Does this typically result in any damage to the front final drive/differential?


I just installed that thing 4 months ago, and it was a brand new genuine Infiniti axle. Anyway, the boot had a tiny hole in it apparently due to the road debris that jacked the whole front end of the car over a month ago.

I JUST started hearing the click today, and it was bad. Today was the first symptom I've even noticed. There was none of the standard clunking around a corner or when backing out of a parking spot, I just started hearing and feeling a click today and decided to be very easy on it especially going around corners. So on the way back from lunch, going around a corner at about 10-15 MPH, the whole outer joint (by the wheel hub) had a ball or three sieze and my immediate reaction was to put on the brakes and stop within about 20-40 feet or so. The 80/90 I put in the front diff just days ago was leaking all over the ground, so I knew the oil seal flanges on the axle and the diff were not meeting up any more.

So even when the tow truck driver was pulling it up onto his flatbed (seriously, hadn't even returned the damned towhook to the trunk, it was laying on my floorboard from the last incident!) and the car was in neutral and the wheels were straight, there was still a very loud popping.

Any ideas how jacked up the differential may or may not be? Would this necessarily even hurt the diff on the front drive wheels of a rear drive car? It wasn't driven at all beyond the 40 feet - at most - and it all happened at low speed.

How screwed am I? If it's just an axle, no sweat, I'd already sent off my old front right axle to be remanned at RockAuto/Cardone just a couple of days ago and should have it within 2 weeks. I was going to try to get some money out of it, but doesn't seem likely now!

 

I would think there Differential would be fine. It's not a posi lock diff in the X, is it? I would think it's like being stuck in mud or snow where only one wheel is spinning, the other is at a stand still and that doesn't mess up the Differential.

 

No, it's not a limited slip differential.

Where was the diff fluid leaking from? Where the shaft mates into the front differential? I'd be worried about damage to the seal in that area to cause it to leak.

Unfortunately without pics or seeing it, it's hard to judge. This was a brand new OEM axle?

If it was me, i'd order a new one from Rockauto.com and cross my fingers.

 

Yeah, 5 month old OEM axle, direct from Infiniti. It was the outer joint that seized, by the hub. The affected axle was still turning, just popping loudly and jerking - the seizure provided just enough resistance that the car could not overcome it while in drive at idle revs.

I had just turned right, very slowly, and was almost fully straight again when it got severe. I imagine the oil dripping out of the axle insertion point of the diff was just caused by the axle being pulled out slightly due to the inability of the *****/chase mechanism to straighten out as the wheel did so, yanking the shaft outwar during certain points in the rotation.


The gear oil will leak when doing an axle change too when the diff end of the axle is reoved, though if the diff isn't moving/churning oil and the 80/90 gear oil isn't hot, you don't lose too much of it.

 

Unfortunately, Rockauto doesn't have any front rights on hand for the X. I have already shipped the previous axle, which just had a torn boot on the inboard triax joint, to Rockauto/Cardone for a rebuild, and had they had any new axles it would've been listed right there where the price for a rebuild is listed. I was hoping to just sell it when I got it back since I had no idea the axle on there was going bad.

Had I just looked at the FSM, I would have realized that you can remove the CV outer joint sub-assembly without even removing the diff end of the axle, and I could have swapped the good outer joint from the old axle to the current axle.

I had the car towed to the auto shop who fixed it a few weeks ago after road debris destroyed my radiator/fan/condensor. I was supposed to have it back to them today for them to finish the AC compressor job anyway, and I think the likelihood is pretty great that the same incident which did all that damage wrecked the boot/axle. It's weird, but I didn't ever see any axle grease slung around - but it's been raining a lot here lately, too, and I've been driving in it, so that may explain the lack of a great amount of axle grease.

 

The differential oil seal for the front right axle is supposedly a very simple swap, and can be had directly from Infiniti for $9.00 plus shipping. So, if I did damage it, I guess I'll know quickly and will be able to fix it easily - if you consider un-installing and re-installing an axle an "easy" job.

The front left axle oil seal requires removal of the differential, which requires engine removal!

 

mental note....never damage front left seal