Your quick thoughts on CV Axle Repair Kit - rear axle 'Clicking' at all speeds

[misterTT]

Hey all,

I've been getting a clicking noise at all speeds from the passenger rear of my new-to-me '00 M Roadster over the last two weeks. Upon inspection, the inner CV axle shaft boot is badly torn. This joint seems to be the cause of my problem, and now needs repair or replacement. It did not seem to have any play while I was under there, but I assumed that audible clicking = really bad news for the CV joint itself. Any thoughts as to the actual cause of clicking internally?

Here's my conundrum: I'd really like to not pay $400+ for the OEM rebuilt axle shaft, and new shafts are NLA anyway. Usually there are lower quality reman. units from discount auto or other chains for less than $100. I ordered a new axle made by SurTrack (# BM-8020) for cheap, but it looks like I was misled a bit into thinking it would fit my Z3M Roadster. I think it only fits 1.9l and 2.8l Z3s. I can't seem to find a similar part that will fit the ///M. Anyone know of one that's readily available?

While the wrong axle is being sent to me in the mail, it seems like my best course of action might be to purchase an OEM rebuild kit for $80 or so, and repack the axle myself. I've never done this before, but it seems like a reasonable (if messy) undertaking. I'm worried however that simply repairing the boot and repacking with grease won't really fix the problem. Anyone know if some audible clicking generally means = new CV joint needed?

I suppose i'll be able to tell more once I get the axle out of the car and inspect it. Any thoughts are appreciated. Not sure what to look for to determine if the joint itself is bad - am I looking for worn-down splines, or shaft play, or ?

Thanks in advance!

[328 Power 04]

http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...-911-CVJ-(WIP)

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There are no OEM rebuild kits for the joint itself, just the boots. There is no aftermarket supplier of rebuilt output shafts for the Z3M. The Z3 nonM shaft is VERY different.
I would replace the inner CV joint with the Porsche part as in the link. The Porsche boot is very slightly different, so be careful. To get it to sit properly, you would need to trim it very slightly.

[misterTT]

Nice! I'll give the porsche kit a try. It seems like the best bet would be to buy one of the GKN BMW boot repair kits ($20+shipping) as well as the Porsche kit, and use the BMW boot rather than the Porsche boot - would you agree on that? If I have both on hand and the CV joint seems fine, I can just use the boot repair kit and send the Porsche kit back in that case.

[pine1000]

Hi, I need to replace my axle as well due to excessive play in the outer cv joint. I ended up ordering the rebuilt axle from BMW for about $350 with the BMWCCA discount.

However, a local drivetrain shop quoted only $125 to rebuild the axle, you may want to call around and check on that option in your area.

I'm going with the dealer part so my car won't be out of commission while the axle is rebuilt, and I was also a little concerned about the rebuild quality at the particular shop near me.

[328 Power 04]

The outer joint is not rebuildable without very specialized manufacturing equipment. I suspect their 'rebuild' involves a cleaning and relube.

[pine1000]

The outer joint is not rebuildable without very specialized manufacturing equipment. I suspect their 'rebuild' involves a cleaning and relube.

Yeah, I was concerned that they would tear apart my axle and then say "sorry, we don't have the parts to rebuild this". That said, rebuilding half-axles and driveshafts is what they do. So, they may well have the parts and equipment.

[misterTT]

So I ended up going with the Porsche inner CV joint kit, which does indeed bolt up directly. I ended up being lazy and using the Porsche boot, only to confirm that they do need to be modified a bit to tighten down correctly. I'm still not done with it, but the end is near!

With that said, this has been the least fun DIY I think I've ever done on a car, ever! Not something I look forward to doing again unless I have the correct tools and an actual covered space to do things properly. Ugh. So messy. So very messy.

Will report back once its all buttoned up - I need to make a third (!) Auto parts store run for yet another tool that I didn't realize I would need. This time it's the Oetiker CV clamp pliers. And I broke one of the replacement clamps while rushing things at the end. Now we'll see if anyone carries CV clamps and pliers locally...


... And one more question: the new CV joint doesn't seem to rotate around as smoothly as I would have expected given the ball bearings and tons of grease. It still needs a bit of pressure to move the joint around even with a lot of new grease packed in. I'm hoping this is normal, and maybe that the machine tolerances are just tight? Any opinions? I was really thinking that the joint would move around with no effort at all. Hoping I'm wrong.

[328 Power 04]

Yes, the new CV joints are very very tight. The tolerances are amazing. They will break in, no worries.

They won't be good for a Baja Bug, but very good for precision motorsports.

[PbFut]

As long as it's not binding in one location or angle, you are probably ok. I am not sure I agree with 328. None of the joints I have received were tight. In fact the old ones were tight, new are smooth as butter. As long as you did not use a hammer on the end to "tap" into place you will be ok. If you did, then the CV is junk and you need to replace.
The inner CV is a pretty standard part. Our version is slightly narrow so it is a deviation, but you can also get away with the wider version. I use the wider version on FrankenCoupe with no issue. You can find the wide version at most off road shops as they are very common in sand buggies. You can also find polished versions for less friction if you want to get stupid. Or there is a off road shop in So Cal that sells diamond impregnated sanding wheels that are the perfect diameter to self polish the races. It works very well. As for the outer CV. Good luck. I've not found any way to DIY.

[328 Power 04]

What I mean by tight, is that the new inner ones (like in my thread linked), while smooth, require more force to move them up and down by hand. Sort of stiff like a new tensioner bearing, but smooth without binding. Certainly not easy to move up and down with just a finger's pressure.

That's how mine (brand new GKN Porsche) were.

If that's not right then I will revisit them. I really appreciate a "seasoned" input on these.

[esses]

Perfect timing on this. Looks like my rear CV joint just went too. It sounds like a 10 speed bike when i'm cruising a long... (click click click click click @ wheel speed)

So THANK YOU for this (and to 328 Power 04).

If I'm reading this right, the only 2 part numbers we need are:
91133203001 <-- Note, you HAVE to pick the GKN part here. The Porsche part is a full axle and will cost nearly $400.

33217840673 <-- The BMW version costs about $100. The GKN version costs about $20.

Given that I can't even seem to find a remanufactured BMW axle/joint, it seems like the GKN joint is the only real option, and the only real "choice" is weather you buy a BMW boot or a GKN boot.

Note, the retailer pictured in the box (autohausaz) in the linked thread is the only one that doesn't inundate you with "similar but different" part numbers. (And nobody has pictures!) So while you could buy it from somewhere else, I honestly couldn't figure out with high confidence that I was going to end up buying the right thing.

p.s. the thread linked above really should be in a manifesto section. I didn't see anything for CV joints... and given the parts are NLA, being able to pull a Porsche part is awesome.

[misterTT]

Eases, that sounds right.

As an FYI, I tried this without the BMW boot, thinking I would modify the Porsche boot by trimming a bit off of it. It worked, but not great. Now that it is installed, I don't feel like replacing with the BMW unit, but if I were to do this again, I would 100% buy the BMW boot kit and use that in conjunction.

Also as an update, this did not actually solve my problem with the clicking! After two days of agony getting the CV joint replaced in a driveway, it was a bit disconcerting to hear the same clicking immediately after getting my car on the ground. Upon further exploration, it's looking like an issue with the parking brake. Ugh.

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Also, if you are doing this yourself, make sure to pick up either nippers or oetiker pliers for the special CV boot clamps. That was the third extra tool I needed to buy!

[esses]

parking brake huh? Do let me know what you find. Wouldn't be surprised if that's my culprit too. I only poked around for a few mins before I had to tend to the kid.

I definitely have a torn inner CV boot, so i imagine i'm looking at 90% of the work just to swap boots anyway.

[misterTT]

Yep, its the same amount of work either way! If you caught the tear early, I'm sure you can just repack and put a new boot on there, but if you've already got the joint kit and everything apart - why not, right?

Also, I only figured out that it was parking brake related by engaging the handbrake while driving. Just a click or two up when driving slowly and hearing the click, but the clicking goes away instantly when I simply pull the brake (not even enough to turn on the parking brake dash light). Give that a shot, it can't hurt that's for sure.

It appears to be one of several issue now, all related to the handbrake. It is either 1. Too much slop in the cable, just needing to be tightened, 2. The spring mechanism in the brake assembly needing to be replaced or tightened, 3. The brake pads (shoes?) could be cracked or need to be replaced, or 4. My extended wheel bolts are just a tad too long and are rubbing/clicking against something behind the rotor.

I've already quasi-ruled out #1. Need to dig further to determine which of the remaining options it might be. This all started after I installed spacers and longer wheel bolts in the rear, but I checked and all the bolts are equal in length. It would then stand to reason that I would get 5 clicks rather than one per wheel revolution.

Anyway, fairly confident that this is not a super serious issue. Just embarrassing to drive around like I've got bicycle cards in my spokes!

[esses]

This all started after I installed spacers and longer wheel bolts in the rear,

I think you just solved both of our issues. I too had just installed 15mm spacers and longer wheel bolts (15mm from rogue). I did a quick side-by-side prior to installing and the included bolts were a touch longer than the spacer+stock bolt.... so it's entirely possible that it's poking through the rear of the hub more than it's supposed to. I just didn't think a few mm poke out the back was going to matter. guess clearances are tight back there. I wonder what's back there... time to go investigating.

I'm willing to bet that's (at least) my problem and not a busted CV joint (though I'm going to need to fix that boot anyway).

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Hmmm i wonder if we're just hitting the raised contours of the dust shield with slightly longer bolts.

[misterTT]

It may well be the longer bolts, but for the life of me I cannot figure out why we hear one click per revolution rather than 5 if all the bolts were too long. As an FYI, I had my wheels off yesterday to poke around - I can see the surface of the parking brake pads through the rotor 4 of the holes, and the spring itself through the 5th hole. My bet is that the spring extends just proud of the brake surface and is coming in contact with the bolts ever so slightly. However, that still doesn't make sense with the one-click-per-revolution that i'm having. If you've got a grinder, maybe just grind off a mm or so at the end of the bolts and see what happens. I don't have a way to grind my bolts unfortunately. Doubtful my dremel has a chance against the steel.

[esses]

I just confirmed that it's got to be the 43mm wheel bolts. It might not be a problem if I was running 18mm spacers, but with 15mm spacers, they're just a bit too long.

I just took out the spacers and put the stock wheel bolts back in.... problem solved. No more noise. (and luckily no bad CV joint! w00t!)

So really i need to aim for 39mm bolts which seems to be the next closest size. I can't imagine that 1mm shorter bolts than required is going to make a huge difference (by the math, 25+15=40mm).

Might be worth the 30 minute swap for you too, especially if your noise started right after adding spacers too.

[misterTT]

Awesome, glad to hear it's not the CV!

I may just bite the bullet and convert to wheel studs. Much nicer that way when mounting/dismounting, and really not all that expensive.

[seanrogers]

i think the problem with the clicking or the ticking sound is about not a proper fixing of axle into the hub with bearings. The hub itself is a mess to fit in, especially when DIY it turns out to be more difficult,. Even a minor error can cause the whole ride to create noises and irritations. So, when it happened to me about 5 years ago in 316i, I took it straight to the Cv axle repair shop near my place, known as Axle surgeons. They solved all my trash which I caused in doing it myself.