A mechanic assessing an axle replacement job from a dealership notes they didn’t follow through with a crucial step in the process.
The video showing the axle replacement process comes from Long Beach, California-based creator Menjicar (@menjicar), put up on Thursday and getting more than 40,000 views since as of Monday.
In it, he walks through the process of how to replace an axle, showing some mysterious things that happened along the way on what appear to be previous car repairs.
“A customer bought me this newer Honda Civic dealership,” he starts. “Dealership told her she needs two axles. Sure enough, we got brand new axles right here with a lifetime warranty from O’Reilly’s. But apparently, they’ve already replaced this slide quite a few times, which I’m pretty sure because you can see the grease is still on the wheel when these things leak. And if anything, I think that one’s leaking right now actually,”
The creator then observes, looking under the hood, “I usually do like an overall inspection and I’ve found this little thing right here, which I think goes right here,” he said, about what appears to be a screw that’s supposed to go in a hole near an air vent where it’s actually been stashed. “Not sure why they put it there. Everything else looks fine.”
He gets to replacing the axle and notes that the nut on one side, which is supposed to have a divot to help hold it in place, has two on one side, indicating the nut’s been used before. There was no nut on the other side, as well as a screw loose near that nut, leading the mechanic to believe the person who previously worked on the car, “Doesn’t seem like they know what they’re doing.”
@menjicar Customer came in needing new front axles recommended from the dealer. #automotive #autotech #hond #hondacivic #lifehack #mechanic #carfix #mastertech #carlifehack #ladyscammed ♬ original sound – Menjicar
A mechanic responding to a 2022 Reddit post on this topic observed, “Some axle nuts have a spot where, once it’s fully tightened, you take a screwdriver and hit a certain spot on the nut to make a divot so the nut can not tighten or loosen. That divot needs to be bent back before you can remove the nut. It sits in a groove and stops the axle nut from loosening or tightening.”
Generally, according to a JD Power article from January 2023, “The great thing about axles is that they are durable and thus incur damage only when extreme force has been applied. But if you start having problems, they do show common symptoms.” Those include car vibrations, loud clanking, clicking, or clunking, grease leaks, or if your car doesn’t move even though the engine is revving.
“Why do axles go bad?” asked one commenter.
“Because they wear out or abuse,” the creator replied.
Another, underscoring his point, observed, “Or some[thing] else could be broken and causes for the axle to fail. That’s why you inspect & replace not just replace because you will replace over & over the same part.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Menjicarr via email and TikTok direct message.
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