# Help -CV Boot -Removing driveshaft



## citrix20 (Aug 29, 2006)

How long would you expect a CV Boot to last?

My car failed it's MOT at the weekend from both split CV boots on the front. I had one of them replaced last february, so its on 15 months old (About 6000 niles). I personally would have expected it to have lasted a bit longer.

Audi quoted £230 each :evil:

My local garage has said £80 each, but its the same place as replaced the last one.


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## shell (Feb 1, 2008)

I take it they are the outer boots that have failed? Hard to give life expectancy really - depends where they have split aswell as to what has caused it.

Boots are only a tenner to buy you know. Why dont you have a bash at doing it yourself & save yourself £140!!!


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## citrix20 (Aug 29, 2006)

Yeah i could have a go doing them myself its just time.... Reckon it would take me about 4 hours a side, and i need it done to get an MOT.


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## shell (Feb 1, 2008)

citrix20 said:


> Yeah i could have a go doing them myself its just time.... Reckon it would take me about 4 hours a side, and i need it done to get an MOT.


Would only take 4 hours a side if your name was Stevie Wonder! lol


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## citrix20 (Aug 29, 2006)

Are these really a DIY job?

My main concern would be removing the calipers and wheel hub, or more specificaly putting it back together.


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## SAJ77 (Nov 16, 2008)

I am sure you can get 'wrap around' CV boot covers which you simply wrap around the existing cover and fill with grease etc - preventing the need to dismantle the car!!

Again, not sure about the quality etc or if i've even imagined them :lol:

Saj


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## shell (Feb 1, 2008)

this is Shell

Lee does mine for meeeeeeeeeee :mrgreen:


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## Dash (Oct 5, 2008)

I'm sure I saw a how-to thread on this forum a while ago, but I can't for the life of me find it.


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## shell (Feb 1, 2008)

citrix20 said:


> Are these really a DIY job?
> 
> My main concern would be removing the calipers and wheel hub, or more specificaly putting it back together.


Yup - they arent that difficult. Shame you arent a bit closer to Liverpool.

You dont need to touch the calipers mate.

Remove the centre driveshaft bolt, mark up the position of the bottom 3 ball joint nuts & then remove them & remove the bottom of the balljoint out the wishbone. Knock the driveshaft out of the hub. Now you've got it out & free to work on. Lever the old clips off either end of the boot. Cut the old boot off. Give the CV joint a sharp whack outwards with a wooden or plastic mallet & it will pop off. Clean out old grease, squirt in new grease then fit new boot.

As the Haynes manual says - refit is the reverse of removal! lol

Lee


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## citrix20 (Aug 29, 2006)

Do you not need to remove the wheel and then calipers and disc?


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## tony_rigby_uk (Nov 27, 2008)

citrix20 said:


> Do you not need to remove the wheel and then calipers and disc?


No Matey...

Just the Bottom Ball joint with 3 bolts (like he said mark them)

And when you take your wheel off it'll be the big bolt in the middle... (Can leave wheels on if you got a deep socket and removable center caps on ya wheels) makes leavering the drive shaft out easier if the wheel is on (But everything Else Harder LOL).... Pop the strut off the wishbone (with ball joint attatched (the ball joint is where you marked the 3 holes) pull your strut outwards... give it a wiggle the shaft should be popping out)... Then replace the boot... it isn't a massive job at all mate... You'd be surprized.. getting hold of a boot is usually fun... they try and sell you complete driveshafts..

hope that explains


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## shell (Feb 1, 2008)

To be honest I'd always remove the wheel - it would just get in the way otherwise.


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## tony_rigby_uk (Nov 27, 2008)

shell said:


> To be honest I'd always remove the wheel - it would just get in the way otherwise.


Eddited post above to reflect your comments :lol: Your right though...


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## citrix20 (Aug 29, 2006)

Cheers guys,

Im contemplating giving it a go. i have been quoted £80 each from an independant, guess its a case of what i value more? a £100 odd quid or my saturday.


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## citrix20 (Aug 29, 2006)

Ok, going to do this myself.

Where is the best place to get the CV Boot from? Audi or an indapendant?


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## shell (Feb 1, 2008)

GSF or any motor factors mate - no more than a tenner!

Good luck!


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## citrix20 (Aug 29, 2006)

Cheers mate.

Look out for frantic posts at the weekend! :lol:


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## shell (Feb 1, 2008)

LOL....have you got the correct tool for removing the large allen bolt from the end of the driveshaft for starters?


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## citrix20 (Aug 29, 2006)

Is it an allen key?


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## shell (Feb 1, 2008)

Yes.....but a very large one indeed - havent got the size to hand but can find out tomorrow for you if you like.


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## citrix20 (Aug 29, 2006)

I do have a selection, hopefully one will fit. If you could let me know it would be much appreciated.

cheers.


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## bobbobb (Dec 24, 2008)

citrix20 said:


> Is it an allen key?


not all mine is a nut 30mm socket fits mine and

there are cv boots that do not need the joint whacked off, they are very stretchy, what you do is buy the boot usally about £10 then the fitting tool, this is a little conethen you fit the boot to the cone inside out place big end cone over cv joint push boot up and over end of cone it flips the correct way round and fix clips,

tool is usally about a tenner as well, i could take a photo of it if you like, these are designed for all cars as some cars the cv joint is not removable, whole job leaas than 30 mins a side.

make sure you remove the wheel its a lot easier and make sure you not the position of the bottom bols as you loosen them as they are in a slotted hole and it affects your camber on the front wheels.

its a lot easier than it sounds.

ps. bottom bolts 16mm socket on mine


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## shell (Feb 1, 2008)

Shell here

next time mine need replacing i hope to be doing it my self with Lee's supervision :mrgreen:


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## shell (Feb 1, 2008)

shell said:


> Shell here
> 
> next time mine need replacing i hope to be doing it my self with Lee's supervision :mrgreen:


LOL.....hopefully wont be for a while hun as they are now both brand new!!!  

bobbobb - if yours is a 30mm nut then I'm guessing yours is a 150 2wd :wink:


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## bobbobb (Dec 24, 2008)

shell said:


> shell said:
> 
> 
> > Shell here
> ...


it is


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## citrix20 (Aug 29, 2006)

Having real trouble getting the driveshaft out the hub.

Mark and undone the 3 bolts on the wishbone and take the assembly off the wishbone. But now cant get the hub and drive shaft seperated.


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## tony_rigby_uk (Nov 27, 2008)

you've undone the nut right? Should be pretty easy... Try pulling the struct and then pushing the driveshaft back (to where it supposed to be) give the shaft a turn as your doing it... seems to make things easier when you give them a wiggle.


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## shell (Feb 1, 2008)

Sorry mate only just seen this now.

I take it you've actually got it to move backwards out the hub - if not loosen the bolt off a bit & give it a tap with the hammer to get it moving - it will loosen off & come out trust us!!


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## citrix20 (Aug 29, 2006)

Tried all the above and it would not budge. In the end i purchased a hub seperator which did the job.

However no amount of hammering the CV joint would get it off the drive shaft! It would not budge! so i gave up on that side.

Result on the drivers side though, the boot didnt need changing, was only the small securing clib that had come off. New cable tie did the job.


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## shell (Feb 1, 2008)

Crikey......sounds like you had a bit of a nightmare then mate. 

One thing I must mention though....is that a cable tie usually doesnt do the trick...you cant get them tight enough & you'll probably find it still weeps.


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## tony_rigby_uk (Nov 27, 2008)

wouldn't a adjustable hose clip be better... losen it off all the way then wrap it round and try and get it back on the teeth and screw up... i know there a nightmare to get back on the teeth once they have been undone all the way but a cable tie is a little... well erm..... bodge it a run :roll:


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## citrix20 (Aug 29, 2006)

was thinking about using one of those, however wasn't sure if it would affect balancing as they are quite heavily weighted one side.

Its only a metal cable tie they use and it came off, plastic one isnt budging... job done.


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## shell (Feb 1, 2008)

You'd be surprised mate - no matter how tight you think you've got the plastic one - grease always eventually starts to seep out! LOL!

Hoseclip is a better idea - tried that one myself & it works fine and wont affect the balancing in the slightest - or to be absolutely perfect go & get another new clip from Audi - they are only pence!!


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## tony_rigby_uk (Nov 27, 2008)

and even them are SHIT !!! but quick question shell or should i say shells fella :lol: why does the other side of the boot not have a clip on the inner CV... checked both of mine and only the drivers is leaking which is strange as my prob is passanger side....

http://www.********.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=142755 oh and comments on here from such a knowlegeable person would be great too :lol: :lol: Mate it's seriously got me stumpped almost to the point i'm gonna start strapping video camera's to the inside while i'm driving to find it !!!


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## shell (Feb 1, 2008)

Tony.....funny you should mention that mate - when I was doing Shells CV boot the other day I noticed exactly the same. I can only think that it doesnt need one due to the design of the shaft/inner boot - perhaps theres a large lip on the shaft that the boot successfully seals against. The clips are only shit if you dont have the correct tools to clamp em with :wink:

Will look at the other thread now dude.

Oh & I'm sure aswell that its NOT an MOT failure if the inner boot is split/leaking however it is if the outer one is.


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## tony_rigby_uk (Nov 27, 2008)

Probably wouldn't be a MOT Failure as they can't see it through the plastic undertray... the drivers one is quite long and i had the undertray out to even get there.. :lol: :lol:

The clip has never been changed so i'm assuming there is a reason for this to be leaking.... and am begging to think there may be a pin prick in the boot causing the seal to be lost..... dunno how long it's been like this.. :roll:

any idea's how to fit a inner CV boot (if needed) would say the outer joint has to be off to get the boot on and slide up the inner CV.... can't imagine you can do it from the gearbox side... which means i might as well do outter CV at same time :roll: Or just get a whole new shaft... :roll:


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## tony_rigby_uk (Nov 27, 2008)

actually thinking about it... I bet when they been bolting the shaft back to the transfer box they've nicked the rubber whilst doing it... :twisted: thing is clutch was changed a while ago now so not really got a come back.... :twisted:


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## shell (Feb 1, 2008)

Yeh thats perfectly possible. But if the clip has perhaps stretched or moved slightly this would also cause the seal to be lost. First thing I'd do is clean up the shaft and try re-crimping it - either by re-using the clip thats on there & just tightening it up or get the old one off & use a new one - if you do this you could then use a large syringe & squirt some more CV grease in the joint for good measure.

I think that end of the shaft comes off much the same as the other end - with a decent whack of a decent sized hammer! LOL!

No point getting a whole new shaft unless its done high mileage and or you think you've got a CV issue. For the price of 2 boots and a bit of effort on your part you could have a perfectly serviceable driveshaft again.


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## tony_rigby_uk (Nov 27, 2008)

hmm true but with the prob in the other post i'm thinking it might just be better to bite the bullet and get new shafts for both sides... at least then i'm certain it's not the shafts. or cv's


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## shell (Feb 1, 2008)

Tony...wouldnt be the shafts themselves mate as they are solid pieces of metal!!

You maybe interested in this tho...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Genuine-Audi-A3-S ... 9|294%3A50


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## tony_rigby_uk (Nov 27, 2008)

shell said:


> Tony...wouldnt be the shafts themselves mate as they are solid pieces of metal!!
> 
> You maybe interested in this tho...
> 
> http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Genuine-Audi-A3-S ... 9|294%3A50


hmmm... looks good... just don't fancy the inner one... seems to be a bugger to get at... hense the pics... think i'll have to let someone with a 4 poster lift do this job... it aint for me to be lying under my car in this heat.... i'd pass out. :lol:


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## shell (Feb 1, 2008)

Two poster ramp is much better for jobs like these....trust me. 

I'm sure we could come to some arrangement!!! :wink:

Lee


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## tony_rigby_uk (Nov 27, 2008)

shell said:


> Two poster ramp is much better for jobs like these....trust me.
> 
> I'm sure we could come to some arrangement!!! :wink:
> 
> Lee


are you offering your services lee?


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## shell (Feb 1, 2008)

tony_rigby_uk said:


> shell said:
> 
> 
> > Two poster ramp is much better for jobs like these....trust me.
> ...


Well if you're asking me to lube up then no....  ....but for anything else mechanical wise then yes!! :wink:


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## tony_rigby_uk (Nov 27, 2008)

how much ya gonna charge me to give it a once over....? see if you can find the problem?


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## shell (Feb 1, 2008)

PM heading your way shortly.... :wink:


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