stub axle woes and now no start - 2 independent problems.

[Eldorado]

hey guys, finally went to tackle the stub axle problems and replace both the stub and the hub.

problem...

after scowering the city for a 12 point torx (or however you spell it) star socket bit (more commonly known as a volks wagon CV bolt bit).. u know, the 8mm one.... we found one at a local VW dealership that let us borrow it for the afternoon.
long story short, we ended up rounding out the inside of two of the 6 bolts holding the stub to the CV. It was getting late in the day after our search so we decided to put the car back together and leave it for the time being... when it warms up, etc.

first question, any idea how to get those bolts off now? we've tried beating the living crap out of them... heating the surrounding metal... vice grips.... nothing worked. eventually we just sheared the head off of one of them. this seems like the best solution.


OK
second problem.

another "car wont start" problem.
I changed the upper rad hose. whoopity do.
I unhooked the intake boot from... well i dont know what you call it, but if you look at the assembly, it goes:

air filter - AFM - rubber hose/boot (L shaped) - *here*.

the *here* is where i disconnected it from to get it out of the way to work with the rad hose attachment at the top of the rad.

i put everything back together... start up the car - sputters and dies.
The car will stay on fine if you give it gas to keep the idle up.. if not, the idle just dies.
As a band aid fix to get the car home, we zip-tied the throttle cable so it puts a constant ~1800rpm on the gas... this got me home without incident.. but it now leaves me with a car that will start... sputter... then die.

if i let it rev too low and goose the gas, it will backfire.

any ideas? did i bung up an attachment to the AFM? The lighting wasn't that great so i'm going back out to do a visual inspection tomorrow...

let me know your thoughts!

[ae1969]

- Drill the bolt heads off............ then you will be able to remove the rest of the bolt.

- You have a big intake leak. Check the hoses going to the rubber boot.

[pokey]

The rubber J boot probably cracked/tore. I bought a replacement from a Pcar dealer for about $80.

[kinderrich]

I agree, drill or grind off the heads of the bolts, I think you will be able to hear your vacume leak and be able to find it with some good light. If you hear nothing look at the connector on the AFM, or AFM internal wiper arm.

[Razorback1980]

I just replace my J boot and I did the same thing. There is a vacuum hose on the bottom of the J boot that just slides in and it's right where it makes the turn on the very bottom. You can feel the place where it goes with your hand but you can't see it. It fell out when you unhooked the boot and all you have to do is slide it back in and problem solved.

I bought my new J boot from Pelican for 39 dollars. But I'm guessing you didn't break anything, just the vacuum hose slid out.

Rounded off bolts really suck, especially in the cold weather. I think everyone already has that part covered but I also wanted to mention that Craftsman has some special sockets that help with that. They don't always work, but sometimes they do.

Stay warm....

[Eldorado]

thanks guys, you're easing my head..
I knew it had to be simple...

I drove all the way home last night without touching the gas.. about a 5 min drive..
when i pulled into my driveway at home, it was reving at 2300... obviously a band aid to the max. lol

[Eldorado]

visual inspection didn't yield anything out of the norm...
I'm gettin' a screwdriver out tomorrow and i'm going to extract that intake boot and see if it's damaged at all.

[SoCal Driver]

You are scary.

Before you get to pulling odds and ends. Check that the connector for the AFS and DME temp sender are plugged in. Besides both ends of the J boot properly secured on the AFS and the throttle body. Check that the throttle body connector is plugged in also.

[Razorback1980]

I agree with SoCal Driver. It was running fine, then you changed the hose and now it doesn't. Look at all the things around what you changed. Did you find that hose going into the bottom of the J boot?

[Eldorado]

i'm sure i found the one you're talking about razor, and it was still attached...
it was about a half to 3/4 inch wasn't it?
i didn't have much time to spend today with it... i'll attempt again tomorrow...

lol scary? how so?
and the phrase "never break more than you fix" did actually come to mind... lol

[Razorback1980]

Yeah, that's the one. Sorry, I was sure that was it as mine did exactly the same thing. There is also another hose on the J boot but it has a clamp on it, so that's probably not the problem. Still sounds like a major vacuum leak though. But I have learned one thing on here...following So Cal's advice is usually a pretty good idea. I think he meant you were scary because you were going to start pulling things. Instead of pulling things, it might be better to see what was already pulled and needs to be put back.

As far as the phrase "never break more than you fix" ...for me, that's a lot easier said than done.

[SoCal Driver]

Should all of the large vacuum hoses look attached you may need to trace them back and see if you didn't pull one off else where.

These hoses can also crack/split from handling.

[bryanthompson]

Those cv bolts can be sucky if you don't clean them enough before you try to get them out. You want no dirt in there at all, then if you can't get them out tap on the head of the bolt for a few minutes. I had some that were stuck really bad, and after about five minutes of light tapping, they came out unbelievably easy.

[Slam]

For the CV bolts, I agree that drilling out the heads is the way to go. Then saturate them with WD-40 and use an EZ out on 'em. Worked for me.

Seems like your "here" is the throttle body. Check throttle cable linkage and two small vacuum lines that attach directly to the throttle body.

The AFM's plugged in - if it wasn't, the car would start and then die immediately. If the TPS switch wasn't plugged in, the car would run anyway, so it won't be that. Go hunting for vac leaks. You may have cracked the J-boot.

Can you post pics?

[Eldorado]

pics of what, exactly?

[Razorback1980]

Find that tube again and look at the other end to make sure it didn't pull loose. It still sounds like a vacuum leak to me. Personally, I don't see how you fix anything in the kind of weather you're having at the moment. It was forty something last night and I talked myself out of going to look at a brake pad light problem I'm having.

[TSNAPCRACKLEPOP]

"stop fixing things one step before you break something else"

attributed to dr tom, 2006

[Slam]

Hey, Eldorado,

Pics of the engine. Maybe we can see something that doesn't look right. Sometimes, with old vac hoses, just moving them opens up holes in them that started as cracks.

If it turns out you did trash your J-boot, I've got one here in good shape ;>)

But none of the bigger vac lines. Good luck!

[Eldorado]

Yay for an old thread..
I've got the pictures you requested.. nice sunny day outside so it's not any trouble to go take more if you need it.

I've taken out my air filter and AFM to give you a better view of what's going on.. here we go..












^^^^^this pic is a vac leak, i know.. in front of the battery tray. attached or not, it has never caused my car to stall out.

[Eldorado]

that last pic is the hose going to the underside of the j-boot at the bend.