Originally Posted by
Civic2Scooby
my guess is you didn't seat it the first time. You gotta feel the snap ring seat. If it goes in and out with ease the c-clip is shot/damaged.
Yeah, I think that must've been it. I did that job a couple months ago

Put it back in, and the axle seems fine now.
Only issue at this point is it starts rough and runs rough until it warms up. :/