How dangerous to drive with broken/worn CV joint?

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In the last 3 days, I would intermittently hear some clicking when turning square (not changing lane but having the wheel half way full lock) on one side. Google it and apparently it's CV joint. I remember having the wheel off around November I could see some grease on the boot to so pretty sure that's it.

Now, it's not even winter yet and it's already cold af. Can I still safely drive like this or will I kill myself? I would preferably replace it in the future, or I may actually get another car by then.
 
hey guys, I have bald tires on my car, is it okay if I drive in the rain? Would I be in trouble if I killed someone
on a motorcycle because I ran him over knowing I was driving on dangerous bald tires in the rain?

There is a possibility an injury or deadly accident could occur, even though the chances are very small. But, since you pasted it on the web and are asking this question, if something did happen, you could be charged for ?depraved heart murder? being that you knew the risk but ignored it.
And don't be surprised if this paged is archived on the wayback machine which shows where your from and the IP address would lead back to you.
Not that you'd have a zealous prosecutor wanting to make a name for him/herself.
 
Realistically!

I hear clicking CV's all the time from owners that are either ignorant of don't care.

How bad yours is, is sbjective. I can understand you not wanting to get under your car in the middle of winter, but I guess the question is: how long do you intend to drive with it like that?

One thing for sure, It won't get better.

Unlike some UJ's a CV is not normally a vital part of the suspension geometry (your wheel probably won't fall off) but your verhicle would likely fail an inspection.
 
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Originally Posted By: skyactiv
hey guys, I have bald tires on my car, is it okay if I drive in the rain? Would I be in trouble if I killed someone
on a motorcycle because I ran him over knowing I was driving on dangerous bald tires in the rain?

There is a possibility an injury or deadly accident could occur, even though the chances are very small. But, since you pasted it on the web and are asking this question, if something did happen, you could be charged for ?depraved heart murder? being that you knew the risk but ignored it.
And don't be surprised if this paged is archived on the wayback machine which shows where your from and the IP address would lead back to you.
Not that you'd have a zealous prosecutor wanting to make a name for him/herself.



thumbsup2.gif
 
Originally Posted By: skyactiv


There is a possibility an injury or deadly accident could occur, even though the chances are very small. But, since you pasted it on the web and are asking this question, if something did happen, you could be charged for ?depraved heart murder? being that you knew the risk but ignored it..


I'm asking the risk. If it's just a torn boot it's not illegal to drive like that. I live in Canada anyways.

We're not talking about tires either. It's why I'm asking the [censored] question, is intermittent clicking mean the joint is completely done or I can still drive with it.
 
Originally Posted By: expat

Unlike some UJ's a CV is not normally a vital part of the suspension geometry (your wheel probably won't fall off) but your verhicle would likely fail an inspection.



No inspections here so that's fine.

BUt like, I'm trying to visualise it but how can it break cause accident. Like will it seize and won't rotate anymore and so the wheel won't turn and all or how does it fail, what does it do when it fails compeltely.
 
Originally Posted By: expat
Realistically!

I hear clicking CV's all the time from owners that are either ignorant of don't care.

How bad yours is, is sbjective. I can understand you not wanting to get under your car in the middle of winter, but I guess the question is: how long do you intend to drive with it like that?

One thing for sure, It won't get better.

Unlike some UJ's a CV is not normally a vital part of the suspension geometry (your wheel probably won't fall off) but your verhicle would likely fail an inspection.


I always thought the joint would fail and then the axle would be free to whip around trashing other front end components. And of course the car wouldn't move after that happened.
 
Get under the car and at least verify the boot is intact. I've only lost one boot and it sprayed grease everywhere, including the exhaust. I smelled the problem before I got under and saw it - is that common on all cars?

A question for the forum: is an intact boot and clicking better than a torn boot and clicking? I would think: yes.
 
Been there, done that, got the tee shirt.
Take the thing apart and you'll be in awe of just how massive the component parts are. Makes a driveshaft U-joint look like Barbie's toy joint.
It isn't going to break nor will it lock up and I have had a U-joint actually break while driving.
It will just gradually get worse and at some point you'll encounter a vibration that feels like you're going to lose a wheel.
You won't, but that is certainly replacement time.
In my experience, CV joints fail only because their boots split and grease is allowed out with water and debris allowed in.
Complete replacement axle assemblies are available pretty cheaply and the job isn't hard to do.
Obtain the part and on your next warm day this winter, which you will have, replace it. You'll need a large socket to fit as well as a long flex handle or breaker bar to get the end nut off, as well as a ball joint separator and you'll need to remove the brake caliper to get it out of the way. You'll also need to pry the inner joint out of the transaxle, which is easy and you may need a heavy hammer to give a few love taps to the get everything back together. Good time for a pad slap if needed and the job is nothing like as hard as it might sound.
You have a near-term replacement need but it probably doesn't need to be done tomorrow.
 
Originally Posted By: TheMidnightNarwh
Originally Posted By: expat

Unlike some UJ's a CV is not normally a vital part of the suspension geometry (your wheel probably won't fall off) but your verhicle would likely fail an inspection.



No inspections here so that's fine.

BUt like, I'm trying to visualise it but how can it break cause accident. Like will it seize and won't rotate anymore and so the wheel won't turn and all or how does it fail, what does it do when it fails compeltely.

3 days? That could be worse. I've never actually seen one 'break', but I'd imagine it's have to fall apart significantly before it did- needle bearings etc disintegrate or balls falling out of the race enough to allow it to disengage. There shouldn't be any catastrophic failure for a while yet, and if it ever did break you'd just lose ability to accelerate, braking/steering should remain. If it ever did break, it'd be during a sharp low speed turn, not likely when you're just cruising. I'm not recommending yoru drive like this and don't ignore it but no need to roll around in the ice, or take an immediate financial hit repairing it tomorrow afternoon. Find a nice new/rebuilt shaft and install when you can.
 
I have seen 3 cars on the 401 highway in Toronto with broken CV joints.

That can for sure cause a serious accident possibily kill someone.

Get it fix asap.
 
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I had an old Audi 80 a few years back that I got for free. The passenger side axle had NO boots and NO grease. Covered with rust. Clicked like crazy.

Greased it up and slapped a boot on it. It's probably still going, clicking around some army base in Germany.

I'd put it off. As you said, you may end up in a new ride soon anyway.
 
It's not dangerous at all. The wheel is attached to bearing/hub assembly and the bearing/hub assembly is attached to the spindle. The worst thing that can happen is cause you to call a tow truck.
 
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
It's not dangerous at all. The wheel is attached to bearing/hub assembly and the bearing/hub assembly is attached to the spindle. The worst thing that can happen is cause you to call a tow truck.


+1000!!

Fact! A clicking CV joint will annoy you to death long before it will break due to lack of grease. And if it does break the worst that can happen is it will leave you hanging out in traffic. Due to the nature of a CV joint it will break most likely at a slow speed with the wheel turned sharply. Going down the road CV joints if the suspension is stock will almost be in a straight line from tranny to hub assembly which makes the chances of it breaking while going straight at highway speeds very unlikely.
 
Originally Posted By: TheMidnightNarwh
In the last 3 days, I would intermittently hear some clicking when turning square (not changing lane but having the wheel half way full lock) on one side. Google it and apparently it's CV joint. I remember having the wheel off around November I could see some grease on the boot to so pretty sure that's it.

Now, it's not even winter yet and it's already cold af. Can I still safely drive like this or will I kill myself? I would preferably replace it in the future, or I may actually get another car by then.


I will give you a brief FWIW about my experience with a repair for a similar problem...I started hearing this on my CRX when I was getting ready to trade it in, didn't want to go with some kind of patch/fake repair that would go bad days after turning the car over but also didn't want to spend a lot of money on it.
I got some strong positive recs for a local indy repair shop and they said going with refurbished components would be fine on a well over 100,000 mile car and save me some money. Got it taken care of while I was narrowing my new car purchase down.
The day before I was set to trade the old car in, the noise came back. Too late to do anything about it and they took a good chunk off the trade as a result.

Could have been a totally isolated and unusual incident, but I'll never go with less than a new part on such a repair again.
 
Replace the axle assembly. If the boot is torn and the grease is out of it, the joint is toast. There's no sense in having a shop replace one joint and not the other one; by the time you pay for one joint and labor you are likely equal to the cost just to replace the whole axle.
 
Originally Posted By: MobilinHyundia
I have seen 3 cars on the 401 highway in Toronto with broken CV joints.

That can for sure cause a serious accident possibily kill someone.

Get it fix asap.


Careful not to confuse CV joint with ball joint. When a ball joint goes, the whole steering knuckle assy separates from the frame and pulls the CV and driveshaft out with it
 
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I think this thread is a good indication of what BITOG has become.

A bunch of uneducted knee jerk, chicken little opinions v a few informed experienced responders.

Sad
frown.gif
 
I’d say depends on damage. I had one that just clicked when turning. Also had one that shook the whole front end violently on the interstate. But general rule of thumb: when it comes to steering/suspension and brakes/tires don’t chance it or cheap out. Could save your life one day.
 
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They will click for a long time without a problem. When things start to shake and shudder, get it fixed asap.
 
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