Failure Mode of CV's ?, ... what actually will occur Options

[vesnyder]

I am getting a creaking noise coming from my axle CV, as best I can assess, and was curious how these will fail? I took them apart and repacked them with grease, but hod little to no affect. Will the inner CV just disintegrate and I will no longer get power to the wheels, or will something more catastrophic occur? I am debating wether I should wait until the noise gets unbearable, or fix them ASAP? It does not seem to be getting any worse? Thanks

[michel richard]

I broke one a couple of years ago. The little cage inside the joint broke in several pieces. I was accelerating on the Interstate when traffic was freeing-up, then, loud bang, no more power to the wheels, engine would just rev like the tranny was in neutral.

I was able to pull over to the shoulder of the highway, pulled out the trusty cell and called AAA. No huge drama.

Michel

[ptravnic]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)

Same happened to me except on neighborhood street, not highway. Thank you AAA...

[vesnyder]

Thanks guys - what I was hoping. Means no real hurry to purchase/install new ones.

[Joe Ricard]

I think Mueller had a cool way to adapt the Type 1 CV. as 914 units are hrd to find and pretty expensive.

Creaking and clicking or BANG is CV
Groaning/ howling is Wheel bearing.

Whenyou take off the VC joint from the axle pull it apart and you can see the wear marks in the form of grooves in a bad one.
as in the bang is where there ia a crack in the cage. Typicla cause is spinning tires that suddenly stick and generate high loads.
These little CV's were designed to stand up to itty bitty skinny tires and 100 HP cars.
I'm suprised mine have held up as well as they have.

[ptravnic]

I believe new ones are scarce. Someone on the board has a line on them - a slightly modified version... Memory a bit fuzzy on this one though. Slap on a used one w/a healthy packing of cv grease and you should be fine.

I ran mine for a few years w/the "clunk" but that was just b/c I couldn't figure out what was making the noise... That was back pre 914club days tho... Good luck.

-pt

[vesnyder]

pt - The fact that you were able to get by a couple years with the "clunk" is encouraging. It may take me that long to find someone to machine some Type I's!

[DBCooper]

You might want to re-think those priorities. If the CV breaks at the transmission end, most common, no big drama, you just don't go anywhere until it's fixed. If it breaks on the wheel end and you rev the engine to see why you don't have any more power the loose axle can flail around and beat the holy crap out of everything in its reach. Not pretty or cheap.

[ptravnic]

Mine broke on the wheel end but like I said, I was in neighborhood traffic and the joint actually held via the rubber boot/metal holding the boot. Shreds of metal inside the boot but it all stayed up. Highway speeds mayhave been another story though...

[Cap'n Krusty]

You might want to re-think those priorities. If the CV breaks at the transmission end, most common, no big drama, you just don't go anywhere until it's fixed. If it breaks on the wheel end and you rev the engine to see why you don't have any more power the loose axle can flail around and beat the holy crap out of everything in its reach. Not pretty or cheap.

Really? How about if it breaks at the left side tranny end and takes out the starter and the tranny case? Ample examples out there. IF the vibration is bad enough, the bolts can (and DO) back out or break off, then the whole joint becomes a missle. The Cap'n

[Mueller]

Really? How about if it breaks at the left side tranny end and takes out the starter and the tranny case? Ample examples out there. IF the vibration is bad enough, the bolts can (and DO) back out or break off, then the whole joint becomes a missle. The Cap'n

I know of 2 such drivers side CV joint failures that ended up smacking the starter hard enough to cause major damage to the transmission AND the engine case rendering them basicly useless.

I could modify the Type I CVs for you..$20 per set of 4 CV's(or $5 per CV, 4 CV joint minimum). If you buy them from Eric, maybe he can have them drop shipped to me so you are only paying shipping once.

[nomore9one4]

Really? How about if it breaks at the left side tranny end and takes out the starter and the tranny case? Ample examples out there. IF the vibration is bad enough, the bolts can (and DO) back out or break off, then the whole joint becomes a missle. The Cap'n

I know of 2 such drivers side CV joint failures that ended up smacking the starter hard enough to cause major damage to the transmission AND the engine case rendering them basicly useless.

I could modify the Type I CVs for you..$20 per set of 4 CV's(or $5 per CV, 4 CV joint minimum). If you buy them from Eric, maybe he can have them drop shipped to me so you are only paying shipping once.

Mueller, i would be interested in this too if you would? I will not be ready to dig into mine until late sept.Thanks

[Crazyhippy]

my car has weld marks in the rear trunk from a previous owner breaking a cv...

Couldn't have been a pretty sound

BJH