Front outer tie rod end boot replacement - easy? not today!

[ftuhy]

While under the car to replace brake fluid this past weekend, I noticed a small crack in the left outer tie rod end boot. So, today I figured I'd pop the tie rod end out of the steering knuckle, remove the boot and see if any contaminants got into the joint.

Good news - I caught the crack before any dirt or moisture got into the joint. :biggrin: Just follow the manual steps to re-lube the joint and intall a new boot, Right -- wrong!

I put my puller on the tie rod end, and it came out with virtually no effort - along with the steel sleeve in the steering knuckle! The jaws on my puller (as well as the factory type puller) are too far apart to reliably grab the edges of the sleeve to press the sleeve off of the tie rod end ball joint stud, so it was off to my local parts store. They were able to press the tie rod end stud out of the bushing without touching any of the ball joint parts, so tie rod end and bushing are both OK.

Now the part that makes me uneasy: I was able to "press" the bushing back into the knuckle with my bare fingers. This does not seem normal. Any experience with this?

The car, a '96 T, has 55kmi, wears tires perfectly straight across, and has no vibration. The tie rod end was last removed in 1999 when the dealer replaced the EPS unit under warranty.

Should I be concerned? I'll of course test for looseness when I put things back together, and check that the bushing does not rotate during steering.
Anything else to check?

I tried two local dealers and none had the boot in stock. One dealer has ordered it for me, hoping to get it tomorrow.

 

[Larry Bastanza]

Hi Frank,

I have had this happen too. If I recall the bushing is actually two parts. Even though this is not a hard press fit, once the two parts are in place, they sandwich the knuckle and will tighten up fine when you install the ball boint stud, and lock it down.

I hope I do not have this confused with the ball joint, but I thought the bushing design for all of these joints are the same.

HTH,
LarryB

 

[ftuhy]

Larry,

Thanks - good info.

The bushing indeed is two parts: the bottom sleeve and a top saucer-like cap or washer. The sleeve part presses into the saucer. I did that with a large c-clamp and it is now impossible to rotate the sleeve in the knuckle.

I guess Acura didn't expect the sleeves to separate before the stud pops out, so this is not in the shop manual.

 

[Larry Bastanza]

Actually you really need their special puller.

Regards,
LarryB

 

[davidf]

Ya know I found out that the outer tierods are one of the cheaper parts to buy from Acura. I just replaced both since my boots were shot. Easiest thing I've changed on the car so far.

 

[ftuhy]

Larry,

Out of curiousity, what's the spacing between the fingers on the factory puller (on the arm that goes between the knuckle and the ball joint)? No rush on the answer of course, since my disassembly work is done for now.

The jaws on my tie rod end puller are 28 mm apart. The manual describes the special puller as "28mm puller", so I assumed my puller would work. Apparently, the 28mm refers to some other aspect of the special tool. :redface:

The diameter of the bottom of the bushing is about 30 mm, so with 28 mm between the jaws (and probably not 100% dead center alignment of the tool), the bushing managed to slip through.

Anway, next time I need to buy the special puller.