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Grinding in the front end, passenger side of my front wheel drive dl wagon


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Hello all! Well, for starters, I realized a few days ago that my cv boot was torn so I was planning to get items to do a quick fix to hold me over until my mechanic comes back from vacation next week. THEN today, on my way to the auto parts store for cv grease the front end started sounding...um...grindy. Like very grindy. Especially as I ulled into the auto parts store. Got what ai needed there & headed to hardware store for contractor bags & zip ties to close off the boot. Smeared some grease into the boot to get me home. Was still bad. Got home & did the jobby & went for a test run. It was TERRIBLE!! Grind, grind, grind especially when turning. I kind of think it's not even the cv joint & maybe wheel bearings. I don't think the cv joint would get this bad this fast. Thoughts?

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Yes- it does have disassembly instructions. She's an '88 dl. I took the wheel off earlier to check the axle nut & it was slightly loose but the cotter pin that goes through it won't allow for it to be any tighter. I took out the pin & tightened it as much as possible & couldn't get it close enough to other holes for the cotter pin to go through. What does one do in this situ?

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I am pretty sure that an 88 should be an EA82 engine.  Pretty likely throttle body / SPFI fuel system.

How to put the nut on -

Tighten.  Add a 2 foot long handle to the wrench.  The nut is supposed to be around 150 foot lbs of torque.

Once it is tight enough you can't budge it without the add on handle, add the handle, and tighten a little, check the holes for the cotter pins.  There should be 2 holes in the axle, 90 degrees apart.  This give twice the number of positions the nut will  line up with the notches on the nut.

 

I do this final tightening with the wheel on, and on the ground, as the parking brake can't always stop you from turning the axle.   You are only looking for a fraction of a turn before a set of holes / notches line up.

Position the wrench so that you can use body weight to lean down on the handle, but also be set up to catch yourself if something slips.

If the nut is not tight, you can get odd noises.  And eventually worse, strip the splines out of the hub.

Likewise, when disassembling, pull the cotter and back the nut off until it is normal wrench handle tight, then jack up the car and pull the tire off.

 

Edited by DaveT
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If you replace it,  try to find a used  oem axle, and reboot and regrease it.  Aftermarket axles are junk.

What I do is clean, regrease,  reboot a spare one, then make the swap.

The hard part depends....  you have to get the knuckle disconnected from the lower ball joint, or the strut disconnected from the knuckle to get enough movement to get the axle out.

Some of them press out easily,  almost just by hand, some need a big gear puller (or a soft face dead blow hammer ) to push out.  Bearing don't like impact, so never hit anything in a way the transfers metal on metal impact to bearings. 

A big factor is how rusty are things underneath?   Use liquid wrench or airokroil a day or so before on the suspension bolts, etc.  Brake caliper mounting bolts.

The first time or 2 this job can be a bit slow, but it doesn't bother me at all now.  

Road salt can make things pretty difficult.   Anti seize everything when re assembling,  and any future work will be noticably easier .   Go on the light end of torque range when using anti seize. 

For the transmission end of the axle - get the correct size drift!  The pins are hollow roll pins, if you use one a size too small, it will drive into the hole and jam incredibly tightly making a nightmare you don't want or need.

When assembling, verify the holes line up , as the axle will slip on the splines, but there is only one orientation where the holes line up straight. 

If everything is normal roll pins don't need big blows to move.

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I have an OEM axle here with new outer CVJ that may fit your DL. New boots & grease on inner joint.

Look it over to see if its a match. PM me if interested. $25 plus shipping.

7RLGGp.jpg

 

Grinding while driving could be brakes too, especially if wheel brgs have been failing for awhile or hub splines are loose on CVJ.

Causes pads to wear unevenly.

Look at your front tire to see if it looks tipped in at the top vs the other side. Jack up the car, grab tire then check for play.  6 & 12 o'clock then 3 & 9 o'clock.

Edited by czny
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