I had a "reputable" shop and their head mechanic tell me my front axle was bad,the passenger side.
I believed them at first...but...

I was driving today and I kept saying to myself,it cant be the axle,from what I can tell.It didnt "feel" right for that diagnose the last few days.
The noise occurred when steering a slight,certain way,not like a bad axle usually does.It was more similar to a bearing noise,without the grinding.Mostly clicking.

I took it to another shop and they checked everything out and come to find,its just a bad outer tie rod on the drivers side!

They allowed me to see for myself,and test it myself,and I was really glad with that.They did not try to sell me crap I did not need.They offered to replace it and do an alignment,but Im going to replace it myself,then bring it in for an alignment after.

I did ask a few times if theres any axle problems and they said no they cannot find anything wrong with either side.The tie rod was the only unit making the noise.

Since its winter,and I have a buddys truck in the garage on my jack and stands,Im not able to check anything on my cars right now myself.So I took it to a shop and got a bad diagnosis the first time.The first reputable shop did not even let me see what was wrong nor look under the car.

This may not be very technical,but wanted to share it doesnt hurt to get a 2nd opinion,or third if your gut says otherwise.

Sorry this is long...just wanted to share.

 

A bad axle is not a good description to begin with. Usually one of the CV joints will go bad and you will hear a clicking noise on turns and more so turned all the way. To tell which it is usually the one with the torn boot. Some of the Honda Axles it is hard to remove the outer CV joint if I remember right. I had not been impressed with the aftermarket axles they sell. The boots are cheap and some are a bear to get the inner CV seated into the trans.

 

Thanks Kris!

I appreciate all the info I can get. I will keep it in mind in case,there are more than one problem going on.



That said,the problem I have only occurs during slight movement of the steering wheel in one direction,and it goes away any other movement.A bad axle can sometimes mimic other problems,but is usually noticeable more through all driving ranges and turns.

My axle and CV joints are in great shape,from what I could see,during inspection and tests.There were no tears at the CV boots and all was tight.

When I was able to see what they showed me,and tested it myself,the dang tie rod was bad.It made a horrible clicking noise and moved way too much during a test.The other side was solid and quiet,where the other shop said I had a bad axle!

I will post more after I change the tie rod...If somehow there was another problem,I will let ya know.Yet there was no doubt,on the lift,the tie rod was very bad.

 

CV joints usually go bad if they run out of grease from a torn boot and other than that are pretty reliable.

 

if indeed is a bad tie rod end,, and assuming the alignment is ok,, right now ,, you do not have to realign the car,,,,,,just count the turns on the outer tie rod when you remove it and reinstall it with the same # of turns .or just wrap some tape at the end of the inner rod

both ways work,,,,,,,,,that is assuming alignment is ok NOW..

 

Thanks Desert! Yes Im familiar with how to/keeping the alignment as close to the way it is now.I found a little bit of play on the inner tie rod so Im going to replace both of them.Might as well while Im there.I will match the new set to the old threads and length so it should be very close.I didnt loosen the old tie rod off the inner one yet,Im taking it out as one whole unit to use for reference.