Please Help,

I have a family of 11 who relies on our Taurus. (of course, we don't all fit in at once, ha ha)

Had a front right half-axle that needed replaced. I did the work and took it 1 mile to the store on a test drive. On the way back, power just left. The throtle still would rev the engine, but no tranny response. When I came to a stop in my driveway and placed it in park there was a grinding sound. Later I went out and started the car up to see if I had reverse or any other gear. When shifting got no response. Again you could rev the engine and again got a grinding noise upon placing it back in park.

Did I mess up when installing the half-axle?
What do you think I should do from here?

I am hoping for an inexpensive fix that requires mainly labor. We do have a second Taurus with a bad motor but 2 yr old rebuilt transaxle. Do you think I should pull both engines just to switch the transaxle to the better car? By the way, reviving this other car is not an option, just has an available tranny.

Thanks for taking time to read and or help!

Chances are the problem is due to an error on your installation. That means it may take no more than taking it apart, finding there mistake and putting it back together right. One end or the other of the axle isn't engaging. Put the parking brake on, start the engine and put it in drive. Look at the axle you replaced. If it is turning, but not the wheel, the problem is in the CV joint of hub. Check it. If the axle isn't turning, the problem is in the other Cv joint or where the axle engages the transmission. Take it all apart again, and carefully put to back together. The grinding may be coming from the axle turning where it shouldn't. If it hasn't ruined anything, you not have to spend anymore money.

A book might help. I find the Chiltons or Haynes from the parts store or library inadequate, but may have to do this time. Long range, try Ebay or www.factorymanuals.com. You may be able to get a real shop manual for the price of a Chiltons.

Thanks for the feed back, I will check out the axle. Did you mean to have the front end jacked up to check the axle turning?

One thing though, remember that it did engage and drive 2 miles before failing. Can you think of a circumstance that would allow the axle to work that long and then fail? And if the other axle is working, shouldn't it provide some power at least on that side?

My Haynes was completely inadequate, even for the half-axle replacement.

I had a friend that worked in a Ford garage for about 10 yrs. And I seem to remember him warning me something about not to take out both axles at once or some gears would drop and probably need professional help to recover after that. But, I only did the right side this round after replacing the other side a few months before.

What do you think?

As long as your parking brake holds good, you shouldn't need to jack up the car. When one axle is free to turn, the other won't get any power due to the way differentials work. Think about the way one wheel will spin on a slick spot, and the other one won't do anything. That is more common on RWD, but FWD works that way too.

I am guessing a clip or a pin that held the axle in or the hub on the axle fell off allowing one end of the axle to disengage. You just need to check things until you find the problem.

Thanks a million labman.

Heading out to work on it right now. Will let you know how it turns out.

Appreciatin' the help,
Razer