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On 16 Feb 2006 at 11:16, Constantino Tobio wrote: > Jim Adney wrote: > > >I'd reuse the boots unless there are signs of wear where something > >has rubbed against them. The original rubber seems to be excellent > >and I've seen no reason to replace them just due to age. There's > >always the chance that the replacement will be of inferior quality, > >so I'd stick with the OE parts unless there's a real reason not to. > So of course, I took another look at my CV joints, this time with a > better light, and found what I thought to have been a tear in the boot > was just a very dark shiny patch of grease- no tear. That'll teach me to > not go in with a better light. > The crust on the outside of the boots is grease in various stages of > drying- the wettest of which I think came from the transmission. Both of these observations sound exactly right. Your boots are fine. > Back in > the mid-late 90s, the input shaft seal on the tranny was replaced, but > the outside of the transmission case, particularly around the diff > carrier, is thoroughly coated in tarry black grease. I also see signs > where diff oil or grease may have been flung from one of the axles- at > the bottom of the trunk from underneath, I see a spray pattern that > lines up with the axle. This spray pattern appears very old, so maybe it > came from this time the input shaft gave up? This sounds like an AT. It's likely that the governor cover o-ring is leaking ATF. This is so common as to be almost universal. Replace the O-ring, but be careful not to get dirt in there when you take the cover off. Also, don't try to take the governor out, as there is the possibility of a part falling off the shaft thus requiring disassembly of the final drive. > That said, I'm not going to replace my CV boots, however, it may be > prudent to repack the CVs since I have no idea how old this grease is. I > also should replace the diff oil. Definitely check the diff oil level, replace it if you want (with GL-5.) > Will moly grease be the right thing to use on the CV joints? How much is > the right amount? That's the stuff, I'm not sure of the amount, but the Bentley may say. I just pack the drive flange and CV joint full, put a little bit in the boot, and leave most of the boot empty. You may be able to save yourself a lot of trouble by just moving the half shafts around: If you yank them back and forth axially, this often redistributes the grease that is in there and gives them an easy fresh start. You can also feel for roughness or excess play as you do this, which might be an indication of a CV joint about to give out. Personally, I've seen a couple of dead CV joints, but I've never worn one out myself. If you take them off, get the right driver. It's an M8 XZN driver, often called an M8 Torx, but it's really not a Torx. Clean the bolt head sockets out well first so you can get the driver ALL the way in. Make SURE to use a torque wrench on them when you're finished or you won't get them tight enough and they will come loose on you. (You DON'T want that to happen!) If you take the CV joints apart, watch what you're doing carefully. It IS possible to put them back together wrong, plus there are several ways to try to put them back together that just won't work. Make sure you look at the illustrations in the Bentley manual about how they go together. -- Jim Adney jadney@vwtype3.org Madison, WI 53711-3054 USA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~