ruined drivetrain

[FireWire]

hey guys , need some help.

long story short.. coming from from the lovefest afterparty and i fell asleep at the wheel and plowed the car into a concrete barrier.

i took a look at the damage today , the "drivers side front lower control arm" is bent to hell and it came off where the brake meets. I was looking at ECS's website but got confused on what part to buy.

my second problem is the i'm assuming where the cv boot and axel makes connection came apart , light brown fluid everywhere. whatever was inside the boot and axel is now completely gone. if someone could point me to the right direction i'd great appreciate it. i was looking at ECS's axel assembly , but the description was really vague.

BTW i couldn't get the car into drive or reverse. it would go into gear but all i would hear is a terrible grinding noise. no tranny light so i'm hoping its just has to do something with the axel/CV

[Frey7190]

tisk tisk... should have called a cab... it would have been cheaper... MUCH cheaper..

[passatkid]

Have some pictures, auto or manual.

[FireWire]

tisk tisk... should have called a cab... it would have been cheaper... MUCH cheaper..

could have happened to anyone , you live and learn :|

Have some pictures, auto or manual.

i found a picture of the axel , in the picture where the boot meets the axle has basically torn apart. whatever was inside is all gone but one bearing. its a quattro tiptronic

[Frey7190]

Take a photo or two of your audi.. I wanna see what the damage loooks like

[lookaught]

The CV boot is not filled with liquid, its packed with a thick grease. If you have a liquid leaking out you may have ruined the shaft seal or done damage to the actual transmission.

If the axle is bent and that's the part you need, buy a whole axle from www.raxles.com , I've dealt with them before and the parts and service are TOP quality.

You live and learn. Next time get some sleep!

[FireWire]

fender damage


from the top engine bay view , where the axel & cv meets. grease everywhere


cv & axle


bent lower control arm


cv & axle again


cv & axle again


wheel is out of place

[dougyfresh]

dead

[AudiA4turrrbo]

my B6 was "totalled" because of that kind of damage

[FireWire]

crap i really don't want to scrap the car , any more insight? and what are my options.

thanks

[OneBadAudi]

rent a gun and buy a bullet...just kidding, i would jack it up take the wheel off and start inspecting a little bit more, most of it seems fixable, may not be feesable, not sure about the tranny being okay, looks like one hell of an impact judging by that control arm....good luck..glad to see ur alright

[FireWire]

rent a gun and buy a bullet...just kidding, i would jack it up take the wheel off and start inspecting a little bit more, most of it seems fixable, may not be feesable, not sure about the tranny being okay, looks like one hell of an impact judging by that control arm....good luck..glad to see ur alright

thanks , i pulled the wheel off today before i shot the pictures. bent arm and whatever was connected between the cv and axle is gone.

what parts exactly go inside?

[Frey7190]

lets see the whole cars damage...

As for what you have showed us so far, my buddy had a civic that something like this happened to it and they deemed it "totaled"... and that was a cheap honda that you would think could get fixed for pennies... apparently AAA says that the moment any thing other than "minor" damage occurs to the axel or drivetrain its a gonner...

[brewmastr]

fucking give the guy a break, that is not toatled by any means.... but it may not be as simple as it seems, deff get that axle replaced, that should get you moving again most likely, the axle is broken, the front diff is an open diff so the noise you hear when you put it in gear is that axle spinning. your prob gonna need to replace all the control arms on that side, the tie rod, and possibly the hub assembly if that got bent, inspect the strut as well, that could very well be bent as well, and the wheel is probably bent and garbage, as well as that fender, its not toatled like these guys are telling you, but it aint cheap, call your insurance company.

[Maverick]

try to find parts from a junk yard. or that online place.
dont make things worse man, good luck. be happy that you are alive and you didnt kill anyone.

[FireWire]

fucking give the guy a break, that is not toatled by any means.... but it may not be as simple as it seems, deff get that axle replaced, that should get you moving again most likely, the axle is broken, the front diff is an open diff so the noise you hear when you put it in gear is that axle spinning. your prob gonna need to replace all the control arms on that side, the tie rod, and possibly the hub assembly if that got bent, inspect the strut as well, that could very well be bent as well, and the wheel is probably bent and garbage, as well as that fender, its not toatled like these guys are telling you, but it aint cheap, call your insurance company.

thanks brewmastr that helps alot , i'll look into those things ASAP. really apprciate the help.

try to find parts from a junk yard. or that online place.
dont make things worse man, good luck. be happy that you are alive and you didnt kill anyone.

most def , thanks for the tip. i'm glad nothing else happened.

[F16HTON]

$600 in mechanical damages, $1800 if you include paintwork and refinishing the wheel.

[texasboy21]

hahaha that sucks..hope you learned your lesson. I totaled a 6 month old car after putting 3000 miles on it bc i was driving all drunk and blazed. dont do it again!!! cause next time you may hit me or my mom or somebody someone loves. good luck with the repairs and any legal issues

barrett

[widgget]

i'm assuming lovefest was a rave? they still have thos? good memories.....

anyway if it's totaled or not depends on how your insurance company wants to handle the case. even if they want to total it you might be able to just get it done somewhat cheaply if you do the work yourself.

canvas beige FTW!!!!!!

[AudiA4_20T]

your car isnt moving because the axle isnt attached and quattro distributes the power to the least resistent wheel

[FireWire]

$600 in mechanical damages, $1800 if you include paintwork and refinishing the wheel.

that's somewhat of a relief.. i thought i was going have to pay up the ass for the mechanics, I just need to get the car running for starters. thanks for the help

your car isnt moving because the axle isnt attached and quattro distributes the power to the least resistent wheel

got it , i was worried my tranny might have been blown. i'll keep that in mind

[lookaught]

I think the best course of action is to get the car up on four jackstands, remove the damaged wheel, control arms, upright, and then get what is left of the CV off the trans flange. Before you pull the wheel off break the axle bolt loose while the wheel is on the ground to serve as a stop, otherwise you have to use an impact gun (trust me I've done this, those are very very tight stretch bolts).

Once you have the axle out of the way and the car is in the air, start the car and verify that the trans is indeed functional and not making any horrific noises. Make sure it goes into gear and shifts. Check the trans mounts (the metal) for stress cracks. On second thought, it's probably a better idea to leave the suspension untouched and just get the axle off to test the trans, b/c if you need to tow the car after the trans test you need a wheel on there.

Once you've verified the trans is alright, then proceed with replacing the control arms, tie rod (you may need to check the PS rack as well), etc to get it all road ready. Check the wheel for run out on a balancer, check the tire for bubbles or blisters. Junkyard parts are definitely cheaper but control arms arent even much money, so buying new once isnt a huge problem. The upright may be a different story b/c that's not a wear item and will be pricy from VAG.

I guess the moral of this story is make sure the car is repairable for a reasonable cost before you start buying parts. The last thing you want is to get it together and find out the trans is shot. If it is broken, well, then you may have different course of action alltogether. Hopefully it is fine, from your description it sounds like you pulled apart the inner CV, which would be a great thing compared to the alternative.

Good luck and get wrenchin! You need a special long triple square (10mm i think) to get the inner CV off the flange. Other helpful tools would be a ball joint separator (or pickle fork b/c it's not as though you'll reuse any of the parts), and of course, the 3 or 5 pound sledge for persuasion and the normal hand tools. Dont forget a case of beer.