CV Joint Question

[dreiermann]

So I finally get my car on the road after a long winter, and right off the bat I hear popping/clunking while making a left turn. I see that the left inner CV boot is torn, so I have a strong suspicion that is the bad joint. I will pull that axle off tonight or over the weekend, but in the meantime I was trying to source a new part (half-shaft) to be ready - this is where I am running into a problem, because Pelican Parts, FCP Euro, AZ Autohaus, and Rock Auto don't have them. Walloth Nesch has them for 135 Euros, Bav Auto can ship on on June 8 for $444!!! My other option is to remove an axle from my post-facelift parts-car (have to check if they are the same part number), but as long as I am doing this, it would be good to have a new part. Does anyone know of another source for these, or are the joints themselves common enough that I can have a machine shop put a new joint onto the existing axle? Or is the joint itself rebuildable? I am not sure of the typical failure mode for these, maybe only a portion needs to be replaced.
Thanks in advance!

[jclausen]

Personally I would look for a good used one, because we have rarely replaced them in all my years working with BMW's. Try 2002 salvage Hayward ca 510- 582-2002 I think that's there phone number

[cgifool]

They're not terribly hard or expensive to rebuild, as in: take apart, clean well, reassemble with fresh grease and boots.

But, I'm not sure what goes wrong with a clicky one, whether that would fix anything or not.

[320iAman]

Need to take a part and examine, I got both at pick n pull for $40 from BMW 320i 1983 e21, spare ones, I have rebooted and new greased both sets, installed and spare.

Randy

[tlapham]

First make sure the noise is truly a cv joint. Loose bushing? Check your wheel lugs. Jack up the rear of the car and turn the wheels.

[dreiermann]

Long story short:
CV joint fixed, car is quiet.

Short story long:
First of all, for whatever reason when I described the problem above, I said that the inner CV boot was torn - I meant to say that it was the outer boot. So I removed the axle, and the outer joint was indeed not moving the way it should - it was getting hung-up in certain spots. I took it apart, and there were divots worn where the balls had ground into the races, causing detents.

I cleaned it all and put the joint back together without grease to see if it would move better (hoping that it was loose junk causing the problem rather than the detents on the races), but it did not. So I cleaned up all the divots with emery cloth on a piece of 1/2 copper pipe, essentially re-machining the races. That was tedious! But when I put it back together, it moved very smoothly.

Because I had bought two new boots, I did the inner joint too, and although it had some shiny spots on the races, it had no divots, so I just cleaned it and re-assembled with new grease. Re-checked the completed axle for free movement, and it worked perfectly and smoothly. Put it back in the car, went for a test drive, and I get the SAME NOISE while turning left! Under the car, I see a shiny spot on the driveshaft where the exhaust pipe was rubbing. For whatever reason, even though the pipe is on the right side of the driveshaft, they would make contact only during a left turn. I fixed that and the noise was gone.

I am kind of mad at myself for mis-diagnosing the noise, but on the other hand, that torn boot needed to get replaced anyway, and it is definitely a good thing that I erased the damage done to the CV joint from the dirt that had gotten in there. At least I didn't spend $444 and wait two weeks to get to where I am at!

[cgifool]

Good news! Thanks for the tip about polishing the races!