My 05 Lancer had the engine cradle rot out. I found out after this catastrophe happened that the part and labor is under recall, never received a letter for that but the dealer says they can still replace it free under the recall. That aside, the drive shaft is scrap, too. They still haven’t gotten it inside the shop to give me an estimate, so I’m flying pretty blind here.
The car can’t be pushed even in neutral. Is this because of the cradle and drive shaft damage? Also, can any sages tell me based on this one photo if you think the drive shaft going like it did damaged anything else, ie the Trans? I’m not very knowledgeable on cars, but I want an opinion on whether you all think this will be a matter of the covered cradle and the drive shaft repair coming out of my pocket will get this back on the road? Or should I expect a much higher repair bill?
The way the vehicle is now it is almost worthless. I imagine you will have a repair bill that is why you need to wait for the estimate. Part of the cost will not be yours so you will have to decide . You could just have it fixed and then maybe you can trade it in for more then you spent.
It’s been several days since the dealership got it to do the recall repair. They’ve quoted me a surprisingly decent price to replace several other things, including the cv joint so horribly flayed open in the original post photo, as well as both control arms and a couple other minor items.
They’ve started the work, and I’ve barely been able to get a hold of them, but I trust them to do the work. My concern is, when last I saw the vehicle, neither wheel would turn when I turned the steering wheel. From what I understand, neither wheel would get power from revving the engine even if one of the cv joints is okay. Would the same apply to steering? I’m concerned that that might be a sign of some damage to the steering system on top of the repairs they’ve put in for everything else. I realize the shop is the best one to talk to, but I won’t be able to talk to them for a couple more days in person. I guess I’m looking for some reassurance from those in the know whether the cv joint being messed up might have caused the steering issue,or is that likely further damage to another component?
I would recommend not using it at all until it’s fixed. Every time a critical piece of a structural system is compromised, its loads are transferred to other part of the system. Ultimately that’ll result in a catastrophic failure of the entire system or of a critical part of the system.
When the cradle failed, it left the entire drivetrain susceptible to failure. Depending on exactly what broke, it could very well have mechanically disabled your entire steering system.
Re: specifically the CV joint. As your steering knuckle rotates, the outer CV joint needs to be allowed to move in and out from the transaxle in order for the knuckle to rotate freely around the steering axis. The primary function of the inner CV joint is to allow the axle to get longer and shorter to enable this movement in & out. If the inner CV joint is trashed, it’ll bind the axle (both actually as they’re connected via the by tie rods) and prevent steering.
If one outer CV joint is trashed to the point of being frozen, the tie rods will keep the other side from rotating around its steering axis too. Steering will be frozen up.
In short, yeah, a buggered up bad enough CV joint can definitely disable your steering.
And, yeah, there could be more damage too. Once the cradle rotted through, stuff became free to move around. Anything could get damaged.
I see. I haven’t driven the vehicle since the original failure, because doing so is impossible. I’m just praying there’s a chance that fixing the cv joint will make the steering functional again, and there the steering wasn’t ruined as collateral damage.
That was sort of what I was hoping to hear. Both control arms are on the quote I’ve received so far for replacement parts, so I’m praying that those getting replaced at least has a chance to get me driving a again. Not looking for guarantees of that, but that there’s even a chance is promising.
This is a good opportunity to replace the lower control arms, the bushings and ball joints are probably worn but the reason the lower control arm is disconnected is because the cradle broke due to rust.
After a long, grievous month of borrowing cars from family off and on, mitsubishi gave me two new control arms, a new cv joint, and the replacement sub frame free on account of the recall. I was so pleased I paid the probably slightly overpriced quote they gave me for a new set of tires.