98 Sonata -- CV Joints/Boots?

Sorry to trouble y'all with what is probably a trivial question, but a
search of previous messages didn't give me an answer, so I beg your
forgiveness and bearance.

Our '98 Sonata has a clicking sound on hard right turns which I presume
means the CV Boots, and maybe the joints, need to be replaced. As far
as I know, the originals are still on the car; we bought it at 40K
miles and we're now at 103K and have not replaced them during the time
we've owned the car.

My question is twofold: (1) how long can we continue driving with the
"clicking" occurring before we do damage to the joint? and (2) what
kind of US Dollar repair bill should we plan on? As a related
question, is replacement of the Boot/Joint something I, as a backyard
mechanic with a book and medium level skills, could do?

Thanks for your advice.
Lee

 

1. If you hear clicking from the joint, it's already damaged.

2. Cost of repair will depend greatly on where you live and who
(re)manufactures the replacement parts. I'd say anywhere from $200 to
$850 per side. Shop around.

If you're comfortable with taking the ball joint loose from the knuckle,
you could probably do this yourself.

 

sorry to tell ya but theyre already worn if you hear the tell tale clicking
sound.
dont bother getting new joints, your better off to install a complete
rebuilt drive shaft / axel assembly on each side.
cheaper that way cause of labour saved...
we just had our accents both drive shafts replaced with rebuilt units at
cost of 104.00 each cdn $
pretty cheap and now dont have to worry for another 5+ years at least .. =)

 

ps labour was only 94.00 cdnto replace also including a 45.00 tie rod end...
though maYBYE the sonata might be more complimicated than our 99 accent..
was easy by what i saw, disconnect the tie rods, ball joints etc, then they
took out the bolt/pipn on hubs and pry of carefully a cli on trans mission
sides and the whole shaft/axels slide right out and pop back in..
hyundai webtech also shows you how to do this... under service info then web
tech (make sure your foire walls off to log on)
http://www.hmaservice.com/

 

It's also much easier that way if you decide to do it yourself. I've
done halfshafts on a couple of cars and it's surprisingly easy to do.

 

im not comforterabnle enough doing that, and i dont have any special tools
for taking the ball joint appart...
everything i touch breaks =)

 

If that's the case, don't DIY. I can't speak directly about the Sonata,
but I've changed halfshafts without disconnecting the ball joint.
Sometimes, simply disconnecting the hub from the strut provides enough
room for disassembly.

 

Thanks to all of you who responded to my query. I broke down and had
it done by a local shop; they replaced both axels for US$ 380. We had
the brakes done too, as well as replaced 4 tires, so now, after a
couple more fixes, we should be good for another few thousand miles.
Powerwindow lift on driver's door, which I will do, since I've done it
3 times in 4 years already, will be the next project, but I wish I
could find a regulator for less than $103.00 which our dealer wants.
The next will be a timing belt replacement since we're now at about 87K
miles on this one.

Anyhow, thanks for all your helpful advice.
Lee