my 2006 murano. I'm in the UK and here we cannot get the cheap replacement axles that you get in the states. I was going to get one of your us ones delivered but I have noticed that there is a difference in the long shift that goes into the transfer case. The UK one has an extra bearing thingy which the replacements don't. Did the US ones have these and the aftermarket replacements have left this off. I will try and post a pic. Thanks.

 

[nigel517]

With grateful thanks to this forum I managed to remove the cv axle from my 2006 murano. I'm in the UK and here we cannot get the cheap replacement axles that you get in the states. I was going to get one of your us ones delivered but I have noticed that there is a difference in the long shift that goes into the transfer case. The UK one has an extra bearing thingy which the replacements don't. Did the US ones have these and the aftermarket replacements have left this off. I will try and post a pic. Thanks.

This is the one i can find in the us

 

[nigel517]

This is the one i can find in the us

i know several people have posted a similar question but no one posted what they eventually did to sort it out.

 

[cya442]

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.

Jay S - Do you recall what adapter kit you rented from Autozone? I am at the point of trying to reinstall the seal but the only kit they had was the bearing press kit.

 

[cya442]

Nevermind. I put together my own tool out of PVC electrical pipe (E940K-CTN 2 1/2 Inch PVC Coupling) and cut it down to approx 3/4". I then used a bearing press that fit the opening and after freezing the seal for several hours was able to press the seal in quite easily.

 

[Glaucus]

Hello everyone. I've been doing some research into this as I need to change my passenger side CV axle and I'm a bit confused as to what part I need to order. I have a 2007 Murano S AWD and it seems like there are two possible CV axles that might fit it: Models "without an Intermediate Shaft" and a different one for models which I presume have one. RockAuto lists two totally different parts for AWD Front Right:

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=6763080&cc=1434436&jsn=1051&jsn=1051&jsn=1051

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=2745056&cc=1434436&jsn=1046&jsn=1046&jsn=1046


From what I've read here most people seem to have the latter of the two, but how can one tell? Is it encoded in the VIN? Could the dealership tell me without having to take it apart? My concern is I order the wrong one.


Note, the top one is NOT the FWD variant, that one is noticeably different.


Any thoughts on how to determine which one to get would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[nitely]

Hello everyone. I've been doing some research into this as I need to change my passenger side CV axle and I'm a bit confused as to what part I need to order. I have a 2007 Murano S AWD and it seems like there are two possible CV axles that might fit it: Models "without an Intermediate Shaft" and a different one for models which I presume have one. RockAuto lists two totally different parts for AWD Front Right:

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=6763080&cc=1434436&jsn=1051&jsn=1051&jsn=1051

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=2745056&cc=1434436&jsn=1046&jsn=1046&jsn=1046


From what I've read here most people seem to have the latter of the two, but how can one tell? Is it encoded in the VIN? Could the dealership tell me without having to take it apart? My concern is I order the wrong one.


Note, the top one is NOT the FWD variant, that one is noticeably different.


Any thoughts on how to determine which one to get would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

You only need the bottom one. Do not remove the mid shaft support. Just pry out the shaft between the cv housing and the support from under. Keep turning the shaft to get the circ clip to unlock easier while prying. Does not require too much strength when prying on the right spot.

 

[Glaucus]

You only need the bottom one. Do not remove the mid shaft support. Just pry out the shaft between the cv housing and the support from under. Keep turning the shaft to get the circ clip to unlock easier while prying. Does not require too much strength when prying on the right spot.

Thanks Nitely,


That makes sense and that's what I expecting and just looking for confirmation.



One question though. When I replaced the wheel hub this past weekend I noticed that the drive shaft isn't easy to rotate by hand. I suspect that's because I had it in Park and the rear wheels were on the ground still. To make it easy to rotate should I lift all 4 wheels off the ground and leave it in neutral? Or do I just need to put more effort into spinning it?

 

[nitely]

You just need the front end up on jack stands and remove both front tires to make it easier.

 

[Glaucus]

So about a month ago I attempted this repair and it all went fairly well. The one thing that caused me some problem was getting the old one off. I tried a couple of different crowbars but there's very little good leverage when you're not taking that intermediate shaft out. What I ended up doing is taking some steel cable, wrapping one end around the inner CV shaft and tied the other to a cinder block. I slowly started pulling the cinder block away from the car and the thing just popped out. This is essentially an improvised slide hammer which is how you're supposed to take that off anyway.

Also, I never did detach the outer tie rod from the steering knuckle. Instead I just needed to loosen the strut bolts so that I could more easily move the strut to the side (it was fully disconnected from the steering knuckle of course).

So yay, I'm quite happy about that. Thanks for this site and everyone on it for helping out.

 

[Glaucus]

Ok, about a year later and I'm looking at the driver's side CV axle. I've been reading a lot about fluid loss, and I expect to lose a little NS2 fluid from the CVT itself. I bought 1L of NS2 fluid from Nissan, will that be enough or should I have more?

Also, I've read about cross contamination between the CVT and Transfercase (this is a 2007 AWD Base model). Is that an issue when doing the from Left/Driver's side or just when you pull out the full shaft on the right/passenger side?

 

[Glaucus]

I sourced a replacement front-left (driver's side) CV axle. The problem is that it does NOT have a C clip attached. First question, is it ok to reuse the one on my existing CV axle? If so, what's the procedure to remove it from the old one and install it on the new one? Do I need any special tools? Thanks again.

 

[nitely]

I sourced a replacement front-left (driver's side) CV axle. The problem is that it does NOT have a C clip attached. First question, is it ok to reuse the one on my existing CV axle? If so, what's the procedure to remove it from the old one and install it on the new one? Do I need any special tools? Thanks again.

It usually comes with it. You can get a new circular clip from the dealer and install it. Never reuse the old one. Be carefully not to stretch it so much when installing. Or return that and get a different one with the circular clip already installed.