Need Advice: Broken left axle on my used 2017 Honda Civic

The car is still in the service centre, with the team still investigating to find the cause and its consequent fix.

BHPian arjunuv recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

The Issue

My car - Civic LXI 2.0 L automatic petrol (left-hand drive) (MFG - 2017)

Location - UAE

My left side axle broke down while the car was being driven.

When/How

The driver was driving the car at normal speed (30-50 km/hr) suddenly the car stopped moving so they pushed the car to the roadside. Initially, they thought maybe it was because of low gear oil.

We then shifted the car to a nearby workshop hoping that gear oil top-up would do the magic but on inspection, the mechanic told us that the axle has broken.

History

The car is a 2017 model, I bought it from the first owner last year in July.

The car had 5 years Honda warranty and all the service was done at an authorized service centre. The vehicle has run around 95,000 km (not considered a high odometer reading in UAE). During the last warranty service around Oct/Nov 2021, I had raised a few concerns like all the beadings had worn out and there is a small knocking sound on the left-hand side while turning. Accordingly, as per the service guys under warranty they have replaced all worn-out rubber beadings and a few other plastic items and joint set outboard on both sides.

On 07/07/22 my axle broke.

Current Status

The car is with the Honda service centre and as per them this is very rare or non-occurrent, they haven't found a reason and they are still investigating to find the reason.

I believe either there is a manufacturing defect in any of the parts or they haven't replaced the joint set or bad workmanship. The original axle cost around $1250.

I would like to get fellow members' input on what is the cause for the axle to break or as I said is it a manufacturing defect or negligence from the workshop.

I am attaching a few photos that I was able to take off the axle.

Here's what BHPian dhanushs had to say on the matter:

This points to one of the major symptoms before axle failure. I'm surprised the service centre guys did not take this up. After your visit to the service centre, was this problem (sound) solved?

CV joint failure is very rare and 99% of the time happens due to inadequate lubrication. Read: Axle boot failure. Which can be a common occurrence. At every service, it is mandatory to check the axle boot, along with other important checks.

In your case, I think the boot failed months back and the service centre guys have failed to notice it. If you take this matter forward, you should be getting a free axle replacement.

They should even pay for the distress you faced on the road! Utter irresponsibility on the service centre, especially if the reason for failure is an axle boot.

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