So sadly I am driving a Honda Accord (2003) these days. Not that it's a bad car, it just doesn't have sole. Anyway this past Monday I below out the passenger side axle....actually sheared the shaft, teh CV joints were fine. Last year I did the same thing, except on the drivers side. Broke the shaft, not teh CV joint. The car had 230k on it when the driver side went, and it was 260k when the passenger side went.

I have had drive shafts/axles fail in the past. But they always failed at the CV joint. What the heck would cause the shaft to shear, twice on the same car in a year? I am at a loss...shearing shafts are not a common failure mode of which I am aware. Is it soemthing with how I drive, the car or what?

Is yer wife cutting 3/4 of the way thru them when you are asleep ?

I apparently had a lead foot when driving my Fiero.
I met more LEOs in this than anything I ever drove.

quote Originally posted by MidEngineManiac: Is yer wife cutting 3/4 of the way thru them when you are asleep ?

I said axles, not brake lines!

Did you look at the axles where they broke? Does the break have any twisting in it or is it just shattered looking? If it looks like it has twisting in it, the break would be a ductile failure and was caused by over torquing the shaft. If it has more of a shattered look then it is a brittle fracture and is most likely from metal fatigue. If it is a brittle fracture it could be from cumulative damage to the axle from shocking it by hard starts, or it could be because it was improperly heat treated or the metal was the wrong grade. I am going to guess that it was more than likely a brittle fracture and was caused by a combination of age, use, wrong grade of metal and improper heat treating.

Yes is uncommon to break shafts for normal driving and engine etc is OE. More common for aftermarket boosted engines.

www.nhtsa.gov and look for recalls.
If have weak axle from car maker might have a recall.

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Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
(Jurassic Park)

The Ogre's Fiero Cave