96 850 Turbo - Replaced both CV axles today.

bugs11 · Post by **bugs11** » 14 May 2016, 22:27

New axles were USA remans from FCP Euro. The axles looked good and fit perfectly. Only complaint was black spray paint on the passenger side axles' splines that fit into the transmission. First try to fit that axle met significant resistance. Cleaned all the spray paint off the splines, including the dried globs on the end of the axle and then the axle slid in just fine. The passenger side ball joint is fine, but the driver side ball joint rubber boot was splitting - it still had good movement though, not loose, sticky, or gritty. I probably still go ahead and replace the driver side control arm later this summer (maybe both). The control arms are Meyle.

The test drive was sublime. No more clunk when getting off the gas, no ker-clunk when going from drive to reverse. And the speedometer worked. I pulled the speed sensors and cleaned them, the repair manual said to remove the speed sensor before pulling the axle. The amount of play in the removed axles was quite substantial compared to the new remans.

My cv axle tips would be to not even mess with the ball joint, just remove the control arms from the frame to allow the hub to swing free. I used the chisel method to pop the driver side axle free, don't be afraid to rap the chisel with a real hammer. I initially used a 12 oz. ball peen hammer to drive the chisel, but that only got me so far. Got the 3lb hammer, gave the chisel a light rap and the axle popped out. Pack the driver side axle seating clip with grease to hold in the correct position during insertion into the transmission. I drained the transmission and replaced both axles seals since I was in there. This was the second of three planned transmission drains. The removed seals were somewhat corroded, but the rubber on the seals seemed fine. Oh and have neighbor that is a mechanic so you can borrow his axle socket set and his high dollar Snap-on computerized torque wrench to torque the axle nut.

Post by **abscate** » 15 May 2016, 05:20

That's a lot of heavy grunt work for not-so-visible repairs, but well done!!

I have had to remove both driveshafts for FWB work and it's big socket stuff...

bugs11 · Post by **bugs11** » 15 May 2016, 09:08

Yeah, I was tired at the end of the day, but very pleased with the results of the work. I'm hoping cleaning the speed sensors fixed the intermittent speedometer.

bugs11 · Post by **bugs11** » 16 May 2016, 09:57

No luck with speedometer, not working again. Time to pull the ABS module and send off for repair.

Post by **sleddriver** » 16 May 2016, 15:59

Been there: Done That: Sure Did Get Dirty Doing It.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 16 May 2016, 18:36

Make sure to let FCP that their axles worked but the spray paint and goop on them was unwelcome. They are good about correcting things and want to make things better for us. I write them all the time with suggestions- some of which have been implemented. If I had taken the credit for these things and manufactured some things myself, I'd be a richer man... LOL. But it's all good- if it helps other enthusiasts!!