I changed my passenger side rotor on my 96 Honda accord and drove it down the road. While driving I heard a wearing/growling noise coming from the front passenger side. When I got back home I thought the breaks were scrubbing but realized I didn't have the axle nut completely tightened so I tightened it all the way down and drove the car again realizing the noise was still happening. I then changed the Cv axle and the problem still exist. I jacked the car up and it sounds like the noise is coming from where the axle goes into the transmission. Have I completely scewed up my transmission or is there a cheaper fix? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

How far away from "completely tightened" was that axle nut? Was it perhaps just the final tightening to final torque that you missed? Or was it 2 or 3 complete turns away from being tight?

Did you remove the axle from the transmission during your brake work?

 

It was about 2 turns from being tightened. I have heard that the bearings in the transmission might be ruined and that it would cost a lot to fix?

 

Jack it up & try to pinpoint the sound.

What I'm thinking is that without the preload (from the axle nut) it seems more likely to damage the wheel bearing vs damaging the transmission.

Still, I can't hear it from here, so rely on you to pinpoint the location.

 

It is coming from where the Cv axle goes into the transmission. A guy at work said that there are bearings in the transmission but when it comes to transmissions I am lost.

 

He's correct, there are bearings in there. I was hoping you were lucky and it was a wheel bearing...

The axle is designed to compress in & out a little bit, so it seemed like a loose axle nut was not likely to cause that damage. Of course that's not an absolute promise...