2003 Accord CV joints

Have owned front wheel drive cars for 30 years, and this is the first
time I have had a CV joint go on me where the boot didn't go first. Less
than 150,000 miles - both joints shot. Boots in perfect condition - no
cracks, no leaks. Last vehicle, 94 Nisson Quest (only non Honda made
vehicle I have had since 1979), I sold at 194,000 miles and still no
noticable wear and tear on joints.

Anyone else approaching this kind of milage on their 2003 or later
Accords? Would be interested to hear what others are experiencing.


Bob

 

My '03 Accord has just over 140,000 miles. No problems yet.


RFT!!!
Dave Kelsen

 

That /is/ really odd.

Are the joints US-made? The Jap-made ones last 250K easy.

 

Highly unusual for a 7-year old Honda unless it has been driven very
aggressively.

BTW, are you sure it is the CV joints? What symptoms are you experiencing?

 

Japanese made.

 

is this the v6?

this is common on after-market cv joints, but us old school honda
drivers get great mileage on oem if the boots are maintained properly.

my suspicion would be that honda have switched to heat treated vs case
hardened componentry. heat treated is cheaper and what i suspect was
the problem with their failed transmissions of this era also.

 

How do you know? 03 Accords have mostly US parts.

 

Car was assembled in Japan. Would assume the axle/joints were also.

 

It's the 4 cylinder engine, and these are the original joints. I will be
getting a new car before this one hits 200,000 miles, so I got non Honda
replacements, but I was still shocked at how cheap they were. USA
Industries - $110.00. $212.00 installed. Something is definitively
different about this axle/joint assembly. Previous quotes for this type of
part on other cars have been as high as $400.00, installed.

 

The CV boots are fine on my '01 Civic with 295K miles (95% highway),
but I've had some
occasional clicking in my CV joints for a couple years. Given that
most of my driving is in a straight line,
I live with it.

 

< The CV boots are fine on my '01 Civic with 295K miles (95% highway),
< but I've had some
< occasional clicking in my CV joints for a couple years. Given that
< most of my driving is in a straight line,
< I live with it.

You are very lucky. All the cars I have owned have torn cv boots around
100K.

 

Honda has changed its boot chemistry. The newest boots (from about 2003)
should pretty much last the life of the car.

 

My experience with boot failure other than time/mileage is encountering
road hazards. A small branch can raise holy hell with boots and I've
even seen splits from rocks tossed about. Really irksome after a recent
boot replacement!

JT

 

I've never seen that myself. Boots are made of some sort of unbelievably
tough rubber. I can't imagine /anything/ being able to tear into a CV joint
boot, even an aftermarket one.

 

bouncing rocks and stones do it easily enough. it's just rubber
sandwiched between two hard things - the sharp edge of a stone and the
driveshaft internals. it's not that common, but it happens. barbed
wire works great too.

 

The boots may last the life othe car. But it doesn't much matter if the
joints don't. Mine were only good for 150m miles. But aftermarket
replacements were surprisingly affordable.

Bob

 

///snipped///

I agree that Honda's boots, as well as several other mfgrs', with the new
formulae are worlds better than those that went before. However, even
Honda's boots in my vicinity are lucky to last more than two winters before
they crack/split... Has something to do with temps in the -40F and colder...

DaveD

 

-40F, wow!! Where are you located, north Alaska?

 

No. Actually, interior Alaska. Just outside Fairbanks...North Pole (no
kidding) Alaska.
DaveD

 

Too cold for me now but power to you. I wonder how cold (sustained)
the average car (Honda included) can handle if properly maintained?
And what is the proper maintenance for negative temps for a Honda car?
What about the battery? Does the extreme cold shorten the life of
the car battery?