Clutch replacement 2004 Honda Accord EX 5 speed manual
 

Good evening from Florida,

I just replaced the clutch in my 2004 Honda Accord Ex 5 speed manual, 2.4L 4 door. I am not a mechanic, but pretty decent at following instructions. I did my research, watched a couple of youtube videos and read the shop manual. So far everything has been going okay i am in the process of putting everything back together but ran into a couple of problems.

1. The passenger side Axle bracket has three 14mm bolts, I can not get the bottom bolt to bite. I tried using a different bolt and it just freely spins and never bites. I unmounted the bracket and re-alinged it but it did not help. The axle is pushed into the tranny but not connected to the wheel assembly at all yet. I have included a picture, any suggestions? Do you think I can safely use the car with just two of the three bolts in place?

2. Same axle, passenger side when I seated it back into the transmission i noticed this metal ring popped loose and won't pop back on, its just freely spinning and since it wont pop back on i feel like its going to spin and bounce along the axle when i drive. Can I put a little glue or JB Weld to seat the ring back on?

Thanks for any advice or tips you may have!
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.hon...951099e049.jpg
Ring separated and spins freely. 2004 Honda Accord EX 5 speed manual passenger side axle
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.hon...58819d9f9d.jpg
None of the three bolts will bite in this hole. 2004 Honda Accord EX 5 speed manual passenger side axle

I'd recommend removing that intermediate shaft from the transmission. See if you can get a bolt to thread into the engine block at the trouble location without a bracket there. It is possible the threads came out with the bolt. If that is the case, then something like a time sert or helicoil may be necessary to fasten that bracket onto the engine.

I think that metal cap will make a lot of noise if it is not in place. Hopefully someone else can chime in on this, but I think it has to be pushed towards the transmission more to press fit onto the CV joint shaft. You may need a shop press to easily get this back into place, but I am not certain about this.

Thank you PAHonda, let's say I am in a jam and need to drive this car today as is, can I just remove that little metal ring and drive it with two bolts?

I normally drive 65mph for 40 miles one way 80 miles per day round trip lol

I wouldn't try it. I'd fix it correctly like PA suggested. The "cover" you're talking about is probably an oil seal for the transmission.
If you do try to drive it, something could come loose, and do a lot of expensive damage.

PAHonda & Toecutter,

Thank you both for the reply, I took the axle out and the bracket off to investigate the axle mount bolt hole that wont accept any bolts, sure enough there were some crescent moon shaped slivers of metal in there. I'm assuming this is damaged threading on the female insert (not from the bolts). I managed to use a pair of needle nose pliers to pull out the debris and the bolt threaded in just fine without the bracket.

I am going to take the axle to a shop where I have a friend that works there and ask their opinion on that metal ring, maybe it needs to be pressed back on or somehow reseated. Thanks again and I'll update when complete.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.hon...57b8d734f2.jpg
Debris in axle mount threads 2004 Honda Accord EX 2.4 Manual