At 13,000 miles the driver side cv axle half shaft had to be replaced and now at 24,000 miles the same driver side cv axle has gone bad again. This HHR SS is driven very easy, no drag racing or spinning wheels. Just wondering if anyone else has had this problem and if so is there a better cv axle than the junk that comes on the HHR.

 

Curious as to why they needed to be replaced. I have never seen one replaced, except for being bent.

 

I started noticing a slight vibration around 13,000 miles in the front end, especially in the steering wheel when I would start from a dead stop turning left. No problem starting from a dead stop and going straight. This vibration gradually got worse over the next month. I could turn right with no vibration. Replaced the driver side cv shaft and the vibration ceased. Lasted for about 10,000 miles and now the vibration has returned when turning left. I will have the cv axle replaced tomorrow. I can find no known issue of this type. Got to be some cheaply made axles.

Wayne

 

The first guy I ever met that hasn't spun the tires on a SS.

 

Hub bearing?

 

Like I said, I have not spun the tires!. Spinning tires don't get you down the road very fast! The cv axle has gone bad for the second time in 24,000 miles. The axle was replaced Thursday and the vibration is gone.

 

I got 103,000 on my 2006 HHR, been in the shop for campaign letters and recalls for safety items. 1st was the A/C unit on the firewall, when it rained it filled the passengers floor board. Then the the front end started to give problems took it to chevrolet dealer where i bought it, couldn't find the problem. They did change the brake disks on the front and turned the rotors. which i replaced with high quality alloy rotors ended brake problems. Steering shaft started to make noise and took it back to dealer prior to extended warranty running out at 70,000, they couldn't find it again but they did change the water pump. The key pads to unlock the car and remote start died, the dealer exchanged them, ( no charge) but still couldn't find the noise in the steering shaft or the front end. At 90,000 I changed the entire strut system (that was a bigger to change) on the car, helped somewhat, now the CV joints are bad. Front was designed wrong, much too light for the vehicle.
thanx for your time

 

Usually when a part that rarely fails ends up failing TWICE in a short time period its an indication of a different problem that is causing the part to fail. Something else is causing the axle to fail, maybe some kind of misalignment or maybe bad mating splines, etc.

Some mechanics are good at R & R (remove and replace) of parts but not so good at diagnosis of the real problem.

I assume with the low mileage that the repair is being done by the dealer. What have they said about the failures? I would make sure that the real problem was diagnosed before any warranty runs out.

Steve

 

Steve. Not sure if you noticed, but the original post was from over 2 years ago. Waynejwj the OP hasn't been back here since then.

Anyhow. That is a good point you posted about failing parts.

 

Yep, you are right, firemangeorge. I never noticed the original posting date. I assumed (yea, I know what assume breaks up into!) it was current because the thread showed up as new.

Now i'll probably be paranoid the other way for a while and check every date!

Steve