[dderolph]

Got a 91 Accord, with 231K miles on it. For about a month now, I've been hearing a clunking sound when the car encounters uneven road surfaces, especially during turns. When making turns on a smooth surface, I hear no noise.

About two weeks ago, I changed oil. I grabbed the right drive axle, pulled and pushed on it, and noticed play and clunking noise at the inner joint, next to the transmission. The outer joint felt solid. I believe this explains why I hear no noise when turning on smooth surfaces; it's the inner joint that's bad, not the outer one.

The rubber boots on the shaft are OK; no rips or tears. I would normally expect to see a boot with a split in it and a worn CV joint due to loss of lubrication. Since the boots are OK, I suspect the CV joint was damaged several months ago when I hit curb very hard with the right front and rear wheels. The impact ruined the front tire and slightly bent the front wheel, to give you an idea how hard I hit the curb. Amazingly, my wheel alignment was significantly affected, as was confirmed when I later bought a new set of tires and had the alignment checked.

Although the seems to drive normal for highway driving, I believe I'd better not ignore this. I'd better replace the axle.

The last time I replaced an axle on this car, which happens to be the one making the noise, the cost was $250 at a local shop. I recently got a quote from a different shop; their price is only $150. Wow, that seems unbelievably low. The shop is owned by a Laotian man, and the technicians who work in the shop are Laotian. They have a 90-day warranty; I'm tempted to go ahead and have them do it.