So I have a 07 kia amanti and we started hearing a almost grinding noise on the front passenger side of the vehicle. So we took the tire off to investigate because it’s getting worse. What we found was the seal closest to the tire broken and the fluid built up all over the boot and inside of tire, and as far as I can the tell the inner joint looks fine. My question is can I just replace the outer joint of the cv axle, is it possible for that to be all that’s wrong? There is no vibration, the noise gets worse when turning or when first accelerating and I believe I may have done this hitting a curb. Do I need the replace the whole thing, how do I know? Any help surely appreciated, I have kids and Christmas coming up and I’m already so freaking broke the repair shop is NOT an option for my broke ass, so THANKS IN ADVANCE 😉😁
Sounds like you have a broken CV boot. The part looks like this -
https://www.rockauto.com/info/464/KA8014A.jpg
Rock auto has the shaft for about 65 bucks. https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/kia,2007,amanti,3.8l+v6,1434889,drivetrain,cv+axle,2288
When the CV boot breaks, all the grease inside gets spun out and goes everywhere. This also allows rain and road dirt into the joint, damaging it.
Now the real question? Is it the CV joint or the wheel bearing?
You mentioned you hit a curb, and its unlikely the CV joint would suffer damage from a curb strike unless the strike was severe, and it probably wouldn’t be drivable at that point. Like tire falling off damage.
When the CV joint is bad, the car will start to make clicking/grinding noises when you turn the wheel left or right.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c1nxR7aq1o
If the car is making noise that, its a bad CV joint.
A bad wheel bearing sounds like this -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpsLaSzcAu4
Pay attention at 1:12 of that video. When he takes that long right turn, the sound lessens then returns as the road straightens.
That is a perfect example of a bad right (passenger side) wheel bearing. When you take a nice long right curve, the vehicle weight shifts to the left side of the car, taking pressure off the wheel bearing and making it quiet for a bit.
The wheel bearing isnt a lot of money, but pressed in place and requires special tools to replace, and requires a mechanic or advanced shade tree DIY’er with a 2 ton shop press.
Ideally you should have the CV axle and wheel bearing replaced at the same time, as you pretty much have to remove the cv axle to replace the wheel bearing.
I’m sorry this has to happen at this time of year.
Thank you I appreciate this, I’m gonna try the cv axle first since I can see the visible damage, and move on to the wheel bearing if necessary. Thanks again