06 LX Front Diff and CV axel replacement or repair (1 Viewer)

[y5359]

I was traveling in my 2006 LX this past weekend and the car started making some weird noises and shaking so I pulled over. When I got out of the car it smelled like burnt rubber. I tried to put it back in gear and it made a grinding noise and wouldn't move. I had it towed 100 miles back to a mechanic I have used a few times.

My Mechanic checked it out and is saying my front diff is bad and it also needs new cv axels. I have not had a chance to talk with him directly or check the car out myself due to fluke snow storm in Georgia.

My questions to the community are:

Should I take it to Lexus and also have them check it out? I don’t have any other mechanic I trust locally.

Should I try to tackle it myself? I'm confident I could replace the cv axels but I have not seen much on how hard it is to replace the front diff. Current mechanic that has the car is quoting 8 hours at $159 per hour to do the job plus parts.

If I go through with replacing the front diff and cv axels what else should I do while everything is apart? drive flanges, front diff bushings, etc?

One member on here recommended I upgrade to the Harrop locker. Does that make sense if I don’t do any wheeling? I would think OEM set up would be more than capable for my needs but I’m open to upgrades if they are better than OEM.

I will get more information and pictures as soon as I can, hopefully this week. I want to talk directly with the mechanic that did the inspection to find out how he came up with needing new front diff and cv axels.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Highly unlikely it's your diff, much more likely that one of the c-clips popped off the end of the CV and it's spinning. Lock the center diff and seeing if the truck will move is one way to confirm this. That said, if it is that, you probably will need a new CV and drive flange as the splines will have ground off from the spinning.

 

[Malleus]

This is definitely something I'd do myself, rather than pay someone to do it for me. You need a couple of special pullers, but you can get them on loan from a parts store. No matter what is bad in the driveline, you can do it yourself; this is nowhere near complicated. You do need a good 1/2" drive torque wrench, that'll get up to 170-lb·ft (for the Lower Control Arm castle nut).

I'm doing this myself, on my son's 200 LX470 with 300k miles on it. It's getting a completely new front end, less the differential. I'm waiting on a parts shipment price now, to determine where I'm going to get them. I'd budget on a long weekend to do the whole front end, or a full day to do any part of it; disassembly is the time eater.

Whatever you do, replace any rubber that is obviously gone and any that is suspect. It's way easier to do it with the big parts (Upper/Lower Control Arms, CV axles) out of the way than it is when they are all in there.

 

[y5359]

Highly unlikely it's your diff, much more likely that one of the c-clips popped off the end of the CV and it's spinning. Lock the center diff and seeing if the truck will move is one way to confirm this. That said, if it is that, you probably will need a new CV and drive flange as the splines will have ground off from the spinning.

When it got off the tow truck I just put it in park and didn't pull the park brake. It started rolling backwards out of the parking spot. after pressing the CDL button I was able to drive forward to put the car back into the parking spot. It didn't make the grinding noise either.

Prior to having it towed, I crawled under it and I'm pretty sure the CV axel on the drivers side was about 1/4 inch off from being flush. I will double check this and take pictures when I can pick it up. I'm no expert but I was initially thinking circlip had popped off. My cv boots were intact and didn't appear to be slinging any grease.

 

[Malleus]

The CV axles are captured between the differential and the drive flange. That's why Cardone omitted the large inner retaining ring holding the inner joint in its housing. The circlip holding the innermost shaft in the differential keeps the shaft from hitting the dust cap on the wheel.

If the snap ring has fallen off the outer end of the drive shaft, the shaft can only move inwards, not outwards.

You have to remove the drive flange to get the CV axle out of the differential, unless the wheel and hub are allowed to move away from the control arm assemblies. I'm not sure there is enough gap in the design to allow the innermost shaft to disengage from the differential, without pulling it out, but I've never tried it either.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Yes, definitely sounds like the c-clip. You'll have to inspect the splines on the CV end and the flange, but should plan on replacing both. You can save a couple bucks and get just the outer CV joint, but depending on miles it may just be easier to replace the whole CV. Suggestion to spend the money on OEM, either just outer or whole CV, too many stories here of people replacing with NAPA or others and having issues with boots or the joint not long after replacement.

Also might want to consider your mechanic. Saying CV and full differential is easy just from verbal symptoms, would hope with a little digging they'd realize what it really was.

 

[Rhetoric]

“Mechanic” is a term I reserve for people who actually investigate and solve issues. Very few of those folks around as they take the time to look and listen.

“Tech” is a term I use for everyone else. Techs love making assumptions and using parts cannons to get you out of their shop as quickly as possible. Plenty of these folks around and wreak havoc on all makes and models.

Now I don’t mean to disparage Techs that can crank out work the right way. They are an important part of the shop ecosystem. As with anything… there are folks that care and folks that don’t.

Lots of folks on here care and it makes this community awesome. I really need to write a “100s for Dummies” book that covers topics like these that folks can quick reference.

 

[y5359]

I talked with the mechanic today. He is adamant that the pinion gear and ring gears are bad. He said the CVs are slinging grease but they could be reused, but it was his recommendation to replace them while he has everything apart. I asked about rebooting and he said it doesn’t make sense because the contaminants have already entered them and he would just go new. They do not do repairs on front diff and could not find any new or used ones through their suppliers. Since it’s on the front and the car has over 200k miles he didn’t think it made sense to spend the money for OEM.

 

[Rhetoric]

Everything your "Mechanic" said goes against the common knowledge here. Going non-OEM is a great way to have issues arise again quickly.

Mr. Parts Cannon also wants to tell you how to spend your money, which is none of his business. It's his job to make repair recommendations, not discuss the value of your vehicle and the parts you use.

 

[plainjanefjc]

I ask to see pictures of the damage in the diff.

 

[y5359]

I'm not sure if I'm going to try to tackle this myself but my dad was talking to a guy he knows at the Lexus dealership here and they will give me a second opinion for $175. If I want them to do the install he said it would be the same 8 hours but their rate is $175. So only $128 more for them to do it and I can order the parts online and bring them to get the online price vs what they normally charge for parts.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

You can solve this yourself in 10 minutes by going on popping the dust caps off the hub ends and seeing if the c-clip has fallen off.

 

[MechE30]

I was surprised thinking this happened to another member, then I saw you’re the guy I replied to in the What I Did Today thread. Either take the truck home and check it out yourself with our help, or bring it to Toyota/Lexus and pay them. I wouldn’t believe your mechanic knows what he’s doing on this job.

 

[y5359]

I got the truck home and did some inspections. Circlips are still on. It looks like 2 of the small clamps are gone on the cv axels so those are slinging grease but otherwise boots appear in good shape and they are OEM. I had to drive a few miles to get back to my house and it drives with the CDL on but it does make a grinding sound.

 

[y5359]

Additional pictures

 

[MechE30]

The CV’s externally look fine to me. Fluid on them could be from the steering rack above. That’s good that your cv clips are still connected, I would say to pop your diff fluid drain off (you can just remove it quick and put a finger over the hole if you’re not wanting to completely drain and fill) and check the fill plug magnet. I’m guessing there’s some big chunks attached to it.

I believe you can still buy a fully built front differential from Toyota, or obviously go with a used unit from a junkyard. OTRAMM on YouTube just did a video on replacing it, and if you’re handy I would suggest doing it yourself. Watch the video if you’re considering it, it’ll save you a lot of money!

Report back the diff drain plug findings!

 

[Rhetoric]

Even though the circlips are there, I would be curious to see what the spline wear is on the CV and on the hub flange. The grease looks contaminated.

 

[MechE30]

Even though the circlips are there, I would be curious to see what the spline wear is on the CV and on the hub flange. The grease looks contaminated.

Sure I suppose you could jack up a wheel and try to spin it while holding the CV from spinning. Hard to imagine our 240hp beasts fully wearing through the 30 steel splines. Crazier stuff has happened though!

 

[y5359]

The CV’s externally look fine to me. Fluid on them could be from the steering rack above. That’s good that your cv clips are still connected, I would say to pop your diff fluid drain off (you can just remove it quick and put a finger over the hole if you’re not wanting to completely drain and fill) and check the fill plug magnet. I’m guessing there’s some big chunks attached to it.

I believe you can still buy a fully built front differential from Toyota, or obviously go with a used unit from a junkyard. OTRAMM on YouTube just did a video on replacing it, and if you’re handy I would suggest doing it yourself. Watch the video if you’re considering it, it’ll save you a lot of money!

Report back the diff drain plug findings!

I was not able get the drain plug loose with the tools I have currently. My issue was the same as OTRAMM video's LX. I was getting a different sound with load to coast before it died so my Pinion bearing was probable bad. I also think my drive shaft was over greased putting extra load on it.

The dust caps that I currently have on the axels are in bad shape so they will need to be replaced and could have let contaminants in.

 

[Bisho]

If you have someone sit in the truck with the CDL disconnected and put it in drive. If a cv axle is spinning then either it’s bad or the hub is stripped. If no cv axles spinning then the diff is blown.