Today i decided to jack up the car for an oil change...went under the car only to find out that there was grease everywhere on the subframe. looked around for about 30 minutes to find out that the inner CV Boot on the passenger side was torn and all the grease had leaked out and sprayed everywhere.

not sure if i have bearing damage either because i dont know how long ive been driving with the torn boot. sometimes while in 1st or 2nd gear, i notice a very faint scraping noise and im guessing its the bearing so i dunno if its damaged.

Anyone know how much this might cost to fix? either the boot, or bearing + boot.

PS: Gotta pay to play the slam your car game!

 

prolly just a boot shop price will be around 220 but that is for a whole axle

 

if its the inside boot and there was damage to the cv joint it would be noticible when driving straight. you probably could get away with just a boot and new grease.

 

just buy a new boot for about $10 at the dealer and a package of axle grese (moly) from auto parts. Unbolt disc assy from strut and stuff around and pull disc/axle towards u. This way all u got to do is slide in new boot, pinch the smaller end with the boot clip, make sure bearings are in place ( in splines), fill with grease, push axle back into it's place and clip bigger side. A good pair of pliers (45 degree angle preferred). If for some reason u can't reuse the boot clips, u can get cheap ones from an auto parts. This whole thing should take no more than 2.5 hrs, including jacking the car up and then putting it back together.

 

First off, the inner joints very rarely ever have problems - even with torn boots. Unless you've noticed something out of the ordinary, it's probably OK. Usually it's the outer CV joints that go, and it's pretty easy to tell if they're shot because you'll hear a clicking or popping noise when you take tight turns.

Unless Scion is breaking with industry standards, the boots will be clamped on with crimped band-clamps. These can not be reused, but they are very cheap. These are not the same thing as your typical radiator hose or intake pipe adjustable band clamp. If you get a new boot, they will most likely come with it.

If you do decide to replace the joint, there is an important factor to be aware of. The axle shaft and CV joints are seperate pieces, and can be replaced seperately - BUT, you'll pay extra labor to have someone else remove the joints from the shaft, and install the new ones. For this reason, axle shafts are usually sold with the CV joints already installed, making it a relatively quick and easy job to replace the whole setup as a unit. In other words - replacing the shaft with the joints will probably cost almost exactly the same as replacing just one, or both, joints without the shaft.

Finally, if you do decide to do this yourself - make damn sure that you get the axle shaft installed properly! It's VERY easy to screw this up, although it's not a big deal if you catch it right away. There is a simple lock ring on the end of the shaft that goes into the tranny. When you put the axle back in make sure that you push till you feel that ring pop into place. After everything is reassembled start driving very slowly, and take a tight turn in each direction as soon as you can. If the shaft isn't seated properly, then it should fall out without causing any serious damage (as long as you're moving VERY slowly).

Good luck, I hope this helps!

 

Yes the clips can be reused, been there done that. They r cheap as I said, so if they need to be replaced, it will not be that bad. Just have to grab them in the right place with a pair of pliers to get them out. Secondly, there's no need for extra work by pulling the whole axle out. You can work this problem out by working between the case bolted onto the engine block and the second part of the shaft attached to the wheel hub. This way u'll have plenty of space to inspect it with a flashlight and make sure the three bearings are in good shape. Just trying to make it simple, fast and cheap.

 

Thanks for the reply guys! From the input you guys gave, i dont believe there is any damage to the CV joint as there is no popping sounds when taking tight turns. So thats a good thing.

Maybe Ill just end up taking it to a shop instead of doing the repair myself... seems a little complicated.

thanks again for all the help!