As some of you may have read in my previous post, I managed to pull apart my CV joint while monkeying around trying to get my shock tower out with the fork still attached. The passenger side axle (obviously the front, the rear has no axles) is the one in question.
I got a replacement axle from my mechanic the next day and installed it. The thing is, the axle was for a 93 LS with ABS. My car does not have ABS. However, he tells me it’ll be fine. So I put my car back together with the new axle, and voila, I’m leaking tranny fluid from the differential oil seal around where the axle meets the differential. After installing a new axle seal, which didn’t solve the problem, I took it back to my mechanic so he could look at it. He tells me the excessive play of the inboard joint and the leaky seal tells him that my differential carrier is shot. For the cost involved ($750 labor to pull the tranny, pull the diff carrier, install a new one and put it all back together, plus cost of parts) I could just get a newer used trans.
Guess what. The ABS axle does NOT fit non-ABS cars. FACT. Just to make sure, I yanked the axle again and took it to Advance Auto Parts to compare it to a 93 LS non-ABS axle. Sure enough, the inboard part of the shaft is a good half inch shorter. I installed the new, non-ABS axle and surprise, no leaks. Let this be known to all who may face this frustrating problem. All I can say is, what if I was just some ignorant guy who just trusted his mechanic’s word? It’s not uncommon, most people don’t know enough to second guess their mechanic’s hypotheses. And to think, I almost blew a grand getting a new trans and having it installed. What a crock!
For God’s sake, archivethis so maybe it can save someone some frustration and heartache down the line!
im gonna have to agree with duy, i think you got the wrong side axle. mabey it was for a civic or something? i dunno but i’ve seen plenty of abs axles used in non abs cars, and vice versa
It’s certainly possible the first axle was the wrong part. When I took it back to Advance Auto, the new axle was visibly different. Who knows what that first axle was, it really could have been anything. I thought the only difference would be the sensor ring too. It’s too bad I’ll never know what the first one was. Maybe it was for a different year or model Integra. I never took the driver’s side axle off, so I don’t know how different that would look.
I posted this in the help forum so someday someone can search and find it here. If its the wrong place, my bad, I did it with good intentions!
After 2 months they start clicking and everytime i go over a bump i hear as if something is lose. I lifted the car and i noticed there was lot of play in the axle. Autozone parts suck, that is my proven experience!!
ok, i jsut had like the EXACT SAME PROBLEM, cept i for sure didnt’ have ABS axles. I leaked fluid out over 3 days before I noticied (sLOOOOW leak) and ended up losing 1qt of tranny fluid. i got even ANOTHER axle and it was .5 in longer. put it in, no leaks. i’m wondering if they told me my pass was driver and vise versa.
CAN SOMEONE CONFIRM EXACTLY WHAT IS DIFFERENT BETWEEN THE DRIVERS AND PASSENGER SIDE AXLE?
Above: Main difference is the size. The driver’s side is shorter (I think).
Original Poster: Some of the newer, better quality axles have the abs ring built-in and can’t be removed. Sometimes that could be a problem, but if the ring is removable, then the axle is the same (abs v non-abs). Sounds like you got the wrong axle.
if you look at the stems coming off the inner boots on both the passenger and driver side axle, the passenger side axle only has grooves that extend half way up the stem. the driver side has grooves all the way up the stem.
[QUOTE=Sylverius;619700]Here is the saga of my passenger side CV axle.
As some of you may have read in my previous post, I managed to pull apart my CV joint while monkeying around trying to get my shock tower out with the fork still attached. The passenger side axle (obviously the front, the rear has no axles) is the one in question.
I got a replacement axle from my mechanic the next day and installed it. The thing is, the axle was for a 93 LS with ABS. My car does not have ABS. However, he tells me it’ll be fine. So I put my car back together with the new axle, and voila, I’m leaking tranny fluid from the differential oil seal around where the axle meets the differential. After installing a new axle seal, which didn’t solve the problem, I took it back to my mechanic so he could look at it. He tells me the excessive play of the inboard joint and the leaky seal tells him that my differential carrier is shot. For the cost involved ($750 labor to pull the tranny, pull the diff carrier, install a new one and put it all back together, plus cost of parts) I could just get a newer used trans.
Guess what. The ABS axle does NOT fit non-ABS cars. FACT. Just to make sure, I yanked the axle again and took it to Advance Auto Parts to compare it to a 93 LS non-ABS axle. Sure enough, the inboard part of the shaft is a good half inch shorter. I installed the new, non-ABS axle and surprise, no leaks. Let this be known to all who may face this frustrating problem. All I can say is, what if I was just some ignorant guy who just trusted his mechanic’s word? It’s not uncommon, most people don’t know enough to second guess their mechanic’s hypotheses. And to think, I almost blew a grand getting a new trans and having it installed. What a crock!
For God’s sake, archivethis so maybe it can save someone some frustration and heartache down the line!
Jim[/QUOTE]
Thank you for posting here , you did help by doing so , we are having exact same issue , parts store said to take off the abs ring , my question is how ???
I think the real problem is in the fact that all the axles available in the market at not to oem spec and remanufactured. You get a axle that has a new inner and outer joint, basically a frankinstine axle so you get something that doesn’t fit or gets you a leaky seal.
The abs really has nothing to do with how the axle works. It’s just a ring that can be added or removed.
Get into the habit of taking your perfectly good axle in to get rebooted and greased.
I had the same issue getting reman axles front parts store until I picked up 2 sets from the pick and pull that looked oem and never looked back.
