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This DIY requires a couple special tools; however, even if you don't have them, this thread should give you an idea of the issue and what's involved in fixing it.
As indicated in the TSB, the symptom of this problem is a vibration from the rear of the car under acceleration. In particular, it's worse under hard cornering and/or acceleration, and is often worse when turning right, since the left CV joint tends to go first. As you'll see below, the root cause is pitting of the bearing surfaces in the the CV joint housings. The correct solution is to replace the bearing housings, though if you're in a pinch (say, in the middle of a 3-day track weekend ) or out of the warranty period and strapped for cash, you can do what I did: just swap the old bearing housings left for right. This presents a new set of bearing surfaces to the driveline when using the forward gears. However, when in reverse, the pitted surfaces will be engaged and the vibration will be back. Usually this is not much of an issue, though, since we don't often gun it or corner hard while in reverse. At least, not AS hard.
OK, to the DIY. As always, consult your Helm manual before attempting anything you read online. Alternately, just get davepk to help.
First, get up early so you can have the swap done in time to make it out for the first track sessions:
This is best done when the car's cold. Jack it up, put it on jackstands, and remove the rear wheels. Looking from the rear, here's what you see:
The diff housing of course is the big finned case in the middle; the inner CV joints are the beige metal cups bolted to either side of the diff with 6 nuts and bolts each. Fortunately, removing the CV joints won't drain the diff so you don't need any diff fluid. However, we found it easiest to remove the entire half-shaft, which required a couple special tools: a big honkin' impact wrench to remove the axle nuts, and a ball joint separator:
(Note: there's another special tool coming later.) You can rent or borrow impact wrenches from most hardware stores. You'll also need to buy two CV boot clamps (not just hose clamps since the sharp edges can cut the soft rubber of the boot), and some hi-temp CV grease. The recommended grease is Redline CV-2 Red Moly grease, and OEM straps are best, but since I was in a pinch I had to settle for these cheap imitations:
If you can't get OEM ones, the boot clamps come in "small" and "large" generally; you'll need the large ones.
Now, remove the six 14mm nuts and bolts from the driver's side inner CV flange. You can get the impact wrench up there with a short extension. In the wheel wells, loosen the brackets holding the ABS sensor wires to give them some play. Pop the lower A-arm joint with the joint tool. You'll want to try to save the cotter pins, or have a couple extras on hand if they break. Finally, remove the axle nut with the impact wrench (it's a big socket, 36mm). Now, being careful not to damage the ABS wire, pull the hub away from the axle just enough that you can get the half-shaft and CV joint free. (Don't pull on the CV boot; always grip the metal housing.) Once the axle's out, you'll have to break off the existing CV boot strap. The CV joint housing can now be pulled free, spilling out lots of CV grease. Here's the inimitable davepk with my left axle (oriented the "wrong way" in the pic):
Notice the rust on the axle splines (right end of the shaft in this pic); add a little of the CV grease to the splines and you'll also cure/prevent the annoying-but-harmless rear-axle "click" noise. Now repeat the above to remove the passenger's side axle. Most likely, your passenger's side CV is OK, while the driver's side is damaged. As shown below, this was obvious in my case: the grease from the left-side CV was several shades darker due to the metal filings built up in it!
Here's a close-up of the pitting that occurs on the "driven" bearing surfaces:
Now if you're replacing the CV joints, just fill the new ones with the new grease. If like me you're just swapping them left to right, but you managed to find the good RedLine CV grease, wipe off all the old OEM grease from the cup and bearings and refill with the new stuff. In my case, we weren't too optimistic about the cheapo CV grease I'd been able to find, so we left the old OEM stuff in and just added the new grease to it.
Finally, reassemble the joints and install the new boot clamps. This is best done with a strap tool, which can generate enough leverage to get the straps good and tight:
Trim any excess from the straps once they're tight.
Now just reinstall everything in reverse order and you're done! Again, be careful when pulling on the hub not to damage the ABS wires (ask me how I know ). When the axle nuts are retightened, use a hammer and screwdriver to put a new crimp in the nut flange if necessary. There's no real "break-in" required for the new housings, I don't think, but you can go easy on it for a few hundred miles if you really want to be careful.
I've done one already and the car is like new again. TIP...the factory band clamps on this car are the most superior design. They can, and SHOULD, be re-used. They could litterally be re-used hundreds of times. A simple pair of pliers easily releases them.
Noticed that you removed the halfshafts completely from the car.
I've also done this on other front wheel drive cars and there may be a quicker way of doing this.
If you can get enough clearance by swinging out the upright, it should be possible to diassemble and remove the inner CV joints from the halfshafts without having to undo the outer CV from the upright. This avoids having to engage the swear drive to get the outer CV hub nut undone, or upsetting the hub bearings.
What you do is detach the inner CV from the differential flange, Undo the CV boot clip and pull the CV housing off, you can then undo the trunnion circlip and remove that and the boot from the inner end of the halfshaft. Reinstallation is the reverse of removal.
I am having this done on Wednesday. HondaCare is having them replaced under warranty. $0 out of pocket for me and they provide the rental. Second time HondaCare has come through for me, best extended warranty I ever bought. The dealership had to call the tech line for Honda to figure this out, however, even after I explained it to them because I spoke to Billman about this earlier. I realize this is reviving an old thread, but at least now people with HondaCare will know that it will be diagnosed and at least for me, fixed without cost.
10-09-2004, 08:58 PM
(axle bucket) Inner CV joint swap DIY with pics
Eventually, Honda did release TSB 02-063 for this fix; it can be found here on S2Ki:
) or out of the warranty period and strapped for cash, you can do what I did: just swap the old bearing housings left for right. This presents a new set of bearing surfaces to the driveline when using the forward gears. However, when in reverse, the pitted surfaces will be engaged and the vibration will be back. Usually this is not much of an issue, though, since we don't often gun it or corner hard while in reverse. At least, not AS hard. 
davepk with my left axle (oriented the "wrong way" in the pic):
). When the axle nuts are retightened, use a hammer and screwdriver to put a new crimp in the nut flange if necessary. There's no real "break-in" required for the new housings, I don't think, but you can go easy on it for a few hundred miles if you really want to be careful.
