milla290

First, I did a search but couldn't find any posts pertaining to my situation.
My wife drives a 2000 A6 4.2 and the front boots have been clicking for a little bit. We we're going to have them fixed in January. Today she said was rounding a higher speed corner (45-60mph) when the car "slid" a bit, then after that noticed a horrible wobble and noise when turning, especially left. She pulled into a parking lot and I went to get her. I checked out the car and visually I saw nothing except for a worn bushing on the UCA, no biggie. I got in and drove it and going forward it was fine, but turning was horrible. We live 1/2 mile away and being Xmas, towing wasn't going to happen, so I limped it home. At one point it started to wobble going forward but I slowed to 25 mph and it stopped, and I was then able to cruise around 35 with no noise or vibration. Turning is still bad, something is definitely broken, but it's not the control arms. Hoping it's not internal as in transmission or something that I can't get to. We over spent for Xmas so hoping to DIY but if it's in the 500-700 range for repair we can have that done. Any help or questions to possibly help diagnose are appreciated. Thanks!

georgeb944

Congratulations on getting it home.

It is probably one of the CV joints (I'm guessing outer) that has crapped out on you. If one of the boots is split, that is the mostl likely of the joints that is bad.

Remove the half-shaft and check for free movement in all directions, as well as play riadially (there should be none). Replacement is not difficult, but will require removal of the large bolt securing the outer joint into the hub and the six triple square bolts attaching the inner joint into the transaxle.

Here's a tip: If you own an audi, keep a rainy day fund equal to the value of the car for emergency repairs. The stores will be open this week for returns.

milla290

[QUOTE=georgeb944;24898890]Congratulations on getting it home.

It is probably one of the CV joints (I'm guessing outer) that has crapped out on you. If one of the boots is split, that is the mostl likely of the joints that is bad.

Remove the half-shaft and check for free movement in all directions, as well as play riadially (there should be none). Replacement is not difficult, but will require removal of the large bolt securing the outer joint into the hub and the six triple square bolts attaching the inner joint into the transaxle.

Here's a tip: If you own an audi, keep a rainy day fund equal to the value of the car for emergency repairs. The stores will be open this week for returns.[/QUOTE

Thanks for your reply, George, and Merry Christmas! I was going to order some rebuilt cv/axles from FCP but I live blocks from a NAPA (Seattle area) and they have a couple in stock.
As far as keeping my "rainy day fund " for each Audi, (I also own a 2000 A4 S-Line) yes, my rule is to budget out around $2000- $2500 annually for repairs but like I said, we went a little overboard for Christmas this year (lesson learned). All the research I've done says it's not a very difficult DIY so I'm going to go for it starting Tuesday. Here's hoping that's the issue!
Merry Christmas to all!

SloopJohnB@mac.com

I'm more inclined to believe a bad wheel bearing given the wobble. Replacing a wheel bearing is ez if the axle is out. The bearing is held in a carrier bolted to the upright.
$100-150 for the part if you look around. Try ecs tuning. Replace the cv joint boot if you have the axle out. I have a couple boot spares I'd sell for 25 each plus shipping but it would take a few days to get to you. The outer cv joint, known as an rzeppa joint, is easily replaced if you're doing a cv joint boot since you have to remove the joint from the axle to replace the bot (shops have a powerful expander that can stretch the boot over the outer cv joint w/o removing the joint).
You can replace the UCA at the same time since you have to remove the pinch bolt anyway to get enough play to pull the axle.
If you've never done this job, plan on about 5 hours because you won't know what you need. Like a 4 foot length of pipe to fit over your ½" drive breaker bar to get the Jesus bolt loose and retorque it and angle tighten it. It's tough enough that I bought a ¾" drive breaker bar and a 17mm ¾" drive socket hex head. Bent my old craftsman ½" breaker bar. You might also have the devil's own time getting the pinch bolt out...in 16 years I only had one that gave me problems and it came out easily with a pneumatic hammer. Most of the time they spin out with an air wrench. Pinch bolt is a replacement item as is axle bolt.
Good luck.

milla290

Hmmmm.... That's the first time someone has mentioned the wheel bearing. I may just replace it if it's easy enough to do since I'm replacing the axles anyway. Also, I've read if you turn the wheel you're working on away from you, you won't have to remove the pinch bolt.
I'm not going to start the project until Thursday now as I have access to a garage as opposed to my parking garage. I'd take you up on your offer to sell those boots but I'm pretty sure new ones come on the axle assembly I'm buying.

https://www.napaonline.com/napa/en/p/NMD942049/NMD942049_0277278416

milla290

Did a bunch of searching and found this won't that bad at all. I have both axle assemblies coming and they'll be here tomorrow. I have just one more question... Is the axle nut reusable? The torque specs are 140 ft lbs plus a 180° turn. Seems a new bolt would be necessary but one doesn't come with the axle assembly (from what I can tell) and aside from ECS I can't find them sold separately. I'd really not like to have to wait another couple days for new ones to be shipped but I'm worried that the threads not only have been stretched, but worse, break.
Also, do you have to remove or loosen any of the UCA's or LCA's? I have read some that say you do, other amd videos that say you don't. I guess if I get no more replys I'll comment back with what I had to do but I'm hoping to hear back. Thanks, guys!

Harleyguy

Just did a boot on my '04 A6. Not difficult at all. If you google the operation, some of the search results will be YouTube videos showing the entire operation, speeded up during the tedious parts like parts washing. As for the new bolt: if it isn't showing any significant duress you would probably be safe reusing it long enough for a replacement to arrive from ECS or elsewhere. Autohausaz.com sells boot kits that come complete with all the snap rings, cup seals, grease packets, AND a new axle bolt. FYI: some of the videos show the tech using a hammer and drift to pop the CV joint apart. This can also usually be done using the axle bolt. After the axle is out on the floor or bench, thread the bolt back into the axle and using your impact gun very gently begin to tighten it while holding the joint as straight as possible. This will often push the joint right off the shaft with no effort. If it binds up or becomes really tight , stop. And make sure you are holding it in a straight line while doing this, otherwise it will be bound up.

milla290

This is why I asked. I've seen a couple videos where removing the control arms wasn't necessary but there's plenty of write-ups that say you have to remove them to get the axle all the way out. From what I can deduce, removal of the control arms isn't necessary. I also found out that a new bolt will most likely come with the new axle assembly.
Although there is plenty of info out there on replacing the axles, I will comment when done with my experience aso a first timer doing this job. Thanks to those that replied.

Harleyguy

I was able to pop the axle shaft out per the videos on YouTube. The re-install after doing the joint was a bit of a battle. Fresh grease filling the boot tightens things up a bit. I just went ahead and disconnected the upper control arms to get some more wiggle room. Not a big deal, as on my '04 the upper arms don't affect the alignment and I also had them out a little over a year ago, so nothing was frozen up. Just FYI.....from starting the job to axle laying on the floor was less than an hour. Something around 45 minutes. I tried to avoid disconnecting the control arms but as I am mildly arthritic I was having difficulty on the reinstall. Hence the arms got disconnected and that afforded the additional flexibility of the components to get everything back in place. Have since made a 2000 mile+ road trip and no issues. I suspect you are correct (depending on your vendor) you may get the new keeper bolts with the shaft. The boot kits usually come with new bolts. The ones I ordered said they will come with a new bolt but may vary, some will have an Allen head bolt some will have a regular hex head bolt ( both 17mm). You will need to lean into those bolts to break them loose and for tightening. Torque is 140 ft.lbs. plus a half turn to tighten. I was able to use the handle of my floor jack for a cheater over a 1/2 drive breaker bar. Worked great but still had to lean on it (I weigh 185lbs). Careful buying axles. I have seen prices all over the map from around $38 ea. to over $100. The down side to replacing the axles with re-man is you don't know how bad they were beat up before repaired. If your CV's remained intact except for the boot, and they are addressed right away the axles you have are probably fine. Another thought is that if you do your own boots, both sides at the same time, swap sides with the hub ends. This will change direction of rotation of the ball cage and cup/ hub end. This can effectively double the life expectancy of the CV joint. Up side to new axles is less mess. You will only save parts cleaning and reassembly time. The Chinese puzzle aspect of the CV is very simple once all the grease is washed away. The cage has a specific orientation and you need to heed that when putting it all back together.

milla290

Just finished up and it was an up and down procedure. I did the driver side yesterday and it was one of the easiest DIY's I've ever done. I wasn't sure if I was lucky or just had all the right tools and info on hand, but it was extremely easy. I'm sure you all can figure how the passenger went....
It started fine, no problem with the outer bolt, no problem getting the shield and 6 inner bolts out... but removing the assembly was far more difficult. It took way more wresting and maneuvering to get it out. Now for getting the new one in.....
It just wasn't sliding in at all. No matter how I positioned it, I couldn't get it to slide into the the hub. I finally maneuvered where the splines slid in, but now the inner flange was jammed in there to the point where I couldn't get it to line up. I tried removing the lower shock mount bolt, only to find out it won't slide out cause the LCA is in the way. I then removed the nuts at the lower ball joints so I could remove the outer LCA but after I got them removed I couldn't get the studs to budge. I then removed the pinch bolt (no problem at all) and that solved the issue. I then had enough wiggle room to bolt in the axle, but getting the spindle to line back up with the UCA's was another pain. I finally got them reinstalled and buttoned up. The left side took 90 mins, with me taking my time, but the right took 5 hours. I still don't understand why it happened that way. It was as if the passenger axle was too long, but it wasn't. Anyway.... mission accomplished (I hope).
My battery died so it's on the charger now. I'll test drive in about an hour. I really hope there's no binding..
Thanks for all your help, guys!