Just one of those jobs where you start into the job and as you go along, more problems seem to arise. The caddy was making a rumbling noise that proved to be the CV-axle shaft. Thought I'd document the entire process because it's just about the same for many FWD GM cars using a hub style bearing.
First I stripped the brakes -- caliper, caliper bracket, then the rotor to reveal the hub. Pretty rusty in there, but that's about normal for a car from the mid-Atlantic states where we see a lot of salt in the winter.
Disconnect the ABS sensor and the clip that holds it to the splash shield
Disconnect the tie rod -- but on these aluminum alloy knuckles I don't use a BFH (Big Fffn Hammer) to shock the tie rod loose. I've seen people bang on aluminum knuckles and damage them. Hence I use a tie rod separator from this OTC kit. A cheap HF separator will also do.
A few extra minutes with a tie rod tool (or pitman arm puller will also do in certain instances) , and the tie rod popped free.
Next comes the big 34mm axle nut and strut bolts -- the two strut bolts are tight because they are splined toward the cap ends and in most cases need to be hammered or impacted out with an air hammer. You can spin the nuts off with an air impact , but the bolts themselves can't be spun out due to the splines. They must be forced out in a straight line.
Notice the splines in the bolts .... I just left the nuts loose and used an impact hammer on the nuts to force the bolts straight on through.
Now the knuckle pops free and I can get at the CV-axle - rusty bugger!
Getting at the CV-axle to pop loose from it's retaining ring in the transmission isn't easy because a hard transmission fluid line is in the way. A lever action using a prybar won't cut it.
My solution was to wedge a large straight regular screwdriver between the transmission housing and the rear of the CV axle and hammered the wedged screwdriver into that gap. This forced the CV-axle away from the transmission without putting any pressure on the hard fluid line.
Looking at all the corrosion in the rear of the bearing hub I could also feel some gritty motion when spinning the bearing by hand. Just to be on the safe side I opted for a new bearing hub.
In addition I also noticed that the ball joint boot was leaking grease -- it had a rip in it. Time for a new ball joint. Unfortunately the ball joints on the DTS without the heavy duty performance suspension and brakes are not replaceable. You have to buy the complete control arm assembly. On DTS models with heavy duty brakes and suspensions, the ball joints are individually replaceable. So it's a $190 control arm on the regular luxury suspension, vs a $28 ball joint on the heavy duty suspension. Oh well -- it's only money!!!
Time to remove the lower control arm - no big deal three large bolts hold it in place -- very straight forward. Remove the sway bar link and then the only real problem is removing the two sub-frame nuts form the front bushing -- they hide behind a hose on top of the sub-frame. The bolts remove from the bottom when the nuts are removed.
Here's the entire control arm assembly and the knuckle on the bench -
To remove the ball joint from the knuckle I hit it with an impact hammer -- popped right out
I greased up the front and rear CV-axle splines to get it ready for the install, and I cleaned out the hub bearing bore in the knuckle with emery cloth and lubed it with anti-seize
Next came the new control arm -- and I used blue loktite on all the bolts for reassembly --
NOTE -- I kept the control arm loose and will tighten completely when the wheel is back on and the car is settled on the ground at ride height.
Out of the box the new front control bushing was attached upside down on the arm -- good thing I noticed and double checked with the other side of the car. The bushing needed to turned over to be correctly installed -- always double check the parts.
Line up the CV-axle with the input shaft on the transmission and give it a quick hit on the front with a deadblow hammer -- it popped right into place. The grease helped.
Anti-seize in the bore before the hub bearing is installed --along with blue loktite on all the fasteners
Reassembly was pretty fast once the bearing is bolted into the hub.
Good thing about this new lower control arm -- it's greasable -- old OEM arm was not.
Greased the ball joint and called it a wrap --
Once the car was back on the ground I tightened the front and rear control arm bushing bolts and took a long test drive. It drives like new --
Total cost about $350 for all the parts -- could have saved about $110 by ordering everything from Rock Auto, but this NAPA franchise is the only local family owned parts store left in my area, and they had everything in stock -- so I opted to buy locally and support the business, and get it done today.
