CV joint boot patch repair

Lol!

ROFL!!

Most probably wouldn't notice. But your 'repair' won't last more than a few hundred miles. CV boots undergo *a lot* of flexing.

As for the oil, the correct lubricant is high temperature grease, most manufacturers specify molybdenum sulphide based grease. The oil will not perform adequately, mainly because its viscocity is too low, but also because of its lower shear strength.

Is replacing the boot such a difficult job on your vehicle?

The message from "Dave Plowman (News)" contains these words:

I was wondering about that. They give plenty of warning in the way of clicky noises for months before they pack up.

I regularly ( every day ) strip and inspect all CV joints and braking system seals on my car for signs of dirt that could cause an accident - doesnt everyone ? After assembly, I generally remember that I didnt wash my hands prior to this, and have to do it all over again. Its worth it though, because I've never had a CV joint fail.

A. Nalretentive.

If you go back to the first days of the Mini, there were all sorts of scare stories around about what happened if a CV joint failed - probably started by competitors.

Tests were done by running them dry - cutting halfway through etc - yet not one ever locked the steering when it finally failed. So no more dangerous than a worn Hardy Spicer in a propshaft. But it didn't stop checks making their way into the MOT - the 'something must be done' syndrome...

Erm, bad idea. It's grease you want, not oil. Oil wil slosh about, grease is much thicker and will stay there.

Light will reflect off the CV joint and surrounding objects, and be reflected into his eyes. Then the long and short of it is that his brain decodes the information so that the image actually appears to be what he'll recognise as the CV boot.

Peter

ITS NOT OIL FOR A START. It is HIGH TEMPERATURE GREASE. Putting oil in there has destroyed the grease and thus the lubrication for the CV joint. You've just killed your CV joint to save £10 for a proper replacement kit.

He'll piss himself laughing when he hears the banging it'll make.

LOL!

This thread reminds me of my old Cavalier which had something like 160,000 miles on at the time (it were a lot in them days!). Took it from Leeds to Berwick-Upon-Tweed one day which was an uneventful run until the first roundabout off the A1 - . The local Kwik-Fit diagnosed a worn whichever side outer CV joint it was. Went to collect the car later and it turned out that both outer joints were worn! Rather than charging for two they'd swapped over the least worn one (i.e. so it was running in the opposite direction), bless 'em. Ran round like this for a few weeks until I had time to get hold of a reconditioned joint (cost something like 25 quid and another 20 or so to fit as opposed to 120 for a new one fitted).

The message from "Dave Plowman (News)" contains these words:

Something must be done. This is something. Therefore, this is what we must do.

The message from Conor contains these words:

It's not so much the high temperatures - I've not known CVs to run particularly hot, but it's the molybdenum disulphide additive which is ipmortant.

The message from RV contains these words:

No more so than grease would. Grease in CVs is very sloppy.

No the grease wont "run" into the calliper it will just splatter all over it on the outside of it and the brake backing plate. In time the grease works its way into the brake and reduces braking on it but it is more gradual.

The oil OTH will ingress into and behind the backing plate and will dribble down the calliper between the pads right_way as sooin as it leaks, braking will be rapidlty retarded on that wheel from what is was last time you operated the brakes.

Yes - I can see that happening. But a UJ failing on a prop shaft would have the same result - and they don't test those at MOT time.

I'll bet it had been making serious noises long before it finally gave way.

There's a few 'ifs' there. ;-)

CV breaking is a whole different ball game.

A UJ breaking wouldnt be induced by a U turn for starters, just a tap on the gas anytime or most likely from hard shifting. Ive broken both ends of UJ's a few times and found out what happens When a rearr UJ breaks the shaft falls out of the box on the road, when front one breaks the shaft gets mangled, after all its hollow.

Yes but folks seem to ignore this becuase the CV is making noise for about a month or more before it finaly lets go. It lets go in the U turn because the joint is powered at its most acute angle of operation.

One only needs to look at the viscous properties between oil and grease to know without any doubt the the oil will ingress into all works of the disc where grease will not and does not. If youve seen broken CV boots a lot youll know where grease ends up, no mystery about it. Try pouring oil into the same place and see if you can stop it covering the pads.

Despite running some pretty old bangers in my time, I've never had a CV or UJ break. Perhaps you need a little more mechanical sensitivity?

No, just a little less boost and avoiding side stepping the clutch solves it.

Aside from that I worked as a roadside service patrolman for Royal Auto Club for some years and saw a few done by others on std cars. More CV's stuck in U turn than UJ's.

Thank you for all the suggestions and warnings. I will attempt to remove the driveshafts and the CV boot engine oil from the car - a Rover 414 (H reg c.1990) this weekend.

The Haynes manual implies that the driveshaft/CV joint will come away from the hub with a gentle tap from a soft hammer. Really? Or should I get equipped with a hub puller?

The noise occurs after driving about 10 miles and is still there despite the oil in the CV boots. Perhaps it's not the CV joints after all. The noise is a 'rotational squeak' that is only there when under power up to about 40mph. Not at higher speeds and not in neutral. It is triggered by even a gentle roundabout turn after about 10 miles. It sounds a bit like birds cheeping and can be quite loud. It does not go in time with engine revs, so is not the fan belt. Any ideas? The inner CV joints perhaps? I drove round in very tight circles - both directions - in a car park and there was no clunking or any other noise, before or after adding the engine oil.

Regards George

Soft tap might be a bit exaggerated. You'll need a vice of reasonable strength - get the driveshaft in the vice, and get something like a chisel or suitable soft metal drift (whatever that's supposed to mean!) and give it a good firm tap/bang. It'll come off easy enough. But make sure there's either someone there ready to catch the joint or lay down lots of newspaper on the floor as when it falls to the floor (you'll need both hands, one to hold the chisel, one for the hammer) some grease will splash out, and it's a bitch to clean off your floor if you care about the floor.

Peter

Yeah. You've completely destroyed the lubricating mechanism for the CV joint when you decided on the completely ludicrous idea of putting engine oil in. The CV joints might as well be running dry.

Thanks for your suggestion on how to remove the outer CV joint from the axle, presumably.

But firstly I need to know how to remove the axle assembly from the hub whilst it's still in situ on the car. Will I need a hub puller or will a hammer suffice?

Regards George