Final disposition: fixed.
It turns out that I did not reassemble the outer CV joint correctly,
which increased its overall length. When I put the knuckle back
together, the drive axle was pu****ng into the transmission with a lot of
tension. Possibly straining against the input shaft somehow? I'll leave
the why to the trans experts.
Anyway, the outer CV wasn't even engaging. This is why the car would not
move, the inner shaft was turning but the outer was not.
For anyone contemplating doing a CV boot replacement, I would just buy a
new axle and go for it. My replacement axle was rebuilt from *all new
parts* (not reground) and was only about $110 from
nissanpartswholesale.com. Replacing just one boot for $50+ doesn't make
good sense, it takes just as long and it gets really messy packing the
grease in there. BTW the Nissan stealer****p wanted $600 for the same
axle!
Replacing the axle seal in the transmission hole is pretty easy and
could be done at the same time, and the 36mm axle nut socket makes the
perfect seal driver. I went ahead and did it, it costs $7.
NOTE: various sources on the 'net give different information on how much
tranny fluid comes out after pulling the shaft out of the transmission.
Well, it was 2 quarts for me. According the shop manual the
open-differential transmission (RS5F50A) holds 4.5 to 4.8 liters of API
GL-4, Viscosity SAE 75W-90. So less than half my oil came out, which I
caught in a milk jug and poured back in after everything was back
together. I used a squirt water bottle but a flexible neck funnel would
have been better.
Thanks for the input!
--
Oil is always 15 years from running out, the oceans are always 10 years
away
from rising 10 feet, and the internet always has only 3 years left before
it
runs out of capacity. Color me skeptical.
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