My efi TP sedan is due for rego. in 2 weeks.. Before booking the roadworthy inspection, I checked it for faults. I thought it was near perfect but not so. Both the driver side and passenger side CV boots have disintegrated. The outer driver side boot is completely shredded. The passenger side one has just split around its circumference. There haven't been any clicking noises but I should have checked earlier.

I replaced the passenger side driveshaft on my other (carby) sedan a couple of years ago but it has done very few kms since then. The CV boots on it look like new. That car is permanently retired so I thought I would save some money by swapping its passenger side driveshaft to the efi sedan. Then i would only need to buy a driver side shaft.

I put the carby sedan on stands this morning and have the outer end of the driveshaft undone and out of the hub. I haven't tried to pull it out of the relay shaft yet because I noticed that the inner CV joint can be moved in and out by at least five cm. Is there usually that much looseness in the CV joint? If it is buggered, there's no point in swapping it and I will have to buy new shafts for both sides. I don't recall the previous shaft's CV joints being loose at all.

I believe that is totally normal...good to put in as far as I'd say:facejump:
If your in Sydney and can wait till next weekend let me know...I have a good set sitting at home but I'm away at the moment.

Thanks, Tpwagon but I'm in Willow Tree. Although I'm in the poorhouse already, I decided not to take any risks and ordered both shafts. I just hope they are sent promptly or I will run out of time. It is so hot here that I can only work a couple of hours in the morning and evening.

No worries....I replaced mine when I did the engine,but they are still very good. Really only replaced because I had a new set of Repcos....by the time I get to use them the rubbers will probably be buggered! Enjoy changing them in the heat,nothing nicer than rolling around on the ground and sweating in the heat...come out looking like a crumbed cutlet!

inner CV joint can be moved in and out by at least five cm.

Just like the tailshaft on a conventional diff rear wheel drive the driveshafts on the frontwheel drive need room to move to allow for suspension travel.
The balls on the inner CV slide in and out in grooves in the outer to allow for the suspension and lower control arm movement.
Last complete CV shafts i got were from over in WA and arrived in 5 or 6 days. Vee

Thanks Veeone, that makes sense. I figured it had to be something of that nature but couldn't remember them being like that last time. Considering the amount of effort required to pull the shaft out, you'd think I would remember. Must be advancing age!

Crumbed cutlet reporting. The driveshafts arrived this morning. I replaced the passenger side one today. Had to take the front exhaust pipe section off because it prevented me from levering the shaft out of the relay shaft. With the exhaust out of the way, i separated the joint fairly easily, using the same trick as last time. i.e. clamping an old style muffller clamp around the end of the shaft to give something flat to lever against. As usual, took hours to get the exhaust back on. It is so hard to get it to line up at the manifold end.

Tomorrow I will attempt to remove and replace the drivers side shaft.

All done and back on the road. In a way, I'm glad I had to do both sides because now I know what's involved.

Since fitting the new driveshafts & CV joints, I'm noticing a vibration that I didn't have before. It occurs when I accelerate even mildly with the wheels slightly turned, such as when exiting a roundabout or just exiting a normal corner. It feels like a wheel wobble but I'm sure it is not. I haven't noticed it on right hand corners, only left.

When I was fitting the driveshafts, I had to turn the outer joints to their limit to get the end of the shaft into the wheel hub. I noticed the joints felt quite tight and not very smooth. I hope they didn't forget to put grease inside the boots. I'll see whether the vibration disappears as they wear in but it is a bit of a worry.

Joint should feel smooth, used or new.
I've never played with a new one, but I know a used one can be tested by moving it around and feeling for smoothness and floppiness, ie little resistance.

On a brand new Mitsu this doesn't happen, so there may be a problem.
Are these new or rebuilt? Are you game to undo one of the boot clips to check for grease? Little one, give the boot a squeeze, grease should ooze out, that sort of thing.

Then again, just drive it and see if it gets better or worse.

Thanks. That confirms my thoughts on the matter. They were brand new, not reco. but definitely felt tight and rough when I moved the joints although the metal that was visible looked smooth. I'm sure the joints on the replacement shaft for my carby sedan felt smooth.

I'm doing oil changes for engine and transmission in the next few days so will check them out while the car is on the stands. If the boot clips can be undone and re-tightened, I wil do that unless I can feel grease inside by squeezing the boots.