ripped boot

[Tonglebeak]

While replacing my tie rod today I noticed that a boot on the axle appeared to have been ripped on the end and some sort of grease had made a new home there. What is this boot and what's the grease? The boot was towards the outside of the axle, and met the wheel bearing.

[Pontiac6ksteawd]

The boot is the CV axle boot. The Grease is CV axle grease. You can replace just the boot, but its easier, and slightly more expensive just to replace the whole CV axle.

[Tonglebeak]

Wow, that sounds like it'd be quite a chore. The CV is what clicks when it starts going bad right? I Just might wait until then :\

[Pontiac6ksteawd]

The chore isnt that bad really. Take center cap off tire, take large socket and remove outter CV axle nut, jack car up, take tire off, seperate lower ball joint from control arm, slide cv axle out of bearing, pull other end out of tranny. Reverse back together and your done.

[Century7667]

I did one of those on an '84 Skyhawk. In my case I replaced the boot, but you'll need special tool to pull the boot on. It's definitely easier to replace the entire axle. In my case, I had to do a while alignment after completed the job because the disassembly.

I noted that the boot material has been significantly toughened on the 90's model Buicks that I've seen. I wonder when the changeover occurred?

Ken T.

[LordDurock]

yea like said not to bad at all

here a vidf of how one comes apart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZoa1hTM74U

he uses a mallet. ive seen a slap hammer used with a dull claw like in this link
http://www.motorvate.ca/mvp.php/402

follow what he does ^ even if it isnt you car. im not sure if you have to drain the trany though

basically all you need to do is is mark the ware the strut mounts to the wheel hub and undo those bolts undo the tie rod and pop the cv out of the trany

you wheel nut should be a 30mm

[turbokinetic]

yea like said not to bad at all

here a vidf of how one comes apart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZoa1hTM74U

he uses a mallet. ive seen a slap hammer used with a dull claw like in this link
http://www.motorvate.ca/mvp.php/402

follow what he does ^ even if it isnt you car. im not sure if you have to drain the trany though

basically all you need to do is is mark the ware the strut mounts to the wheel hub and undo those bolts undo the tie rod and pop the cv out of the trany

you wheel nut should be a 30mm

Umm - the You Tube video and MotorVate page MAY NOT BE CORRECT for our axles. There is usually a snap ring you have to expand to remove the outer CV joint from the axle shaft. Hammering will not work. Other than that, the boot replacement is just as shown.

I would not wait until the axle is damaged. Replace the boot now. The new axles are CHEAP CHINESE SHIT quality. You are much better off with what you have after replacing the boot. The new boots are much better than they were back then. If the axle is clicking already take it and have the joints re-machined at a driveshaft shop. Whatever you do, DO NOT buy a "new" axle from any of the disounnt auto places. If you go there, insist on a remanufactured part and inspect it before leaving the store. If it is not constructed like your old one, do not accept it. It is getting hard to find remanufactured OEM shafts for certain applications. The Chinese imitation CV shafts are bad mojo and some do not even spline correctly with the transmission. You have BEEN WARNED... :rant:

The following procedure may allow you to get the CV shaft out of the car without disturbing the alignment. I know it works on H body cars (LeSabre). They have so many interchangable parts with our cars this will probably work, and as said you will not affect the alignment.

With this procedure you don't remove the ball joint nor the strut bolts. Instead you remove the bearing. It usually works but once or twice it has not had room.

Raise and support car, remove wheel. Steering straight ahead at this point.

Remove brakes.

Remove axle nut. Use impact wrench but go slowly. It will not hurt anything as long as you don't overheat the threads. The diff gears in the transmission withstand thousands of pounds of torque when you acellerate, no mere mortal with an impact gun is going to damage it!

Remove 3 Torx bolts retaining wheel bearing assembly to steering knuckle. Will have to rotate hub to line up access holes to the bolt heads.

Pull off bearing. This gives axle more clearence to angle sideways and come out.

Push steering all the way left or right (depending on which side you are removing) while watching to make sure CV boot doesn't get ripped up. Axle will be "flopping around" if you not careful.

Push threaded shaft IN towards transmission while angling the outer CV joint as far as it can go. The tip of the threaded shaft should clear the steering knuckle - but it is close.

Inner CV joints have a snap-in circlip and have to be pried out of the transmission. On the passengers side, working from under the car, I use a large wrench (maybe a 1 1/5" or larger) as a "fork" to pry the joint out. Be watchful for the seal on the transmission!

On the drivers side I use a "heel bar" to do this, working from the drivers side wheel well. Got to be careful to pry against the NUTS that hold the transmission side cover, do NOT pry on the side cover its self. If you pry on the side cover, the transmission will probably start to leak oil at that point.

Going back together,I always use Loctite 640 sleeve retainer on the wheel bearing retaining bolts (the Torx bolts that hold the bearing to the steering knuckle). This is a safety-critical area. Clean the bolts and holes first with brake cleaner and ensure they are dry and oil / grease free. Then apply the Loctite and torque the bolts to 75 Lb-Ft.

The bearings have an internal clearance built in, and the 2 inner races are supposed to be touching. As long as the nut is tight and the bearings are not loose, it will be fine. I tighten mine with an impact wrench then click it with a torque wrench. Some replacement CV shafts say to "oil the threads" others say to "torque dry." The factory procedure says It needs to be tightened to 185 Lb-Ft with a new nut, and lubricated threads. With an old nut, you should reduce the torque some. I have never had a bearing failure with an old nut, and have not always used torque wrench.

All torque specs were looked up for with JA2 / JA8 heavy duty brakes and may or may not be correct for other brake and axle options.

On- one more thing. If the engine has not been run in a few hours, a quart or 2 of trans oil may come out. You don't need to drain the whole trans, but be prepared to catch a moderate amount of oil when you pop the CV shaft out of the transmission.

If you start the engine, and idle for 1 minute immediately before starting this procedure it may not loose any oil if you get the shaft back in soon enough.

Hope this helps!
Thanks,
David

[Tonglebeak]

Very lengthy procedure but I'll take a look at it again and probably print that off. Thanks :)

But I do have to ask, what about removing the boot itself, or are you saying the whole axle has to come off anyways?

[turbokinetic]

Well - it's not as lengthy as it sounds. I just went into lots of detail. The boot will not fit over the shaft unless you take apart the shaft. The shaft has to come off the car to be taken apart.

One end of the boot is small and seals around the shaft its self, and the other end of the boot is large and seals over the CV joint.

The outer joint has to be removed from the shaft, then the boot slides over the shaft, then the joint goes back on. At this time you slide the boot in position over the joint and clamp it on.

It is not hard! I promise!
David

[turbokinetic]

Oh! Removal of the ripped boot? Just pry or cut the clamps with wire cutters, then cut the boot away with a razor knife. That part of the video procedure is the same as our axles. The only really "wrong" part is the snap ring holding on the outer joint.

I looked and couldn't find pictures of that. After you cut off the old boot and clean the grease out of the joint you will see the snap ring. It is partially hidden, but you can see the 2 "ears" that have to be expanded to release it. It is visible from the back sde of the joint (the side covered by the boot) once the grease is gone.

[Tonglebeak]

Yeah thanks! I did notice there were two boots, one on the tranny side and one on the bearing side. The bearing side is the ripped one so I'll see what I can do later on. THanks.

[Pontiac6ksteawd]

Dont bother rebuilding it, or even replacing the boot. Order a rebuilt one, and install it. Much easier, and only a bit more expensive.

10-25 bucks for a boot kit, plus all that time messing with the grease, and all the other stuff, for a fix the MIGHT not work in the long run anyways.

A New CV Axle will run from 60 to 115. Comes with the lifetime warenty, and will save you the hassle of trying to rebuild the old axle, etc.

My opinion stands, replace the axle, and let the rebuilding be someone elses problem

[Prospeeder]

go to napa and get an axle, we have good rebuilders and iv never had an alxe come back. they are pretty danm inexpensiuve, 65$ or so for our axles last i checked.

[Tonglebeak]

I noticed AZ has rebuilt Duralast axles with a lifetime warranty for $60, but they only list them for the JA1 and JA8 brake code. Am I correct in stating that JA8 parts are interchangeable with JA2 when it comes to this?

[Century7667]

That one was a bit different than the old J-body Skyhawk I worked on. The outer boot was a press fit. The tool I used would mount on the outboard side and "pull" the boot over the joint with a pair curved arms. It was basically a puller designed to cup around the circumference of the boot's heavy ring that pressed onto the joint. No band on that car.

Ken T.

[LordDurock]

most of the time if you check the cv the bearing and stuff are not worn enought to worry

[kwsracing]

I had a 91 ciera with a 3300 and a 3 speed auto that I raced (circle track) for two years with a bad boot. When I first got the car the power steering leaked onto the exhaust and started a small fire under the hood, that was a nightmare. It burnt the cv boot, belt, the crank position sensor (I forget the name, the one that the harmonic balancer fits over), and a few wires. I replaced the wires, belt, and the sensor. After replacing parts the car started and ran great. I put it in gear and it moved forward and backward, so off to the next race I went, bad boot and all. That axle is still on the car and has outlasted 2 trannys out there on the race track. Unfortunately I need to replace the tranny. If I was driving the car on the street I would definitely replace the whole axle though. I know in Missouri if the boot is split you couldn't even get the car to pass inspection.