How to Repair a CV Joint on a 1998 Honda Civic

The Honda Civic was a car built around an engine -- or, at least, named after one. The original Civic got its name from Honda employees and engineers, who often referred to the car only by the name of the groundbreaking engine it was slated to use: the Compound Vortex Controlled Combustion, or CVCC, four cylinder. While early bugs kept the CVCC out of the Civic for the first two years of production, the engine and its sturdy front-drive drivetrain did eventually make its way to market. And 25 years later, the Civic still played host to both a revolutionary engine -- the VTEC -- front wheel drive and CV joints that required maintenance from time to time.

Instructions

1

Park the Civic on a flat, level surface; chock the rear wheels and loosen the lug nuts on the relevant front wheel. Lift the front end of the car enough so that the tires dangle just off the ground, and set it on jackstands. Remove the lug nuts and pull the tire off.

2

Raise the locking tab on the spindle nut in the center of your hub; you can do it by tapping the tab upward with a flathead screwdriver and a hammer. Make sure to get a new spindle nut before you start -- you'll need it for reassembly. Once you get the locking tab up, Instruct a helper to apply the brakes and remove the spindle nut.

3

Drain the transmission fluid into a drain pan, and dispose of it. Identify the shock absorber fork behind the wheel. Remove the 10 mm pinch bolt from the top of the fork, and 12 mm nut and long through-bolt from the bottom of the fork. Remove the shock absorber fork.

4

Look under the lower control arm, and identify the lower ball joint's castle nut. Bend its cotter pin straight, pull it out, and remove the castle nut from the lower ball joint. Place a 12 mm socket over the threaded end of the ball joint to protect it, and use the ball joint separator to break the ball joint loose from the lower control arm. You may find some penetrating oil of benefit here. You could use a standard "pickle fork" ball joint separator for this task, but be very careful not to damage the rubber ball joint boot.

5

Check the assembly to make sure that it's hanging freely from the car. Under the car, slip the blade of a flathead screwdriver in between the transmission case and the metal inner CV joint case. The technical specs call for a screwdriver with a 1/2-inch shank, a tip 1/8-inch thick and 5/16-inch long. Pry the CV joint straight outward from the transmission case; you can expect some initial resistance. The hub assembly will swing outward with the shaft, allowing you to liberate it from the transmission.

6

Tap the end of the splined shaft sticking out of the wheel hub with a hammer or heavy dead-blow plastic hammer. The splined shaft will slide inward and out of the hub, and finally come free from the assembly.

7

Check your new CV joint/axle-shaft assembly to ensure that it has a new set ring in the transmission-side splined shaft. Often times, manufacturers will ship the assembled CV joint without the new set ring installed. In cases such as this, you'll usually either find the set ring included in a separate bag, or the parts retailer will sell you one to go with the CV axle. Never reuse an old set ring -- they're only designed to be installed and removed once.

8

Lubricate the inboard splined shaft of the new CV axle with some transmission fluid to help it slide in easier, and spray the outer splined end with some penetrating oil. Installation is essentially the reverse of removal: slide the new CV outer splined shaft into the wheel hub, and then slide the inner splined shaft into the transmission. Give it a firm shove to ensure that the new set ring locks into the transmission, and then apply a light tug outward to be sure.

9

Lift the lower control arm back up to the ball joint, and tap it upward with your mallet to seat it. Wipe any grease off of the ball joint threads, and clean them with carburetor cleaner. Install the castle nut, and tighten it to 36 foot pounds, and then continue to tighten the nut as far as is required to get the castle nut aligned with the hole in the ball join shaftt. Reinstall the cotter pin, and bend it upward and around the top of the bolt as it was when you removed it.

10

Reinstall the shock fork, and twist it so that the aligning tab on the shock lines up with those on the fork. Install the upper pinch bolt and lower through-bolt -- with a new self-locking nut, but do not tighten them yet. Install the new spindle nut, instruct a helper to apply the brakes and tighten it to 134 foot-pounds. Use a cold chisel -- or the side of your flathead screwdriver blade -- and a hammer to "stake" the metal spindle nut "shoulder" down into the detente on the spindle.

11

Install the wheel, and tighten the lug nuts. Let the car down off the jack stands so that's it's resting on the ground as Honda intended it. Crawl under the car, and give the pinch-bolt head and through-bolt threads a spray with penetrating oil. Finally, with the weight of the car on the suspension, tighten the upper pinch bolt to 32 foot-pounds, and the through-bolt nut to 47 foot-pounds. Yes, it's a pain once you have the wheel on, but tightening these fasteners with the wheel dangling would cause suspension bind later.