[habbyguy]

I'm really not sure what I'm looking at under the (remains of...) the axle. It looks like a torn double-wall shield of some sort. It's been years since I've been under an MDX (sold mine long ago) but I know that it wasn't difficult to tap out that right axle, or at least to get a rod up there to do so. Pulling on the axle is the wrong way to do it (as evidenced by the photo and previous comments). ;-)

Here's a snippet from the manual showing the process - if there's something in the way, it either shouldn't be there, or should be removeable...

 

[colinnwn]

I'm really not sure what I'm looking at under the (remains of...) the axle. It looks like a torn double-wall shield of some sort. It's been years since I've been under an MDX (sold mine long ago) but I know that it wasn't difficult to tap out that right axle, or at least to get a rod up there to do so. Pulling on the axle is the wrong way to do it (as evidenced by the photo and previous comments). ;-)

Here's a snippet from the manual showing the process - if there's something in the way, it either shouldn't be there, or should be removeable...

View attachment 120141

You are looking at the end of the CV cup (tulip) of the right axle, after the boot has been cut off, and the spider with the axle was removed from the CV tulip.

Looked up the 'correct' names for this type of CV axle at least per one website.

The shield around it is not torn, looks relatively undamaged. For some reason Honda formed it with a bunch of reliefs. I did bend mine a bit trying to force my CV axle out.

This right CV axle is easy to remove for many people, but can be a monster for some.

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk

 

[habbyguy]

I was referring to the torn-looking thing under the remains of the axle (tulip - learn something new every day!). ;-)

Here's specifically what I was talking about...

Whatever that is is torn and scraped dramatically, and I honestly don't recall anything like that being in the area when I did my axles. I remember being able to just wedge some sort of bar (I think I used a medium-size pry-bar, with the little bend at the end giving me a better path / purchase). Don't recall if that was "bend up" or "bend down" though.

 

[sdao16]

Great news. I finally got the axle cup out using a 17in pry bar that about 1/2 in diameter. Slide the bar over the exhaust pipe as in the diagram noted above. Hammer it with a 3lb sledge and it started to move and slide off after about 10 hits. Thanks every for the help and suggestions. Now, I can start to the new one on. Hope it's easier to put in then to take out.

 

[habbyguy]

Congrats on getting that axle out.

Some new axles (particularly the cheap Chinese no-name axles) will have a sloppy fit on the C-clip that holds the axle in place inside the differential. If you have a lot of trouble sliding in the new axle, you might try (carefully) removing the C-clip and installing the original C-clip. You might have to bend it a bit to get it "in shape" but it worked for me.

Also, I had good luck with some Cardone rebuilt axles on other vehicles (don't recall if I used one on my MDX or not). The new axles tend to be built to MUCH lower standards than the original Honda axles, and are prone to either not working well out of the box, or to wearing out in an amazingly short amount of time.

 

[sdao16]

It's a lot easier to get the axle back in. I just align it with the grove and give it a few small tap and it snap in nicely. I use GSP CV axle but forgot to check where it was made. I wish I checked before purchasing as I prefer Made in USA. Now that I have experience, I'm pretty sure I can knock this job out in and hour for both axle if it needs to be done again. By then I might have giving this SUV away. Thanks again to everyone that provided helpful suggestion to get the job done. Someone on youtube suggested a need for realignment. Wondering what other thing about that suggestion. I'm thinking to drive around to see if an alignment is needed.

 

[habbyguy]

I don't see the need for an alignment for just swapping an axle (most other things in the front suspension - yes).

Good luck with that GSP axle. When a new axle costs about 1/3 the price of a rebuilt OEM axle, you know it's built to "interesting specs".

FWIW, it took about 5 hours each side just to get the axles out of the hubs in my BMW, because it had spent a few winters up north (and the splines were corroded solid). Consider yourself lucky! ;-)

 

[mgirdner]

Thank you all for your posts and advice. Because of you all, I was able to replace both my front axles. Especially helpful was habbyguy's post with the diagram showing the "pry left and tap right" technique.

...Here's a snippet from the manual showing the process...

View attachment 120141 ...

 

[shamari.zaroonify]

Well I was working on my passenger side LCA, tie rods, and CV axle replacement today. Things were going ok, not great, but better than the driver's side until this...

Has anyone removed the front passenger CV axle?

Nox Vidmate VLC​

The service manual says to run a rod underneath the car and put it on the flange of the inboard CV joint (where it connects to the intermediate shaft) and hammer it out. It doesn't say any other parts have to be removed.

The Honda engineers who wrote that are a lying sack of you know what. There is only one tiny window that lets you get (in my case a big screw driver) in there. But when hammering it immediately slips off the CV flange, because the angle is so high where it hits the flange. You can't get it squared up to where it rests on the shoulder as it goes into the intermediate shaft, to wedge it in there better.

I tried running a crow bar from the wheel well, and using it like a slide hammer to pull it out. You can only do this from the front side, not the rear side, because of the heat shield. You just can't get enough bite and umph on it. I had to lever the hell out of the driver's side to get it to release.

I'm trying to decide if I go to Harbor Freight and try a proper slide hammer. Or if I should remove the frame stiffener and the exhaust J pipe, because I think that would allow you to do what the service manual suggests. Or if I'm missing something else?

Thanks.

because you always seem to struggle with things that are normally pretty trivial.