I have a greasy leak in the area of the front right CV Boot on my 99 Forester. After cleaning up the area I found the boot to be torn. I have quite a bit of experience with cars and had a couple of questions.

 

Is the torn boot the only problem here or is there a seal involved. How difficult of a job is this. are there any special tools required? Any help would be great. Thank you.

I think all you need is a replacement split boot and replace the grease. Make sure that the joint is clean inside before adding the new grease.

I think all you need is a replacement split boot and replace the grease. Make sure that the joint is clean inside before adding the new grease.

 

 

it won't last long.unless of course you like doing the same job twice you might be better off just replacing the shaft.

 

split boots are good for temp repairs untill it can be fixed properly.

Ultimately it is a better repair if you just buy a new cv drive axle. Most of your chain auto parts stores have them, around $60.00. You don't know how much dirt has worked its way inside, which will cause failure in the future anyway.

cv axle failure is highly unlikely. you can drive with that broken cv boot for as long as you keep the car.....unless you keep it awhile. i routinely put 50,000 + miles on front cv joints AFTER they start clicking. they are not likely to fail anytime soon. the only cv axle failure i had was a BRAND NEW ONE. obviously not the norm and manufacturing defect of some kind. in any event, just don't want people to feel like they are in a dangerous situation just from a broken boot. i recall when i didn't know anything about cars i'd replace the axle immediately because it sounds like a sometime terrible is wrong going around a turn. now i know better. i've put 100,000 miles on broken rear cv's and they have never started clicking.

 

if you're not keeping the car awhile, don't bother replacing it.

if you're keeping it awhile, replace the axle.

Thank you for the help. I replaced the shaft. Don't now how long it would have gone but the stink of grease cooking on the cat. converter was too much to take. Thankx again for the help.

I would agree with Grossgary, EXCEPT one time in my '88 DL I heard clicking in a right turn ONCE and at the next light I stepped on the gas and the motor revved, but no forward motion (total axle failure). On the other hand you CAN continue to drive with torn boots and clicking joints for quite awhile as I did with my '96 Toyota Tercel. So, basically you never know, I learned to replace the whole halfshafts ASAP.

note: I replaced the Tercel's halfshafts myself in about 4 hours.

only reason i suggested axle replacement instead of boot was cuze of a bad experience i had bk when i had my gl.cv joint was clicking an all then it started to mees with steering,when i'd be turning right for example it would bind up a pull the wheel out of my hands.