Its not bothering me, its bothering my car

Our good customer came in recently and asked if we would check the brakes for her. She said they were squeaking. We asked if it was bothering her as it was a very light squeak and we felt by the noise that the pads were probably still okay. She said "Its not bothering me. Its bothering my car. I am worried about the rotors."

What a great thought. When we look outside ourselves and listen to the noises our little motorised friends make we are doing a very good thing. For ourselves and the vehicle we maintain. This is a CV (or constant velocity)Shaft. We used to call these types of things axles. With the invention of front wheel drive engines/transmissions we needed a way to pull the car forward instead of pushing the car from the rear...hence the CV Shaft.

While this may not seem like much of a change from the "old style axles", it truly is. This little change has created a whole new dynamic to the car industry. Can you see the accordion shaped boot on either end of the shaft? They are there to keep grease that is inside the moving joint, inside, to lubricate the moving parts. When we turn the wheel of the vehicle the outer joint flexes. The covering or "boot" sometimes rips from flexing and all the grease comes out, thus damaging the joint.

That is the time when we need to replace the joint to keep you safely on the road. If you are hearing a "clock, clock, clock" sound then you may need to have the joint or shaft changed. The piece in these photos are called an ABS (Anti-lock Brake System) sensor ring. This part is installed on the CV Shaft, very close to the hub (the very middle of the wheel). The CV Shaft protrudes all the way through that hub to the other side.

The teeth on it help give information to the ABS sensor as to speed. This information is fed back to the computer brain where it is translated to assist in the Antilock Braking System. If the teeth of it are chipped or broken the reading sent to the brain is wrong and the braking system will not work properly. Basically the clear communication will be broken.

In humans and cars the same is true...we need good, clear and concise speach, data and tone. To be simple about it...cars are no longer simple. But when we try to understand the technology that is involved with cars today, we can see where a little understanding can take the pressure off the of unknown.

We hope that all of your moving parts are complete and unchipped, sending the right signals to your own personal brain box as well.

Chirp, Chirp from the Carchicks!