Cardinal_E63S

So my car just passed 60K miles recently and my extended warranty expired so of course now I'm starting to have a bunch of things go wrong. My motor mounts both broke, one totally cracked in half. I think possibly because of that my drivers side axle crapped out all of its grease and now needs to be replaced. It is also leaking coolant from the expansion tank and oil from the oil cooler gasket. So here are my questions. An indy shop quoted me $420 to replace the expansion tank which seems pretty high to me. He said that the system needs to be flushed and refilled when replacing that tank, is that the case or can it be done without draining and refilling? Question #2 my car is tuned both ECU and TCU, are there certain axles and or a place that you buy them from that you guys recommend? Question #3 is the oil cooler gasket a fairly advanced job? They quoted me almost $700 for that job most of which is labor. I appreciate any help you guys are able to give.

CZ 75

I can answer question #3. It isn’t a very advanced job but required removal of a lot of things(coolant lines etc) to get to it. If you’re going to go through the trouble of replacing it, I would also implore you to replace all of the plastic turbo coolant lines, all of the o-rings on them, the thermostat and water pump, oil filter housing gasket, and the cam magnet that’s sitting behind the charge pipe on the driver side. Reason being for all of the stuff is that you will start seeing leaks soon from those respective areas so you might as well knock out two birds with one stone.

Mojo20032004

Coolant tank job is 30min max. Buy a tank from fcp euro,buy one of those turkey blaster thingy, do it on a cold car so pressure it's high and coolant is settled.. Empty the tank out, replace it, refill and let car idle for 30-40min with heat on. Leave cap open for air to escape. Axle replacement isn't that hard either, but no point in replacing it if the mounts are bad

vdubpower

m157
4matic
tuned
oh boy

kevm14

My local dealer's internet price for a new tank is $50. Yes, really.

Cardinal_E63S

Are there any good write-ups or videos on how to change the axles?

CZ 75

when you say “axles” are talking about the CV’s? If so, what’s wrong with yours?

Cardinal_E63S

They told me front driver side axle needed to be replaced because all of the grease came out of it I assume due to driving it with a badly broken engine mount, it drives but there's a fairly noticeable vibration under load. This is what I ordered myself because they could only get me a remanufactured part and it was $250 more that this part, Mercedes axle shaft is this different than the cv? If so I better double check with them that I got the right thing.

CZ 75

CV=axle shaft. Sounds like your boot is probably torn and all the grease has long since come out.

OldManAndHisCar

that and the fact that the op seemingly does not know too awful much about cars..

Cardinal_E63S

I know quite a bit about cars actually, I do all of my own work on all of my cars unless I need a lift or specialty tools I don't have. What have I said that's given you the idea I don't know much about cars?

JettaRed

iTrader: (1)

The CV, or Constant Velocity, joints are the flexible joints at either end of the axle shaft. They allow the axle to move with the suspension up and down while maintaining a constant velocity. The reason a shop will suggest replacing the whole axle is because the labor and parts to replace a torn boot is often more than just the complete unit. Plus, not knowing how long the boot has been torn, there may be dirt, water, and excessive wear on the joint that make simply replacing the boot uneconomical in the long run. You'll pay the same labor to remove and install the axle.