HOW-TO: replacing a cv joint for DA/EF (56K beware)
wagodizzle
Council Member and EDM expert
WUTS UP! this is a write-up on how to change a cv joint in a EF/DA (and prolly pretty much anyother Honda).. the "donor" car here is my old Teggy. as you can see here the grease that started spraying out of a damaged cv joint boot. if you catch this early, or regularly inspect your cv joint boots you could save yourself $70 and just replace the boot. but since i am a slacker i noticed when it was too late and the cv joint is already clicking from dirt blah blah, so i just wanted to replace it instead of "fix" it. thus the following write up: enjoy 
(disclaimer: if this doesnt work for you its not my fault, you are prolly just a moron. also, do not ever go under a car without supporting it on jack stands. no, cinder blocks dont count as jack stands..)
here is the grease i was talking about earlier, it sprayed all over my rim:
well first of all, support your car on jack stands and take off the wheel.
and the boot: at first it looked fine and intact except for the grease smeared all over it. later i found the 5 mm little tear in it, prolly from a stick on the road or something. wutever, it sucks.
next you have to take of the giant bolt that holds the cv joint on. its a 1 1/4 inch bolt. if there is two of you working on this one of you can mash the brake pedal and the other can loosen the bolt. or, if you are by yourself like me you can do this: just put a crow bar or other between a couple of the hub things and the brake caliper and then just loosen away. here you can see me working away. now the bolt may have been staked in the side so it doesn't come loose and fall off. this is usually installed at the factory or if the cv joint was previously replaced/repaired so just hammer it back with a chisel as best you can. then proceed with the loosening. it may take a couple trys as it will be on pretty tight :roll:
(also you can see the new CV in the background. duh)
next step is to take off the strut and A-frame bolts in the engine bay. the strut requires the removal of two 14mm bolts, the A-frame two 18mm bolts on the DA or two 17mm bolts on the EF. do that now.
next you have to take off the bolt and nut that holds the bottom of the strut. it takes two 17mm wrenches to take it off. (as you can see i am the moron here by not using proper jackstands, i didnt have ay at the time, not like thats really a good excuse, but wutever. just dont do wut i did..)
here you can see that bolt removed. you might have to use a screw-driver and hammer to get the bolt out as it is like 4 inches long.
next you have to take off the two 12 mm bolts that hold the brake line to the strut assembly. take them both off.
now that the strut is free of all junk holding it on and wutever you have to pop out the a-frame. just pull down. it might be stuck at the top so just hammer on the top where the bolt was.
next you have to pull out the strut. now this might take a a few swear words and such to get free, but just try your best. i had to pull down on the top for it to stay free of the fender, and it wasn't easy to say the least. also make sure you don't mess up your brake lines. (just to brag, those are Skunk2 coilovers with Koni yellow adjustable shocks)
ok with that out you can slide the spindle/brake rotors/caliper/etc. off the CV Joint. this isn't too bad, may take a little coaxing, nothing a hammer can't fix
so this is how it should look after the spindle assembly is slidden off the cv joint.
now just pull on the CV joint until it comes free from the transmission (EF) or comes out of the half shaft (DA, or EF with ZC/B16A swap). here the CV joint has been taken out of the half-shaft. NOTE: i had a hell of a fun time try to take the CV joint out of the half-shaft so i just ended up taking out the entire half-shaft in my frustration. then i hammered at the CV joint for about 15 minutes before it finally came loose and slid off the half-shaft. years or water/dust/mud/etc had rusted the CV joint and half-shaft together, so this might take some more coaxing. now if you have a d-series engine then you are lucky, it will come out easy. also if you are working on the passenger side this will be much easier. anyway.
now you are ready to put the new CV joint into place. so, this is how it should look like. it will take a couple hard pushes to get it into the half shaft (DA) or tranny (EF) but once its in it slides easily. cool.
next you need to put the other end back through to spindle. this is kinda tricky...make sure your steering wheel is facing straight ahead, then bend the CV as much as you can till it slides into place. then turn the spindle back as level as possible.
this is the CV Joint in place on the spindle.
next screw on by hand the bolt that holds the CV Joint in place. later on you will tighten it all the way.
next put back the strut assembly and the a-frame. just put it back the way you took it out. again, be careful of the brake lines. dont forget to blot on the a-frame (17mm) and the struts (14mm) as well as the brake lines (12mm)... now you are ready to tighten the 1 1/4 inch bolt on the cv all the way. ok, now with that bolted nice and tight at 1,000,000 lb ft. torque, use a chisel a stud the nut, just for the heck of it. like right here. next put your wheel back on, torque the nuts to manufacturer specs and go take it for a test drive. thats it!! your done!! good luck...
(disclaimer: if this doesnt work for you its not my fault, you are prolly just a moron. also, do not ever go under a car without supporting it on jack stands. no, cinder blocks dont count as jack stands..)here is the grease i was talking about earlier, it sprayed all over my rim:
well first of all, support your car on jack stands and take off the wheel.
and the boot: at first it looked fine and intact except for the grease smeared all over it. later i found the 5 mm little tear in it, prolly from a stick on the road or something. wutever, it sucks.
next you have to take of the giant bolt that holds the cv joint on. its a 1 1/4 inch bolt. if there is two of you working on this one of you can mash the brake pedal and the other can loosen the bolt. or, if you are by yourself like me you can do this: just put a crow bar or other between a couple of the hub things and the brake caliper and then just loosen away. here you can see me working away. now the bolt may have been staked in the side so it doesn't come loose and fall off. this is usually installed at the factory or if the cv joint was previously replaced/repaired so just hammer it back with a chisel as best you can. then proceed with the loosening. it may take a couple trys as it will be on pretty tight :roll:
(also you can see the new CV in the background. duh)
next step is to take off the strut and A-frame bolts in the engine bay. the strut requires the removal of two 14mm bolts, the A-frame two 18mm bolts on the DA or two 17mm bolts on the EF. do that now.
next you have to take off the bolt and nut that holds the bottom of the strut. it takes two 17mm wrenches to take it off. (as you can see i am the moron here by not using proper jackstands, i didnt have ay at the time, not like thats really a good excuse, but wutever. just dont do wut i did..)
here you can see that bolt removed. you might have to use a screw-driver and hammer to get the bolt out as it is like 4 inches long.
next you have to take off the two 12 mm bolts that hold the brake line to the strut assembly. take them both off.
now that the strut is free of all junk holding it on and wutever you have to pop out the a-frame. just pull down. it might be stuck at the top so just hammer on the top where the bolt was.
next you have to pull out the strut. now this might take a a few swear words and such to get free, but just try your best. i had to pull down on the top for it to stay free of the fender, and it wasn't easy to say the least. also make sure you don't mess up your brake lines. (just to brag, those are Skunk2 coilovers with Koni yellow adjustable shocks)
ok with that out you can slide the spindle/brake rotors/caliper/etc. off the CV Joint. this isn't too bad, may take a little coaxing, nothing a hammer can't fix
so this is how it should look after the spindle assembly is slidden off the cv joint.now just pull on the CV joint until it comes free from the transmission (EF) or comes out of the half shaft (DA, or EF with ZC/B16A swap). here the CV joint has been taken out of the half-shaft. NOTE: i had a hell of a fun time try to take the CV joint out of the half-shaft so i just ended up taking out the entire half-shaft in my frustration. then i hammered at the CV joint for about 15 minutes before it finally came loose and slid off the half-shaft. years or water/dust/mud/etc had rusted the CV joint and half-shaft together, so this might take some more coaxing. now if you have a d-series engine then you are lucky, it will come out easy. also if you are working on the passenger side this will be much easier. anyway.
now you are ready to put the new CV joint into place. so, this is how it should look like. it will take a couple hard pushes to get it into the half shaft (DA) or tranny (EF) but once its in it slides easily. cool.
next you need to put the other end back through to spindle. this is kinda tricky...make sure your steering wheel is facing straight ahead, then bend the CV as much as you can till it slides into place. then turn the spindle back as level as possible.
this is the CV Joint in place on the spindle.
next screw on by hand the bolt that holds the CV Joint in place. later on you will tighten it all the way.
next put back the strut assembly and the a-frame. just put it back the way you took it out. again, be careful of the brake lines. dont forget to blot on the a-frame (17mm) and the struts (14mm) as well as the brake lines (12mm)... now you are ready to tighten the 1 1/4 inch bolt on the cv all the way. ok, now with that bolted nice and tight at 1,000,000 lb ft. torque, use a chisel a stud the nut, just for the heck of it. like right here. next put your wheel back on, torque the nuts to manufacturer specs and go take it for a test drive. thats it!! your done!! good luck...
Comments
damn teenagers :roll:
maybe this should be sticky'ed.. or?
Three castle nuts, pull the hub assembly towards you and to the left, axel pops out, cut old boot off and slide new boot on. Done.
actually, i changed the whole CV, not just the boot.. even though that would have saved $$. drat :roll: if i ever need new joints again ill be sure to do the normal way
yay this is my 500th post :P