Can A Bad CV Axle Mess Up Your Transmission?

Can A Bad CV Axle Mess Up Your Transmission?

Among the most critical components of your car are the axles. These parts carry the bulk of your car’s weight, providing power from the engine to the wheels.

But they do fail, just like any other part of your car. And when that happens, there are many potential dangers that you need to be aware of.

But to start, the breaking of your vehicle’s axle while driving will easily occasion immobilization on your car.

The wheel bearing will seize in extreme conditions, even as the wheel disconnects from the suspension. Now, these are serious issues that should make you worried.

Can A Bad CV Axle Mess Up Your Transmission?

Yes, If your CV axle breaks, it laves the driveshaft off-center in the differential, denying the wheels the privilege to receive proper power transmission. A CV axle has a bearing that is lubricated by grease. If the grease dries up for one reason or another, it will become noisy, wearing out faster than normal.

A bad CV axle will greatly affect your transmission, including messing it up. Just so that you know, the CV axle is a vital component in your car’s transmission.

Indeed, the CV axle connects the driveshaft to the differential. And as I insinuated earlier, the differential sends power to your wheels.

Therefore, it’s a logical expectation that if this axle breaks, it will cause serious problems with your transmission.

A CV axle has a bearing that is lubricated by grease. If the grease dries up for one reason or another, it will become noisy, wearing out faster than normal.

When this happens, your transmission will be messed up. First, without tension on the driveshaft, you won’t be able to drive the wheels attached to it.

Consequently, unless you have an automatic transmission, you will not have any propulsion, and therefore you won’t be able to drive your car by pressing the gas pedal.

Additionally, a broken CV axle(Amazon link) will bend the driveshaft or fall out of place inside your vehicle’s differential carrier.

This is not good for any transmission since you can’t have power transferred up through the drivetrain as it needs to be.

Therefore, it’s needful to be on guard to identify the first signs of a bad CV axle. The one thing you cannot miss for a failing CV axle is the car’s vibrations and inability to run smoothly.

What Happens If Your Car Axle Breaks While Driving?

Since this is a scary incident, it’s best to avoid experiencing it. Luckily, an axle breaking is not one of those things that will happen overnight.

There are signs that your vehicle will reveal, suggesting that your axle is starting to go bad. Failure to pay attention to the symptoms will precipitate having the axle broken.

When your axle begins to break, the car will start pulling to one side. If your axle is breaking, the wheel will start losing power.

Therefore, if you feel as you drive that the car is pulling harshly to one side, that is it! You might be starting at a broken axle and therefore need to pull over immediately.

As long as the peripheral parts of the axle break, your axle breaking won’t be far behind.

After noticing the signs, it will be a matter of time before your axle disconnects from the wheel. Trust me; you don’t want to get to that point.

Is It Safe To Drive With A Broken Axle?

While driving with your broken axle is not safe, you won’t be going anywhere far anyway. But the short distance you can drive your car with a broken axle can be life-threatening.

Indeed, if the two operational axles are faulty, it is not possible for proper transfer of power to the wheels from the car’s transmission if you have a front-wheel-drive setup.

But if you have a rear-wheel-drive system, there will be a problem transferring the transmission to the differential.

The surest signs that your axle is on its way to breaking include bumping, clicking, or even a grinding noise when turning.

The axle is yet to break at that point, but it will be a matter of time before it does.

When the boot protecting the joint gets damaged, grease leaks out even as debris and dirt get in. due to lack of enough lubrication, the joint tears itself apart.

Even as your axle is failing, you will still be able to continue driving your car. While this is possible, it’s pretty risky as the axle might break at any time.

I highly discourage you from driving your car if you have any reason to suspect that the axle is on its way to being broken.

And if this happens, there is all probability that you won’t be able to control your car anymore, possibly crashing your car or causing an accident.

Therefore, it’s better to address the problem immediately other than trying your chance out.

Can A Bad Axle Cause Vibration When Braking?

Yes, A damaged axle will cause suspension vibration, the type of vibration that is fairly severe. Unfortunately, this type of shaking will only worsen with an increase in acceleration.

Consequently, it’s good practice to address axle issues as soon as possible. You will need to replace damaged CV joints as they will produce suspension vibration in your car.

However, anytime you hear vibration from the front end, you don’t always have a bad axle. Other parts can cause vibrations once they become faulty or wear out.

A defective tire or when a tire gets out of balance will also cause vibrations, so you must be sure before you incur an unnecessary replacement cost.

Still, a bent wheel or even a worn driveline U-joint will also cause vibrations in your car’s front end.

You might feel that the car is being shaken in an up and down motion, sometimes feeling the vibrations through the steering wheel, the seat, or even in the brake pedal.

Other reasons you might experience vibrations as you brake include out of round brake rotors. These vibrations will also be felt through your brake pedal as you brake.

Again, unaligned wheels will wear your tires unevenly and very fast.

This is also a recipe for the steering wheel to vibrate when braking, making your driving experience very uncomfortable.

Why Do I Feel A Wobble When I Break?

Only one group of people can enjoy driving with wobbling tires, and that is the kind of people who love the song “Bumpy Ride” by Mohombi!

And if you are not a party to this, the tremors you feel while driving with wobbling tires are scarcely bearable. Indeed, it can be a pretty frightening experience.

There are several causes of tire wobbles, including tire issues, vehicle suspension issues, and wheel issues.

Wheel alignment issues make it near the top of the list since you can always expect a slight shaking and vibrations if your tires are off.

You will find that you have to struggle with the steering wheel to maintain a straight course.

The easiest way to know if your car has misaligned is to observe if the tires wear unevenly or if it pulls to one side.

Damaged suspension can be another cause of wobble. While this can be a hard-to-diagnose problem, it’s real and serious.

So you will need a mechanic to diagnose the problem and have it appropriately addressed.

Other common issues that cause wobbling include damaged mounting, bent suspension arms, and strut and damper issues.

Like a damaged suspension, these issues cannot be determined without a comprehensive inspection by a professional mechanic at an auto service center.

Another cause of a wobbly ride is unbalanced wheels, easily confused with wheel alignment.

These two are distinct, with wheel balancing correcting the unbalanced distribution of wheel weight while wheel alignment keeps your vehicle away from veering to the left or the right. This ensures a smooth ride.

Car Struts And Axles: Are They The Same Thing?

No, car struts are different from axles. Unlike what you might expect, not all motorists are conversant with the fact that their car’s wheel system’s performance depends on the struts and axles’ condition.

The two components are handy in driving, steering, and braking your vehicle, linking the power from your car’s engine to the wheels.

These components carry the whole weight of the vehicle, cargo, and passengers. Fortunately, they will last up to 100,000 miles without the need for replacement.

Axles connect to the front wheels, transferring tongue from the car’s transmission to the drive wheels.

If you are driving and the axle breaks, you will have an immediate effect, a dangerous one, as the power is no longer getting transferred from the tires.

It will become impossible to control the steering wheel, possibly leaving you stranded in the middle of the rod.

How Do You Move A Car With A Broken Axle?

Once your car gets a broken axle, you will not be moving it much. Without transmission of the torque from the engine to the wheels, there will be no power to move your car.

But if it’s not entirely broken, you might be able to move it. Generally, a broken axle exhibits one or more behaviors, including clunking or sputtering noises as the gears are shifted.

Again, there can be rumbling and vibrating noises during acceleration or turning.

Since these are the symptoms of worn-down axles, they can be taken as warning signs that you need to replace them.

Due to the role your car’s axle performs, it’s important to maintain the good health of the axle.

But your car’s axle health will only be properly determined by a certified professional mechanic, meaning the car needs to be taken to one immediately on exhibiting one or more of the symptoms.

This is because it’s not possible to drive a car whose axle is broken safely.

And if the breaking happens at the universal joint, there is not much the car can do but rev up, making it incapable of movement.

Your car’s axle can be broken or damaged by being overloaded or if it has a bad carrier bearing.

Still, if the car encounters a bad bump at the wrong speed, it can break its axle.

When the axle is damaged or broken, it further damages the car or injures both the passengers and the driver.

As you might be aware, most car issues need to be examined and fixed by a certified mechanic to prevent further damage in the course of fixing them.

Why Does My Car Shake When I Am Braking?

There are several reasons your car might shake while braking. As you will agree, there might not be many things as annoying as a car shaking while driving at higher speeds.

This is especially when driving for long distances. The most common cause for shaking as you are driving is either unbalanced or damaged tires and rims.

This might result from aging or an accident. Just so that you may know, you will need to replace tires according to the expiry date indicated on them, even if they are not worn out.

Secondly, improper tire balance is a common cause of car shaking as you drive. This might result from age or when the balance weights get loose.

Wheel balancing is the best way to address this.

Again, faulty brake rotors will cause shaking and vibrations in your car as you drive. This is because brake pads always push slightly against the brake rotors.

But if the car’s vibration and shaking are more pronounced when you apply a slight force to the brake pedal, making you feel the steering wheel’s vibrations.

Your problem lies in the car’s front brake rotors. On the other hand, if extra vibrations can be felt when braking, but not from your steering wheel, the culprit might be the rear brake rotors.

A qualified mechanic’s inspection might reveal this. And since brake pads and rotors get worn over time, it’s advisable to replace them.

Averagely, you will need to change the car’s brake rotors every 70,000 – 90,000 miles.

Conclusion

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