Hi all. Well, the 1996 3.5L Intrepid (170K) that my wife drives started acting up a few days ago in the steering department; it would shudder and shake at various speeds, jerk when starting and stopping and going around corners, etc. So I decided that, today being a nice day, to get it up on the jackstands and take a gander.
First, I've found that the passenger-side inner tie rod bushing is GONE -- completely missing. So I'll be doing that repair. I had talked about it for awhile back when, but never did it, but now it's imperative. So I'll be using a combination of tutorials and a nice day to attempt it. However, while I was under the car, I was playing with the wheels and so forth to figure out what was loose and wrong and noticed that the passenger side outer CV joint, when rotated, "popped" back and forth. IE: When you moved the wheel, the joint wouldn't start turning right away...it would "catch" after maybe a 1/16th of a rotation and THEN turn. And when it caught, you could see it 'bend' slightly as the gears caught. Is this a Bad Thing(tm)? I'm half inclined to think that maybe it is. And that maybe it was caused, in part, by the wheel vibration from the lack or partial lack of the inner tie rod bushing. Now, the boots are good -- all four of them. No cracks, no tears. So I assume that they aren't so much worn from dirt as from vibration or maybe just age. According to my Haynes manual, you can clean and repack the CVs but if they're worn, you have to replace the "whole thing". I'm not sure what they mean by that...the whole thing from the wheel hub all the way in to the inner CV? Or can smaller parts than that be replaced? Approx. cost? While I was down there, I took some pictures as well of some bushings, etc. Can those who are knowledgeable more than I take a look at them and tell me what you think in terms of replacement, condition, etc? http://www.nathanpralle.com/photos/intrepid/index.html First Picture: Control arm and tension strut bushing. Looks a bit cracked but is whole. Probably not a big problem, but somethign to watch out for. Second Picture: Inner CV boot. Looks good. Third Picture: Mount Bushing? Not sure what the right name is here. It's like half missing, but not completely. Looks like it'd take a bit of effort to go and replace that. Fourth Pic: Outer CV. Again, looks good. Fifth Pic: Passenger Shock. While I had the car up, I took a picture of this, as it's starting to look...uh...a bit rusty. Perhaps time for replacement? Yeek. The last two pics are a battery terminal fix that I posted earlier. No comment necessary. :) Thanks tons, Nathan ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Give the gift of life to a sick child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/5iY7fA/6WnJAA/Y3ZIAA/46t0lB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Web: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dodge_intrepid> Subscribe: <mailto://[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Unsubscribe: <mailto://[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Moderator: <mailto://[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dodge_intrepid/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
