Ball joints

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scapa

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Hi all, took my 2001 Accord four cylinder in to have the transmission oil changed at 96,000km as per drivers manual, dealer told me that I needed lower ball joints replaced. I live in Winnipeg, Canada and it gets cold but most of my driving is on decent roads and I have good tires. Should'nt they last longer than that and has anyone heard of a recall for faulty ball joints ?
Thanks for any info.
 
Hi all, took my 2001 Accord four cylinder in to have the transmission oil changed at 96,000km as per drivers manual, dealer told me that I needed lower ball joints replaced. I live in Winnipeg, Canada and it gets cold but most of my driving is on decent roads and I have good tires. Should'nt they last longer than that and has anyone heard of a recall for faulty ball joints ?
Click to expand...

I don't know about a recall. My 1993 Accord four cylinder has over 251,000 km and is still on the original ball joints. I just had the dealer go over it in detail. Considering how much they charged for the things that did need fixin', I imagine they would have thrown in ball joints too f they were even a little worn.

Hope this helps.

Elliot Richmond
Freelance Science Writer and Editor
 
scapa said:
Hi all, took my 2001 Accord four cylinder in to have the transmission oil changed at 96,000km as per drivers manual, dealer told me that I needed lower ball joints replaced. I live in Winnipeg, Canada and it gets cold but most of my driving is on decent roads and I have good tires. Should'nt they last longer than that and has anyone heard of a recall for faulty ball joints ?
Thanks for any info.
Click to expand...
Has the steering been getting vague lately, with a shaking sensation when you go over railroad tracks and similar bumps? If not, I'd be dubious about the ball joints being bad. The usual reason for ball joints failing is torn boots - and that isn't common if the front end hasn't been worked on.

Mike
 
i am not sure about hondas but if you can raise up your front end, put one hand on top and one hand on the bottom, then shake the wheel back and forth vertically, but not too hard if you hear any clicking with alot of play then the ball joint prolly is bad.
 
Hi Scapa,

I'm in Winnipeg too, which dealership did you go to?

t
 
The test you mention is more likely to detect an upper ball joint going bad on a honda. The lower is harder to diagnose without actually disassembling the steering knuckle and checking the actual balljoint for excessive play in the ball socket.

t
 
disallow said:
The test you mention is more likely to detect an upper ball joint going bad on a honda. The lower is harder to diagnose without actually disassembling the steering knuckle and checking the actual balljoint for excessive play in the ball socket.

t
Click to expand...

there's another test that doesn not require disassembly. jack the wheel just off the ground with a block under the lower arm so the suspension remains compressed. then use a long lever under the tire to put load on the wheel itself. any play should be evident at that time. have an assistant operate the lever if required so you can see up close.
 
Hi - I'm in Toronto, and had a "ball joint misadventure" with my '92 Accord about six months ago. After my wife had curbed the left front tire rather badly in a parking lot, I asked the local Honda dealership (in Markham, though the exact locale shall remain, um, nameless...hint hint...) to look things over for any signs of damage. They stated that the front ball joints (upper) needed replacing, and to illustrate the point, the mechanic took a wrench and demonstrated the *slightest* bit of play in the upper joint, which was really hardly detectable at all. Not knowing anything about ball joints, I acquiesced to the tune of about $350 USD ($425 CDN) for a replacement of both upper ball joints. However, I now feel that this work was probably unnecessary. In all fairness to Honda, I should mention that I did have over 150,000 miles on the car, but basically I think they just saw an opportunity to push some repair work and took it. Bottom line is to always do homework on any proposed repair which is not 100% critical. I have learned the hard way that if you really know what you are talking about (as I did not), they usually won't bother trying to rip you off. - Paul
 
I did an upper on my 98 civic last summer. The reason Honda charges so much for the upper balljoint is that they always replace the whole upper control arm, on my civic that is $200 per side. There is almost no labour involved. The balljoints definitely do wear after a while, you don't need your upper balljoints popping out of the sockets, plus the alignment would never be perfect if they are shifting all over the place. When a balljoint is lifting and clicking in its socket, its time to replace it.

By the way, I didn't end up going to Honda for that repair, I found the upper balljoint without the control arm at NAPA for $40, and popped the old one out of the existing control arm, then took the control arm to a shop down the street and had the new balljoint pressed in for $20.

This method is a little risky cuz you can bend
the control arm, its very thin steel or aluminum, but I watched them do it at the shop, and compared it to the one on the other side before pressing that one in, and it was perfect. No alignment probs.

Saved me almost $300, so I'm happy... and no probs to date.

t
 
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