93 Acclaim Axel Boot problem

I noticed that a boot has tore off the axel on the inner side of the
end of the axel that goes into the transmission. I just bought this
car and I've been noticing a loud humming type noise whenever I go
around a left curve while accelerating. Obviously the boot will need
to be replaced, but does anybody know if the drive shaft or anything
else will have to be replaced? How much labor do you think I would be
looking at for a job like this and would this be something that I
could do myself. I live in Mississippi. Thanks. DJ

 

R U a troll?

Seems DS answered this for you at the beginning of May,, however for the
benefit of new readers I will repost his answer..hope I have his
permission..

My '91, first '92 and recently-purchased second '92 all did this. The
noise wasn't *loud*, but it was present. If yours is loud, it's because
the engine mounts are worn, off center, or both. The mounts on these cars
are not fixed; when certain bolts are loosened they allow the engine to be
shifted laterally by a surprisingly large amount. There is a procedure for
centering them properly, and this should be followed if you're to get
maximum life from your exhaust pipe-to-manifold junction/gasket (and
freedom from noises on left turns). Assuming your mounts are in good
condition -- which they may not be, given the car is over a decade old --
your engine is too far over to the right.

OK, that means (a) the other two engine mounts and the rear transaxle
mount are probably similarly tired, and (b) you may not have realized the
importance of re-centering the engine after replacing any of the mounts.

That's your transfer gears in the transaxle's final-drive. Most of these
cars make this noise, and in most cases it is not at all loud. If it is
loud, it is either because sagged-out engine/trans mounts are allowing
contact between the engine/trans and the body, or because something is
seriously wrong with the transfer gears. Since the transfer gears usually
don't fail, I suspect the former.

DS

 

Depending how long it's been like that, you may get away with just a new
boot or you may need a new inner CV joint (or, more commonly, a rebuilt
left halfshaft).

What was the matter with the detailed info I gave you on this problem when
you reported it in early May?

 

Since the CV joint seems to have gotten noisy, you'll probably need to
replace the half-shaft. I don't know what you can and can't do;
that's a job I've done before (once when I spotted the torn boot
before the CV joint was damaged, and I was able to rebuild it!).
Take a look in your factory service manual and see how feasible it
looks to you.

The one thing to *not* do is replace the dead boot with an EZ-boot, or
whatever they call those split boots that you can put on the
half-shaft without pulling it. There are two reasons for this:
first, your CV joint needs to be rebuilt or your half-shaft replaced,
so the half-shaft has to come out for the job anyway. Second,
EZ-boots are crap that are broken by design.

 

The split boots are junk, but there are non-split type replacement boots
that work quite well. If the old boot is caught in time, and the CVJ is in
good shape, no reason not to put on a new boot and keep driving.

 

Sorry I wasn't clear: I didn't mean to imply he shouldn't replace the
boot, just that he shouldn't use an EZ-boot. But, I don't think I'd
want to just slap on a new boot and keep driving: once the integrity
of the seal is breached, I wouldn't want to trust the joint to have
not gotten contaminated. And once I've taken the half-shaft out,
rebuilding the joint is a comaparitively small task. I'd *really*
hate to just replace the boot, and find out in a few thousand miles
that I needed to have rebuilt the CV joint!

 

Maybe most (all?) would also agree here that *IF* you could trust
aftermarket sources for quality rebuilt half axles, because your time is
worth something (literally true in a job shop situation), it would be a
reasonable decision to replace the half axle even if all that's needed
is a joint cleaning, repacking, and rebooting, but because of the risk
of getting lousy rebuilts, it might be worth refurbing the original half
shaft even if the labor makes that route cost a little more. One could
argue that *IF* he finds a reliable source for quality rebuilts, that
the philosophy would be "when in doubt, replace the half shaft". Some
claim that NAPA is such a source, and I tend to believe it based on
limited (DIY) personal experience and what I have read on some forums.

Bill Putney
(to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with "x")