Itinerant Air-Cooled

I wish I was writing about my recent rip to Glacier Na but this is how it ended up.

After our first leg of the trip and some awesome camping in Lewis and Clark National Forest we headed out for the park. About 20 miles in we had to stop for construction and wait. All was clear and then a short time into the continued drive the sound starts. A repetitive creak.

-started out as a creak with bad vibration that I could see and feel in the shifter.
-eventually vibration went away and just creaking
-only happens under load
-when coasting nothing, in gear or neutral
-repetition increases with speed
-Shifting in all gears fine
-E-brake grabs and releases
-when continued driving after gas stops noise starts about 20 miles in (this lasted for 2 days)
-now noise is always on and louder


Made it to next camp site so the diagnosis starts. Jacked up and pulled wheel.
-Spun wheel and checked bearing play and nothing
-Pulled wheel and drum and nothing
-Grab axle slide freely in and out
-Axle play (with hand) none
-lugs all tight
-Boots intact with grease in (squeezed and felt the grease)


Put all back together and drink beer and think of plan B. We decided to hang out at this site for a few days and do minimal driving then head home.

Here is when it gets interesting. We wake up jump in the van and make a run for it. Driving out of the east side up and down the hills creaking all the way. We hit the flats before Browning and nothing. No noise???? I step on it and make a run for it. We drove for 10 hours and nothing. We ended up in eastern Mt camping. Enjoyed a night relaxing thinking what the hell could it be that it just stops.

Next morning off we go and about 20 miles in there it is. WHAT???? The more I drive the creakier and louder it gets. I stop many times on the side of the Hwy to check the axle and squeeze the boot to work the grease in (wishful thinking). On a couple of these stops I did notice something. I was not able to move the axle in or out, it was jammed. I had to move the van to free it. Eventually the creaking is so loud and deep that it sounds as if something is going to SNAP and so we say enough. I dont want to break down on the Hwy so I pull on a ramp and shut her down just 10 miles shy of Dickinson, ND. Call for a tow into town where we rent a U-haul and tow it home where I can do what i am doing at the moment. I debated having someone in town fix it but I wasnt sure how long that would take so here I am.

Ideas????

Im leaning CV. I know that is very uncommon with the fact the the boot is intact and greased but I am at a loss for direction beyond CV.

Question: If I remove the Rt axle am I able to move/drive the van out of the garage to park and then back it at a later date. Im thinking of pulling the axle.

power will go solely to the axle that is missing once you remove it so the bus will go nowhere, but it will allow you to push it better I think. That said, I pray everything is ok in the trans and hub - only time will tell. Based on your description It sounds like a CV bound up/broke, and was pushing between the hub and trans flange every time it went around. You'll know when you get it apart. Be careful because there could be a lot of razor sharp shrapnel in there if that is what it is. The axle has to be able to move in and out a little as the vehicle road height changes with bumps etc.

I got some time yesterday to look at this.

Up on jack stands I put the van in gear and lay under as I rotate the rt rear wheel. I could here the creak and see the axle pop out of the joint so I knew this was where to start. I pulled the axle off and immediately I knew what the problem resulted from. DAM! My negligence in normal maintenance. The joint was bone dry. What grease that was left had turned to a clay consistency. It also had a metallic coating on it.

I finally got the joint off and cleaned up and here is what I found.





The inner and outer race each have 2 spots like this.

Not good but this would explain the binding and popping. I now have 1 joint and 4 boots on order.

I will be cleaning up the good ones while I wait for the order to come.

Many have said that the grease that comes with a boot kit is not enough to do the job. How much more should I order? I went to FLAPS and they had nothing in bulk just normal size for each boot. Where and what to get?

Okay all axles off, all CV's disassembled. Not looking good.

2 more looked like this


This is a definite groove worn in by the balls in all slots of the outer race. Nothing on inners.

At what point is it beyond ok or any concave area and replace?

Mulcheese wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 25, 2017 1:39 pm

Okay all axles off, all CV's disassembled. Not looking good.
At what point is it beyond ok or any concave area and replace?

If you had read each of my fascinating stories in last year's itinerary, you would have read of this:

viewtopic.php?f=70&t=13022#p220491


You would have read through all the way to here:

"(I shuddawuddacudda repacked those CVs)"

Then you would have seen what to do.
Colin

(Your super-damaged CV joint is a candidate for the Hall of Shame, the others may very well be satisfactory with a good repack using Valvoline Fully-Synthetic Molybdenum Disulfide grease)

Amskeptic wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 25, 2017 2:42 pm

(Your super-damaged CV joint is a candidate for the Hall of Shame, the others may very well be satisfactory with a good repack using Valvoline Fully-Synthetic Molybdenum Disulfide grease)

Yeah baby, proud of my mistakes! Put me in the Hall. I bet I will never let it go this long again, or I hope.

The others Im not sure? The one pictured is the worst I believe yet the other is just beyond pitting and starting to dig a groove. Super good grease might do the trick though?? I will think on it over the weekend.

Yes I did read That post, yesterday. I tried to connect on the trip but no service. If I would have It may have been different.

Mulcheese wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 25, 2017 3:42 pm

Amskeptic wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 25, 2017 2:42 pm

(Your super-damaged CV joint is a candidate for the Hall of Shame, the others may very well be satisfactory with a good repack using Valvoline Fully-Synthetic Molybdenum Disulfide grease)

Yeah baby, proud of my mistakes! Put me in the Hall. I bet I will never let it go this long again, or I hope.

The others Im not sure? The one pictured is the worst I believe yet the other is just beyond pitting and starting to dig a groove. Super good grease might do the trick though?? I will think on it over the weekend.

Yes I did read That post, yesterday. I tried to connect on the trip but no service. If I would have It may have been different.

Flip the axles over to the opposite side of the car and you will have new wear surfaces in the driving direction!
Colin

Amskeptic wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 25, 2017 9:44 pm

Mulcheese wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 25, 2017 3:42 pm

The others Im not sure? The one pictured is the worst I believe yet the other is just beyond pitting and starting to dig a groove. Super good grease might do the trick though?? I will think on it over the weekend.

Flip the axles over to the opposite side of the car and you will have new wear surfaces in the driving direction!
Colin

Keep in mind that the axles are of equal length on manual Vanagons, but different lengths on automatics, so while one could get away with simply installing the formerly left-side axle on the right side and vice-versa on a manual, the side-to-side swap would be a somewhat more involved process on an automatic, requiring that you move the left-side joints to the right-side axle. Sorry, that may be utterly redundant information for you.

Not arguing against Colin's preferred CV grease here. I used Redline CV-2 synthetic grease when I installed new CV joints two years ago. Have also used it when re-packing my Volvo's CV joints. Seems to be at least as good as regular CV grease. It is just as messy, but it's an attractive rusty red colour instead of the evil black that most CV greases seem to be.

SlowLane wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 26, 2017 8:51 pm

Keep in mind that the axles are of equal length on manual Vanagons, but different lengths on automatics,

If I remember correctly, it is a manual transmission. I read through our entire Itinerary visit correspondence, and could not find a single clue either way . . .
Colin

Amskeptic wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 26, 2017 10:58 pm

SlowLane wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 26, 2017 8:51 pm

Keep in mind that the axles are of equal length on manual Vanagons, but different lengths on automatics,

If I remember correctly, it is a manual transmission. I read through our entire Itinerary visit correspondence, and could not find a single clue either way . . .
Colin

'Twould be a truly impressive feat of memory for you to remember all the details of every customer's vehicle. From the context of the first post here, it would seem to be a manual, but I thought I'd throw in that extra tidbit just to be helpfully pedantic (is that an oxymoron?).

Yes gentlemen it is a manual. I had already determined that I would be swapping sides with the remaining joints as per Van Cafes write-up.

Now that Collin is confident that keeping the two and swapping will be just fine I will be purchasing just one for the oops.

I will be buying a tube of grease for these. How much is a good amount to do the job?

looking at those photos, the grooves are too deep to use that one again. It will catch the ball bearings and stop moving again. if you can get by with just one that may be all it needs. Keep the good ball bearings that weren't discolored or damaged. If any of the ball bearings are damaged on the other CV's you can use them there.

Mulcheese wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 27, 2017 11:37 am

I will be buying a tube of grease for these. How much is a good amount to do the job?

I bought two 14-oz tubs of the Redline CV-2 grease to do 4 CV joints and had plenty left over for smearing onto other things.

SlowLane wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 28, 2017 12:03 pm

I bought two 14-oz tubs of the Redline CV-2 grease to do 4 CV joints and had plenty left over for smearing onto other things.

TMI

whc03grady wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 28, 2017 5:55 pm

SlowLane wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 28, 2017 12:03 pm

I bought two 14-oz tubs of the Redline CV-2 grease to do 4 CV joints and had plenty left over for smearing onto other things.

TMI

Okay, fine. I acquired some quantity of a grease-like substance which was precisely enough to lubricate a random collection of car parts from an assortment of vehicles.
Little enough information for you?