boxjohn
05-11-2015, 08:22 PM
I'm about to have to replace my CV shaft again. Left side on an 06 2.3 with 5 speed auto. March 2006 build date.
I had my factory one destroyed a year ago when the transmission mount snapped in half and the shaft was torn in half as the engine/trans dropped down and to the passenger side.
This was replaced with a correct length CV shaft from Rock Auto, APWI #MZ8384. This was, I assumed, defective when it started clicking and vibrating after 3000km. I tried to get it warrantied, but it's discontinued and I can't even find any information on it. So I got my money back but had to find another source for the shaft.
Got one (don't have the part number) through my work from NAPA, installed it, and didn't even get out of the parking lot before it tore apart. After looking more closely, it was about a 3/4 of an inch too short. It could go in, but would pop out during the first hard turn. I called and 100% confirmed with NAPA that this is what they had listed for a 2006 Mazda3 2.3 with a 5 speed auto.
Figuring they just had a wrong listing, I returned that and got a different brand through Partsource, and on testfitting it was clear it was short, just like the NAPA one.
I don't know what length the Mazda one is, but I do know it was 500 dollars and would have taken weeks to come in, so that wasn't really an option.
After a whole bunch of brainstorming and headscratching with the other techs, I pieced together the outer CV joint and main shaft from the defective shaft with the good inner CV joint parts from the NAPA one. This got me to what seems to have been the right length, but as I suspected would happen, the clicking has started again after 5-7000km. Whether this is the frankenstein joint or the outer joint from the defective shaft, I don't know, but it's got to come out.
All this leads up to:
Has anyone had a 2006 left CV shaft NOT fit their 2006? Was there a mid-year change? Partsource lists the 2006 as being roughly an inch shorter than the 2007, so I'm tempted to buy a 2007-spec driveshaft and hope it works, but this is getting expensive and time consuming. I'd like to not have to pull the CV shaft more than 5 times in a year.
I had my factory one destroyed a year ago when the transmission mount snapped in half and the shaft was torn in half as the engine/trans dropped down and to the passenger side.
This was replaced with a correct length CV shaft from Rock Auto, APWI #MZ8384. This was, I assumed, defective when it started clicking and vibrating after 3000km. I tried to get it warrantied, but it's discontinued and I can't even find any information on it. So I got my money back but had to find another source for the shaft.
Got one (don't have the part number) through my work from NAPA, installed it, and didn't even get out of the parking lot before it tore apart. After looking more closely, it was about a 3/4 of an inch too short. It could go in, but would pop out during the first hard turn. I called and 100% confirmed with NAPA that this is what they had listed for a 2006 Mazda3 2.3 with a 5 speed auto.
Figuring they just had a wrong listing, I returned that and got a different brand through Partsource, and on testfitting it was clear it was short, just like the NAPA one.
I don't know what length the Mazda one is, but I do know it was 500 dollars and would have taken weeks to come in, so that wasn't really an option.
After a whole bunch of brainstorming and headscratching with the other techs, I pieced together the outer CV joint and main shaft from the defective shaft with the good inner CV joint parts from the NAPA one. This got me to what seems to have been the right length, but as I suspected would happen, the clicking has started again after 5-7000km. Whether this is the frankenstein joint or the outer joint from the defective shaft, I don't know, but it's got to come out.
All this leads up to:
Has anyone had a 2006 left CV shaft NOT fit their 2006? Was there a mid-year change? Partsource lists the 2006 as being roughly an inch shorter than the 2007, so I'm tempted to buy a 2007-spec driveshaft and hope it works, but this is getting expensive and time consuming. I'd like to not have to pull the CV shaft more than 5 times in a year.