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It took me a while last weekend to remove the exhaust pipes (cat. and muffler) to clear the way for working under the car on driveway. With the pipe and muffler in place I was unable to get my power tool to the nuts. Since I need to repair a leak between the cat and the middle muffler, it makes sense to remove them all together. With the pipe and muffler off, I get more space to work with under there:
I have been straying oil penetrates onto the coupling nuts for a week, but still they are so tight that I was unable to move by hands. So I need my power impact drive that I use to remove wheel log nuts.
Used the power impact drive with a 15mm deep socket and removed 2 nuts at the bottom; then raise the RR wheel higher, move the gear shift into N, turn the wheel by hand while it is still on the hub bolted and get the other 2 coupling nuts down to where I have easy access to; lowered the wheel to where it is taking the body weight; then do the same to remove the coupling nuts. The power tool is of great help with removing the rusted coupling nuts, as I could not loose them by hand wrench even with an extension pipe. (Note that, in my case, without the wheel on the hub I was not able to turn the hub by hand.)
Now with the coupling nuts and axle lock nut off, I am preparing to remove the drive axle. Here are the tools and removed parts:
The coupling nuts seems unusually "slim" - I was not able to find Stainless Steel replacement with the same slim build. Anything "fatter" may leave no gap for a socket to sit on it properly. Searching for tools to separate the coupling plates (without damaging them) - they seem to have rusted and stuck together - and more importantly a strong bungee cord to suspend the drive axle.
Used a household tool to separate the coupling plates:
Used nylon strings to secure the CV joint with the drive axle so it would not be accidentally separated and damage the boot. I tried to pull the other end on the wheel side with my hands but it doesn't give a mm. So spray enough oil penetrates around the axle locking nut end and give it some time to work.
Spray some more in to it through the early evening and try to remove this end another day.
Did you try tapping the axle end with a hammer? If you aren't replacing the entire axle, use a drift pin or a block or something so you don't mess up the threads.
The reason that the RR wheel was not off was because I was not working on the wheel side yet. I had enough working space with RR end raised on an OEM jack.
I have purchased a replacement axle as you suggested in post #61. I have 1% of being not sure if it would fit, though.
Now that the axle end has been "soaked" with oil penetrates for almost 2 days, I applied a household hammer on the wheel side of the axle end with the nut on (advice by maxSteel and Salimshan). I don't see any movement.
As Salimshan predicted in post #73, freeing the axle from the wheel bearing is the tougher part. Is a heavy blow hammer/sledge hammer the only solution? I am asking this because everything around the wheel hub looks "fragile" as they are sooo rusted.
The drive axle does not budge even with a heavy hammer. So, I need a different approach. I got this hub puller more than a year ago for a front brake DIY but end up not needing it.
Since the gear box end of the shaft is freed in the air, what are my chances that using the hub puller may force the axle out to the back?
Preparing for using the hub puller, I removed the caliper and disk, only to see that there is no trace of braking materials on the shoes!
Removed the parking brake parts and used 14mm impact deep socket with the impact drive and get the 4 nuts (holding the bearing assembly) at the back loose but left the nuts on the bolts - this way the pulling force do not separate the hub from the bearing housing.
Tried this setup with hands but the shaft doesn't budge.
Looking for pipes to hold the hub against ground to the right side so I can use both hands on the center. Last night I watched a couple of video clips on YouTube about replacing RX300/330 AWD rear wheel bearing and they made it look so easy! Looks like I got a bad jackpot!
Went to a local hardware store and bought a 24OZ ball-head hammer and a 3LB hammer; used a household BBQ torch lighter to warm/heat up the deep bow on the hub hub for 4-5 minutes; then place the ball-head hammer against the center of the axle and launched the 3LB hammer on the other end of the ball-head hammer; many hits but still no sign of any loosening movement.
Looks like I am running out of options.
Looks like you are in that special hell. I don't know what else there is besides lubricant, heat, the puller, and hammer blows. An impact wrench might help with the puller.
Finally, got a time slot early in the week at a local Toyota dealer for the RR axle-hub job. I left the car there for a little over 3 hours. The bill is a little over $300 + tax, all on labor. On the receipt it says "the drive axle seized on the outer hub." The shop used the replacement axle. So here is it on the vehicle:
I also got the old axle back: it looks like rust had made the ring "busted" :
After clearing/reset the code, the ABS is OFF and drove the car for about 10 mile. I felt the sensitivity (via feet on the brake pedal and the unique ABS noise) of the ABS function at lower speed turns on the street corners (very good road surface on a sunny day), which I don't recall I had experienced before - in the past I only got such feel on the feet on icy roads.
Nevertheless, the car is back on a fully-functioning mode:
It is amazing that this is a 20-year old vehicle still humming and comfortable to drive around. Thank you all very much for helping me on this DIY repair.
It has been more than 2 months now and I have taken this car to short trip (about 20-25 miles round-trip) about a dozen times, all were on dry and warm days. It has been consistent that, right before and about a half second to a slow full stop such as pulling in to a parking spot or at a RED traffic light, the ABS would make this gu-de-de-de ABS sound for about a second and I felt light pulses on the brake pedal. No other abnormality that I can see, hear or feel.
Since only the RR ABS speed sensor and ring were replaced (after market replacements) which are related the ABS system, curiosity took me to consider for any difference between the original and the replacements. The original pickup sensor was damaged so I could not compare it with the replacement sensor. I counted the teeth on the original ring and the number if 48. I did not count the teeth on the ring that is on the replacement axle before it was installed. But the ring in the replacement kit I bought but did not use also has 48 teeth. So there is not much here to dig for before-and-after differences.
I am out of my depth about this annoying ABS "action" behavior (which is absolutely not needed). Perhaps experts here have insights to share.
It has been more than 2 months now and I have taken this car to short trip (about 20-25 miles round-trip) about a dozen times, all were on dry and warm days. It has been consistent that, right before and about a half second to a slow full stop such as pulling in to a parking spot or at a RED traffic light, the ABS would make this gu-de-de-de ABS sound for about a second and I felt light pulses on the brake pedal. No other abnormality that I can see, hear or feel.
Well, there are four wheels and sensors. You might have another bad one.
I never fixed mine, just pulled the ABS relay to deactivate it. The abs light has been on full time for years,
I have been down so many roads like chenxingha doing what I can to keep my 170K 2002 1st Gen RX in tip top. It makes me sad to hear the heroic efforts taken and to not have a good result until replacing major components and spending hours of difficult work replacing parts. I bought my RX brand new in Nov 2002 with 4 miles. It has been a blessing of tremendous value to me and my family and I completely understand the heroic efforts others have pursued in keeping these wonderful 1st Gens on the road. I also had the right front ABS issue. Mine didn't activate when stopping; it activated when accelerating from a dead stop. Once past 5 MPH, the chattering would stop. But if I was creeping along in stop and go traffic, it would chatter continuously and actually make driving difficult. I cleaned the sensors and even wrote about my success on this board. I was very happy. But it came back worse than before. I looked into all options and given the thousands of potential cost to repair, I chose to pull the fuse. Others may choose another option and I DON'T recommend taking my advice or defeating any safety feature. But I will say FOR ME nothing has changed regarding regular braking. I have even tested high-speed braking on deserted roads and only at very high speeds did the brakes actually lock up. And even then it was totally controlled. In 40 years of driving, I've had to brake this hard under 10 times. I do have to put the fuse back in for the annual safety inspection but then I pop it out right after. When i put it back in, it's very nice to not have those dash lights telling me something is wrong but I'm happy with my decision. AGAIN, I DON'T recommend taking my advice or defeating any safety feature; this is my decision alone.
I have been down so many roads like chenxingha doing what I can to keep my 170K 2002 1st Gen RX in tip top. It makes me sad to hear the heroic efforts taken and to not have a good result until replacing major components and spending hours of difficult work replacing parts. I bought my RX brand new in Nov 2002 with 4 miles. It has been a blessing of tremendous value to me and my family and I completely understand the heroic efforts others have pursued in keeping these wonderful 1st Gens on the road. I also had the right front ABS issue. Mine didn't activate when stopping; it activated when accelerating from a dead stop. Once past 5 MPH, the chattering would stop. But if I was creeping along in stop and go traffic, it would chatter continuously and actually make driving difficult. I cleaned the sensors and even wrote about my success on this board. I was very happy. But it came back worse than before. I looked into all options and given the thousands of potential cost to repair, I chose to pull the fuse. Others may choose another option and I DON'T recommend taking my advice or defeating any safety feature. But I will say FOR ME nothing has changed regarding regular braking. I have even tested high-speed braking on deserted roads and only at very high speeds did the brakes actually lock up. And even then it was totally controlled. In 40 years of driving, I've had to brake this hard under 10 times. I do have to put the fuse back in for the annual safety inspection but then I pop it out right after. When i put it back in, it's very nice to not have those dash lights telling me something is wrong but I'm happy with my decision. AGAIN, I DON'T recommend taking my advice or defeating any safety feature; this is my decision alone.
I've been driving since before ABS became common. I don't think I ever stopped pumping the brakes manually out of habit.
06-28-20, 03:14 PM
