How to Tell if a CV Axle is Bad – Bad Axle Symptoms

Welcome to this installment of the AutoZone Do-It-Yourself Video Series. Your vehicle is an important investment, and doing your own maintenance is a great way to protect that investment. Now, what commonly happens to a drive axle? I’ve got one right here as a good example. Now, the CV joints are protected by a boot. When a boot fails, as this one has, it allows dirt and debris to enter into the joint and also causes the grease in the joint to expel. So, there’s no lubrication there. The debris that gets into the joint will actually damage it and it will wear out the joint. This would be an item that would be good to include in your periodic maintenance. Just look underneath the vehicle and see if the boots are still in good shape. If you can catch this early on, you might still be able to salvage the half shaft and the joint by putting a boot kit on it and repacking it, and you’ll be fine. But most of the time, you’ll see it’s to this point here where it’s been split long enough that enough debris has entered into the joint that it is destroyed. The most common symptoms of this are: you might hear a clicking sound, you might hear a popping sound, especially during a turn. Another symptom would be if you’re driving down the road, you might have a vibration almost like a wheel or tire is out of balance. Get in the zone, AutoZone.