Blackish/Green Grease Inside Rim

**TranceZiggy** · 11-04-2012 11:15 AM

Hey dudes, over the easter weekend I noticed a blackish/green grease on the inside of my rim/wheel arc. It's definately recent, must have only occurred on Friday.

After some searching I found that it's most likely high temp grease from a torn CV boot.

I asked a few mechanic mates, who confirmed the same thing..

Anyway, I dont have the cash to get it done straight away (plus im at work all week AND it was a long weekend with public holidays..), so it's been booked in to have the CV boot replaced on Saturday morning by a CV joint specialist place. Was quoted $95, which seems a bit cheaper than what I had been told ($130 average).

Anyway, point of this post is: Does this sound like an accurate diagnosis? Also, from what I understand, if I drive it too long without replacing the boot, water, dirt & road gunk will screw the CV joint/axle itself, causing a clicking/clunking noise (which I know too well - my old Ford Laser had the same thing) & will end up costing alot more to replace.

Should it be alright to drive for the rest of the week? I drove it Monday & Tuesday - only about 30kms. But I need to drive it Wednesday, Thursday & Friday to work (40km each day). Im hoping itll hold out until Saturday & I wont have to replace the entire joint/axle.

Cheers,

**stndrd** · 11-04-2012 11:24 AM

Your diagnosis would be pretty much on the money. If saturday is the earliest you can get the boot on, well there is nothing much you can do is there?

In regards to what damage may occour in the mean time, it is very hard to say. Obviously the earlier you can get the new boot on with grease in, the better, but there may be some damage that occours but will not present itself until later on in the future. If you are not confident that the cv will last, replace the whole shaft on saturday instead of just the boot.

Hope this helps

**TranceZiggy** · 11-04-2012 11:30 AM

Yeah cheers,

I'm on an apprentice wage at the moment, so I can only afford to do patch up jobs, or small things at a time. I'm fairly padantic about my car, so I would love to just replace the whole lot, but it would all come down to the cost.

I may give the CV joint place a call today and see how much it would be to replace the lot.

**Baboy** · 11-04-2012 11:45 AM

Ask them to check the condition of the CVJ when they are changing the boot.....I doubt there would be any problems arise from a week with a cracked boot....unless theres no grease in there at all.

**mocchi** · 11-04-2012 11:51 AM

$95 is aint bad.
considering if you DIY would cost around $110 for the boot, transmission fluid and band tool
of you could re-use the fluid and spend $15 for the bootkit itself and already have the tool to tighten band

dont think there would be any damage if it was on friday.

**TranceZiggy** · 11-04-2012 11:53 AM

Yeah, will definately do that also.

There's still grease in there, doesnt seem like its a huge crack, as it seems to just 'drip' out little bits of grease as I drive. Everytime ive checked it after making a trip, there's 'new' splatters on the wheel arc. It's not like it's pouring out. So yeah, may stick with just replacing the boot & have them inspect it when they replace it.

For future user reference (or if any of you are interested in how much damage was done from a week of driving on a torn boot), I'll post the aftermath once the job is complete.

Cheers for the help, also.

**AusVTi-R** · 11-04-2012 12:07 PM

Seems like a very fair price, I had the same thing a few months back cost me $100. Much preferred to a new CV joint, Lucky theres people like us who notice the little difference in our cars, caught it at the right time! Good luck!

**mocchi** · 11-04-2012 12:24 PM

Originally Posted by TranceZiggy

Yeah, will definately do that also.

There's still grease in there, doesnt seem like its a huge crack, as it seems to just 'drip' out little bits of grease as I drive. Everytime ive checked it after making a trip, there's 'new' splatters on the wheel arc. It's not like it's pouring out. So yeah, may stick with just replacing the boot & have them inspect it when they replace it.

For future user reference (or if any of you are interested in how much damage was done from a week of driving on a torn boot), I'll post the aftermath once the job is complete.

Cheers for the help, also.

**zhong** · 11-04-2012 04:42 PM

If you can see where the crack is and worried about losing more grease - why don't you get some cloth tape and tape it up? You're gonna get it replaced anyway - this way your rim doesn't get dirty and you won't get more dust/debris in your CV joint to risk damaging it. Cloth tape can be bought for roughly $3-5 a roll - the left over can tape up whatever else rips in the future!

Peace.

**Red_EG4** · 11-04-2012 04:58 PM

I recently had both of my outer CV boots replaced.
My mechanics words were "They were fucked, came off in two pieces."
My brand spanking new rims were coated in the grease, was a challenge cleaning it all off.
I drove about a week from when I noticed the grease to repair, my mechanic noted no concerning wear.
My repair was $178 for both sides.

**Baboy** · 11-04-2012 06:03 PM

Duct tape for things that move and aren't supposed to. WD-40 for things that don't move and are supposed to.

**TranceZiggy** · 14-04-2012 11:57 AM

Update: ended up costing $110 to replace the boot/repack with grease. The bloke who did it said he didn't notice any damage to the joint itself & is unlikely to develop any problems in the future because of this.

So there you have it, torn cv boot, driven on for 1 week (172kms), no damage done