quick question off topic

[jhaynes578]

my sister has a honda prelude and something went wrong with the steering she took it in and they said that it was the CV shaft joint... and they quoted like $400 fix. So she went to me to see if i could do it for cheaper the only problem is i have no idea what the heck she is talking about and i dont know if i could do it... any info into this will be greatly appreciated and any advise as how to fix it will be great

 

[Kilgore Trout]

CV joints are what transfer power from the transmission to the wheels. The CV stands for Continous Velocity. I believe that they are fairly difficult to install and $400 sounds like a fair price for one side.

More info on CV: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CV_joint

I ran an 81 Civic on crapped out CV joints for thousands of miles. The boots were all ripped and when the clicking got bad I would just splooge grease from a grease gun up in there.

 

[jhaynes578]

alright sweet thank you kilgore for the info i was thinkin that i shouldnt mess with somethin like that, but also knew she could probably go for a while with it being bad

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Well, what "went wrong with the steering" though?

Steering and CV are pretty much two different systems although slightly related.

If there is a true steering issue it could lead to an unsafe situation.

What were the exact symptoms of the steering issue?

 

[san~man]

On Honda's, the CV joint is covered by a rubber boot. Over time, the boot cracks, tears, splits, and/or falls off exposing the joint. The boot holds the lubrication for the joint, so once it degrades, the joint loses lubrication and fails.

Usually Honda recommends replacing the boots after XXX miles to avoid having the boot fail, necessitating replacement of the joint.

You can tell when the joint is gone when you get a clunking noise when you turn the wheel. If you jack the front of the car up and look for the boot (usually close to the engine), if the boot is bad you'll see grease splattered everywhere, or if the boot is totally gone you'll see the joint.

Here's what the boot looks like:

 

[jhaynes578]

well she had complained that when she had turned right that the car was making a sound that was the way she explained it so i said to take her car into the shop b/c she was due for an oil change and to have them do a check up on it cause it might just be low on power steering fluid and then she called and said it was the CV shaft and asked if i could look at it and so i took it out for a spin and noticed if i turned left or right it was making a crakleing sound i guess if i turned it pretty hard
but didnt really notice a difference in the driveabilitey of the car

 

[03gtdrkpny]

I'd bet the cv joint is shot especially if there's a torn boot. Long enough exposure to the elements degrades a joint quite a bit. Boots done by a shop are fairly cheap, I don't recommend doing them yourself unless you've done one before. Transaxles with the joints attached are a different story. I've done them in Daytona's, and every one was a pain in the rear. I'm sure a Prelude isn't much different. Also you usually will get a repeating clunking sound hard cornering if a tie rod is shot.

 

[Pearl02]

I replaced one on my wifes Mitsu Eclipse years ago. It wasn't a difficult job just time consuming. I'd never done one before. I used a repair manual to guide me. The only part about the job that concerned me was dealing with the struts. I made it thru it. It was a good experiance for me. Pearl02.

 

[Shiroelex]

It's not really that hard of a job. The hardest part is getting the shaft out of the transmission. There's a clip on the end of the shaft that holds it in the trans, and it can be a little tough to get it out. I usually take a crow bar, and pry between the CV cup and the trans. All you have to do is pop the lower ball joint, unscrew the CV crown nut in the wheel hub, and yank the thing out. I've got some service guides that I can send you, if you do decide to take this on.