1991 Nissan Sentra GXE 1.6L 4 door.....CV joint question....?

Question

I have a 1991 Nissan Sentra GXE 1.6L Manual Transimission 4 speed four foor. My tire went flat maybe two weeks ago and I have been using my spare because I am broke and can't get another tire. About two days ago my car started thumping and we figured out by switching the tire to the back that it was the tire. We also concluded that it got warped from driving on it so long. Here is the problem, we noticed on the front drivers side (where the tire was located) that the CV half shaft had a slit in the rubber cover that goes over it. It is located right by the tire. My BF says that we need to replace the whole thing, but I was wondering if there was some type of patch kit or even replacement cover. He told me that if I keep driving it, a pebble or something else could get in there and lock up my tire. So here are my questions....

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1. Is there a patch kit for the cover?
2. Can I replace the cover alone, or will I have to buy a whole new CV half shaft?
3. If I get another tire, can I keep driving the car safely?

Any other suggestions would really be helpful. I would like to know any other pertinent information. I am hoping to get answers from career mechanics or people who have a pretty good knowledge of cars. To take it somewhere they want to charge me just to look at it. I would appreciate any answers. Thank you so much!!!!

Answer 1

i mechanic for a living,and you can buy just a boot kit for it,,and re-pack the grease in it,,but its not an easy job..or you can get a whole new axle for it,,but there's no patch kit for it,,you,ll need to have it repaired right,or it wont last good at all ,and if you do keep driving it,,it will go all the way out on it,and then you,ll be stuck somewhere,,but that's all you can do is put a boot kit on it,,good luck hope this help,s.,,PS this job will probably cost around 65 bucks to repair,,at the least,,good luck.

Answer 2

If the car starts to click while turning and accelerating the CV joint has gone to far with out grease. Yes there are CV rubber boots very messy job for a pro. the shaft can be rebuilt many places sell the whole shaft for as little as $85. The axle nut is 2 1/4 " and suspension taken apart must be reassembled and bolts correctly torqued. Start saving up for a replacement to this 16 year old car.

Answer 3

You can purchase and cv boot kit, and just replace the boot, grease and bands, but you must clean the joint real good to remove any dirt, or debris..because you have ball bearings in the joint and when the boot bust, the grease is slung out, when moving and due to lack of lubrication and dirt, the joint starts clicking and eventually fall apart..but reboot asap..you have to remove the shaft to do this...can't be done on vehicle... and also you need to get tire replaced...having the spare on that is smaller, and the cv joint isn't moving at the same speed as the other, could do damage to tranmission.

Answer 4

you can get a replacement cv boot. do not get the one with a split from the wide end to the narrow end, get one with an opening at the wide end and at the narrow end. the longer it is exposed the greater the risk to damage the joint, also water dirt and debris will cause damage but a pebble will not stop that axle from spinning. if you hear a clicking noise when turning then you need to replace the half shaft.