How can I tell if I have a bad CV joint?
Grease coming out of a small crack or tear is the early sign of the CV joint boot failing. If the damage is bigger, you might see dark grease splattered on the inside of the wheel rim and around the area inside of the drive wheel like in the photo.If a car is continued to be driven with a damaged CV joint boot, the CV joint will wear out and eventually fail. A most common symptom of a badly-worn outer CV joint is a clicking or popping noise when turning. Usually the noise gets louder when accelerating in turns. In worst cases, a badly-worn outer CV joint can even disintegrate while driving. This will make your car undriveable.Inner CV joints failures are rare. One of the symptoms of a failed inner CV joint is shudder or side-to-side shake during acceleration. A worn-out inner CV joint may also cause clunking when shifting from Drive to Reverse.
How do you know if your struts, shocks, or cv joint is bad in your car?
a visual inspection of your shocks, struts and CV joints is the first thing to do. On your struts or shocks...see if they look like the oil has leaked out of them...as sometimes especially with struts they may feel ok by bouncing the car but visually you can see if they have been leaking. On the CV joints...inspect the rubber boot around them...if they are not torn then most likely they are ok...however if they are torn...then you have probably lost all the grease and they are running metal to metal...aslo with the cv joint...normally when they are getting bad they will make a clicking noise when turning. This is not always the case though...as I did have a CV joint go on me once with out warning. Hope this helps
CV joint vs Ball joint?
What car? Make model? mileage? Do this: Have the complete front suspension re tightened. Check alignment and wheel balance Check both CV and Ball joints, miost probably the problem is in the ball joints. Check the stabilizer bar bushes as well.
Are my CV joints bad?
When I'm at a Dead Stop and I put the pedal 3/4 to all the way down I hear a grumbling, grinding, sort of cracking noise. It stops once it gets up to speed. Only does it when you are taking off. It doesn't do it turning or when you decelerate. It doesn't do it anytime other than when I accelerate from a dead stop to a 5 mph roll It like instead of the tires breaking traction, something is letting it all slip.
If I have a bad CV joint, will it cause my "check engine light" to come on?
No. Those two issues are unrelated. When the MIL light (check engine) pops on, its only informing you that the computer is getting a reading that is out of spec on any of the electrical sensors that make the car operate in top shape. 9 times out of 10, it is a fault with the emissions system, especially on the Audi A4. Have the CV shaft/half shaft on both sides replaced. Take it to the Audi dealer and have them inspect it. Those idiots at Auto Zone don't know much about cars, trust me, even if they pull a code. Usually they are a generic code anyway. You need the manufacturer specific code to cross reference as a starting point. Your dealer is your best bet. I wouldn't trust any garage mechanic to do the work. Go to the dealer only or a reputable IMPORT auto shop to do the work.
What does a bad inner cv joint feel like? ?
Vibrates, adn at high speeds you will hear a grawling noise in the drive train.
Can a car (SUV) be properly aligned with a bad CV joint?
The correct answer is yes, the cv joint will NOT affect the alignment, that's impossible. So the answer to your question is yes, you can get it aligned without replacing the bad cv joint but here is the catch, on some vehicles, after changing the cv joint you will need to re-align the vehicle, not all cars but some so keep that in mind. Also fyi, rather than replacing the cv joint (when you get around to doing so) just get the complete axle for that side of the car. I get them all day for 40-60 dollars and this will consist of the complete axle with inner and outer cv joints, just swap the whole thing out and be done with it.
What the worst case scenario when you drive on bad cv joints for a long time?
You run the risk of snaping the CV joint in half. Sometimes when this happens you can also cut the brake lines tear up speed sensors, an in some cases put the axle shaft out of the transmission. Please if your CV joints are making noise Replace them. It's not a fun experiance.