A couple of weeks ago, I had posted about a bunch of axle grease that I found under my car when I was changing the oil.

Well, found out that it turns out that it was a torn CV boot. Was at my parent's house this weekend, so I jacked up the car to clean it and take a look.



That little semi-circle rivet in the center of the picture is a nice gash through the boot. Probably happened when I was installing my clutch/flywheel a couple of weeks ago.


As a temporary fix, I just cleaned it up and put some silicone sealant over it. There should still be enough grease in there for a while, and the next time I am down in San Jose I can replace the boot.

 

I wish I had seen your earlier post about the axle grease in the wheel well. That is almost always from a torn CV boot. If you find a little bit of grease, it could be a ball joint.
I have 86k on my teg, so I check the wheel well when I wash the car, and inspect the cv boots when I change the oil, or do anything under the car.
Don't wait too long to get it fixed, and don't use an "add a boot" - get the real deal put on.
Good photo by the way !

 

Do you have a few basic tools? You may want to replace the boot yourself. Honda sells the kits for both the inner and out CV boots for 30 dollars. A freind was quoted over 300$ to replace the outboard boot on his civic.

 

I thought you're supposed to just swap out the entire axle instead of the cv boot if just the cv boot is torn. I posted this topic not too long ago but I can't find it using the search.

 

Hell no am I going to pay for some shop/dealer to fix it! Just gunna do it myself. I would have done it over the weekend, but didn't have time. It will definitely have a new boot by the end of the month.

 

I have usually just bought a new axle or taken it to an axle shop for a new boot.
What is involved in replacing the boot? Special tools needed?
I guess I could go check my Helms manual (too lazy), or does it even cover the topic?
Enlighten us oh revered one...

 

I'm revered? Hehe.

I was looking in my Helm's manual and it is covered (sort of). Basically, you pull the axle off the wheel hub, rip apart the CV boot (if it is already ripped, no harm here), separate the two shafts (basically, it is a ball joint fit into a couple holders, put the new CV boot+grease on the balled part, then put it up to the other piece of the axle, making sure the ball goes into the holder, and then finish putting it back into the wheel hub.

Not very technical with terms. Kill me . It's 10:30 and I hate homework.

Please mention anything I missed, since this is just what I could make out from Helm's great explainations.