Dealership Messed up CV Axle. Lost all power on highway

[HustleHard]

Brought my 4runner to the dealership on Tuesday to get a split cv boot on my driver's side checked out. They inspected the whole axle and told me they only have to put on new boots and repack it with grease. Awesome. Got the truck and drove it home no issues. Was driving down the highway last night going around a left hand bend and all the sudden i lost all power to my wheels and my engine revved. Got a bit of a rumble strip feeling if i remember correctly. I straightened out and eventually got power back to the wheels. It started pulling hard right (i think?) and i managed to get off the exit, where i again lost all power. Tried shifting into neutral, L, 2, 3, 4 to get out of the road. Nothing worked, but it eventually got into gear after some grinding and got it to a parking lot. I checked out the drivers side cv axle and poked it and the whole axle shifted about 1-2 inches. I then tried my good passenger side and it was rock solid. I called the dealership, they towed it back to the shop and are going to work on it today.

What do you guys think? Sounds like they screwed up the install, and it's on them. Plus from all that grinding, I'm guessing I'll need a whole new drivers side cv axle. Sound about right?

 

[atalarico]

Yikes! Sounds like they maybe didn't seat it correctly when they put it back in after the rebuild. Either way, they're on the hook for that one so hopefully they make it right without too much of a fight.

Just being paranoid, but there are spines on the axle that interface with spines in the differential, and I'd be worried that those got stripped if it wasn't seated correctly. I would ask for pictures of the axle once they remove it and pay very close attention to that area.

I've replaced and rebuilt CV axles on my 3rd and now my 4th gen. I only rebuilt them once because it's not worth the difference in money to me for how long it takes to rebuild those bastards, but to each their own.

 

[HustleHard]

Yikes! Sounds like they maybe didn't seat it correctly when they put it back in after the rebuild. Either way, they're on the hook for that one so hopefully they make it right without too much of a fight.

Just being paranoid, but there are spines on the axle that interface with spines in the differential, and I'd be worried that those got stripped if it wasn't seated correctly. I would ask for pictures of the axle once they remove it and pay very close attention to that area.

I've replaced and rebuilt CV axles on my 3rd and now my 4th gen. I only rebuilt them once because it's not worth the difference in money to me for how long it takes to rebuild those bastards, but to each their own.

Yeah i'm a bit gun shy considering I'm driving 350 miles tomorrow to Moab for the long weekend.

 

[HustleHard]

Just heard from the dealership. Needs a whole new front differential and drivers side cv axle which they cant get till tomorrow. They're going to cover all that plus an SUV rental that'll get me and 5 people, 5+ bags and a 5 bike hitch rack out to Moab tomorrow am. Sucks, but so far they're taking care of stuff. I wont post who they are till the whole situation is resolved, but so far, they're doing me right.

 

[atalarico]

Just heard from the dealership. Needs a whole new front differential and drivers side cv axle which they cant get till tomorrow. They're going to cover all that plus an SUV rental that'll get me and 5 people, 5+ bags and a 5 bike hitch rack out to Moab tomorrow am. Sucks, but so far they're taking care of stuff. I wont post who they are till the whole situation is resolved, but so far, they're doing me right.

That is a very very solid outcome then and I'm really glad to hear they're going to do what they can to make it right. Wow!

So it does sound like what I kind of think happened then too. That's a verrrryyy good lesson for anyone doing this job at home too. Make for damn sure your CVs are seated properly or you won't have a nice dealership footing the bill for a new diff.

Have a great trip!

 

[HustleHard]

Update:

Apparently there's no rentals in the Denver area that can carry 5 people, 5+ bags and has a hitch for a bike rack. "Favors" were called in to get a differential to the store and they'll try to have it done by 5:00 pm at the latest. Unfortunately I told them multiple times that I had to be on the road by 3:00 pm to meet a deadline down the road. They wont give me a vehicle off the lot to use, so unfortunately the situation is slowly moving downhill. We'll see where it goes from here. Also, considering they botched a simple reboot on the first run with unlimited time, them rushing to do an entire front differential and new cv axles isn't exactly instilling confidence for my 350 mile drive tomorrow am.

 

[Anonymous4Runner]

Update:

Apparently there's no rentals in the Denver area that can carry 5 people, 5+ bags and has a hitch for a bike rack. "Favors" were called in to get a differential to the store and they'll try to have it done by 5:00 pm at the latest. Unfortunately I told them multiple times that I had to be on the road by 3:00 pm to meet a deadline down the road. They wont give me a vehicle off the lot to use, so unfortunately the situation is slowly moving downhill. We'll see where it goes from here. Also, considering they botched a simple reboot on the first run with unlimited time, them rushing to do an entire front differential and new cv axles isn't exactly instilling confidence for my 350 mile drive tomorrow am.

Them not having any available vehicles for rental is absurd. If it's a certified dealership then they definitely have a bunch of vehicles available. If they have to give up a demo 4Runner for few days then god almighty they're going to let you drive it off the lot while they work on your 4R.

Who have you been communicating with, what position is assigned to this individual?

 

[Drunner97]

Update:

Apparently there's no rentals in the Denver area that can carry 5 people, 5+ bags and has a hitch for a bike rack. "Favors" were called in to get a differential to the store and they'll try to have it done by 5:00 pm at the latest. Unfortunately I told them multiple times that I had to be on the road by 3:00 pm to meet a deadline down the road. They wont give me a vehicle off the lot to use, so unfortunately the situation is slowly moving downhill. We'll see where it goes from here. Also, considering they botched a simple reboot on the first run with unlimited time, them rushing to do an entire front differential and new cv axles isn't exactly instilling confidence for my 350 mile drive tomorrow am.

Takes 2 hours to swap the front clamshell in my driveway (I've done 2 now for regears) They should be able to crank it out in an hour with 2 people and power tools. It's not hard.