Rattle on full lock

Tesla

Tesla

Tesla

Soldato
Joined
19 Jan 2003
Posts
17,599
Location
Bristol, UK
Hi all,

My Van (Fiat Doblo) has had a small issue for a while now. My mechanic friend told me not to worry about it but I am not a fan of the idea of something not functioning perfectly.

When the steering is on full (or near full) lock there is a rattle heard. Is a fairly loud knock-knock and is speed related.

My Van did take a small knock to the osf when owned previously but it was repaired by Fiat and to a high standard. Perhaps, something has prematurely worn as a result of this though?

My initial thought is a CV joint, I have never worked on a CV joint but am currently changing the clucth on my brothers car so gaining some experience and confidence with this area of the car which I had previously not worked on.

What would your thoughts on the problem be?

Is it costly to replace CV joints? Or are the just refurbished?

Thanks.
 
Sounds exactly like a CV joint to me!

Cant comment on cost of replacement but it's not normally a massive job
 
Sounds very much like a CV joint. I've never worked on a Doblo so I don't know what type of joints they are, but on most cars you will need to disconnect the upright from the wishbone, undo the big nut in the middle of the hub (usually very tight) and then you can swing the entire strut out whilst driving the CV joint back through the hub. You might have to remove the caliper and/or track rod end from the upright to gain enough movement.

With most drive shafts you can remove the outer CV joint from the driveshaft by removing the boot (gaiter) and there will almost certainly be a circlip that retains the CV joint on the driveshaft that will need to be removed. After this you can remove the CV from the shaft with a aid of copper hammer or similar. You will get thick black grease on you at some stage. Note that it's entirely possible to replace the CV with the rest of the driveshaft in place on the car, though it's a bit more difficult. Obviously make sure you don't pull the entire driveshaft out if trying this as your gearbox oil will quickly drain out over the floor.

Some CV joints (notably on small French hatchbacks) are integral with the drive shaft so the entire thing has to be replaced as an assembly.
 
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Thanks very much Dogbreath. I've just removed the driveshafts on my brothers car as in the process of changing the clutch. Assuming this goes OK I'll have the confidence and a bit of experience to change my CV joints. I guess only the outer CV joints are usually changed? Are the inners ever changed or are they usually integral to the shaft?
 
Inners can be changed if not integral to the shaft, but they very rarely fail since they have an easy life compared to the outers (much smaller operating angle).
 
I see, well considering my van took a small knock in it's past I guess it all add's up.

They have been like this for the past 20k so will probably hang on until we have a nice weekend to do this job.
 
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