My 2005 Chrysler Pacifica had a broken drive axle/CV joint. How serious is this as a safety concern?
The dealer stated that the part was bad upon manufacture. I was lucky in that the axle broke while I was entering a parkway at a slow speed. What could have happened had this part snapped at a higher speed? The dealer is downplaying this as a safety concern. Should I be worried?
the dealership is risking your life in order to try and avoid a warranty repair. A broken CV joint at speed can cause you to wreck. Post the name of the dealership here so we all know who not to buy anything from. Post it on every car site you can find. Send a complaint to the BBB, the attorney general, the media, and the parent car company. This kind of utter crap must NOT be tolerated, especially for a $100 part that the dealership is too cheap to pay for.
I don’t understand your response. The OP hasn’t said anything about having to pay for this job or the dealer avoiding the responsibility. The OP is concerned because they are downplaying it as not being a safety concern so let’s slow down alittle until there is more information.
Your concern is justifed. This is a safety concern and the dealer should be acting like it is. If you feel like your concerns are not being addressed take it to a service manager or the dealership manager.
It is possible it was a manufacturing defect. Are they fixing it under warranty?
it’s the only logical conclusion. Anyone who knows the slightest thing about working on cars (i.e. presumably the dealership’s service department) knows that a broken cv joint = trouble. Why would they say it wasn’t? Either their mechanics have never seen the underside of a car before (which I find highly unlikely) or they’re trying to get out of having to fix the car.
The car’s only 2 years old, which means this part is under warranty. It’s also completely logical to conclude that it’s under warranty because, really, what dealership is ever going to demur on doing repair work that will make them money?
So what I said I think stands. The dealership is trying to get out of doing warranty work.
If it’s not, then the mechanics are so incompetent that they are placing lives in danger. That should be reported anyway.
The OP says they “had” a broken axle so I assume it has been repaired.
If it was repaired under warranty I don’t see what there is to worry about.
Of course almost anything on a car can be considered a safety factor; a fuse link could pop at night causing loss of the headlights while doing 60 through a curve for example.
I think the dealer may just be trying to put the OP at ease about the issue rather than trying to whitewash a problem.
It’s unusual for an axle to break on an '05, BUT, since the vehicle was built in '04 this means it’s 3 years old. Maybe an errant rock or stick went through an axle boot 2 years ago and it was ignored or not caught; leading to loss of grease, entry of dirt/water, and early failure of the joint.
Those details are not provided.
Where in the post does it say any of that?
My 2005 Chrysler Pacifica had a broken drive axle/CV joint.
The dealer is downplaying this as a safety concern. Should I be worried?
In general a broken axle will just mean your car coasts to a stop. A broken CV joint might mean the same, or it might break in such a way as to lock up the wheel. That last would be dangerous at speed, but is an unlikely thing to have happen. As long as they fixed this under warranty I don’t see much to worry about. What happened when it broke? Did a wheel lock up, or anything else like that?
Here are my thoughts for what they are worth.
A drive axle breaking at speed is unlikely but it could potentially be dangerous.
When driving at speed there is little stress on the CV joint. The majority of the stress on a CV joint comes during acceleration. Much like a U-Joint in a driveline. They are much more likely to break accelerating up to speed not at speed.
Next the cage of a CV joint is made of aluminum alloy. While it is strong it will not withstand the force of a 2000 pound car moving at 70 mph if the axle jams up. The wheel may lock for a millisecond before the cage shatters do to the force.
There are much more dangerous situations then a broken CV at speed. If a ball joint, tie rod, axle bearing, etc. fail at speed you are going to have real problems.
This is why you should have all front end components checked at regular intervals and replace parts when they become wore.
~Michael
I don’t think it will affect your personal safety. The vehicle will coast to a stop and under the wrong circumstances, Like the middle lane of a busy freeway at night and your car is black or a dark color, that could be dangerous.
As for the axle swinging around wildly and uncontrolled, it could do a lot of damage to the suspension and undercarriage, but its highly unlikely that any shrapnel would get into the passenger compartment.
Man you are dense. Where does it say anything about the repair not being covered under warranty? You are assuming alot facts that have not been stated by the OP.