Changing axles on an '02

[onestr8]

My 16 yr old brother in law can aquire a 2002 lx. The car runs great but needs new cv joints/axles. I've worked on axle changes on other cars, but not a taurus. Can anyone give me steps, tips, tricks, things to look out for?

Thanks for a great forum and any advice you can give.

Anthony

[Sexy beast]

Its a pretty straight forward job, just use an allan wrench and remove the 12 bolts on each shaft, and replace them. Make sure you tighten them to the right torque when installing the new ones.

[onestr8]

I only took a quick look at it over the weekend, but didn't see where there would be 12 allen bolts. Where are these located? Where the shaft enters the transaxle? I also should have clarified that this is an automatic.

Anthony

[Sexy beast]

Oh shit what the hell am I saying!!! That's on VWs!! they use 12 allan bolts...when you work on as many cars as me you get confused... I'm going off the top of my head here but to take off the Taurus driveshafts you have to take off the wheels and brakes and unscrew the nut off the hub, If you're working on the left wheel..rotate the steering to the right, that way the shaft can slide out of the bearing without removing a ball joint. Then the part of the drive shaft the goes into the transmission can just be pried out because all they have is a clip holding it in.

[proticus]

If it's a 2002 it sounds like a warantee job to me.

[Sexy beast]

I wouldn't leave my car at a Ford dealer.