CV Joint boot..

Noticed a little grease around the very end(inside end of inside joint drivers side) and a little grease that was thrown around..also on the shaft a bit.There is no grease going the other way..on the boot towards the wheel...I didn't look close but it appears the boot is not torn..it may have a small tear..or the clamp may be gone..near the end.I will look further into this.Anyway..if it needs a boot..I have heard from a few experts that those 2 piece boots are junk.I might try this if I have to for a quick fix.Anyone have any knowledge/experience with them..Thanks..

Cv joints are not a thing to mess around with. Depending on your situation. If the boot has been missing grease for a while then you might as well replace the whole shaft. If you just re grease it and let it go it will die on its own soon. If it has been recent then your in luck because there may be no damage.

Also if you can take your wheel off and take a really good look. If it looks like a crack then its from time. But if it look clean it may have been slit by a mechanic. My friend sued a shop for this last month. He went in to get new tires and brake pads on and they told him that it he needed to replace the cv joint. When we went back to take a look you could tell he had done it with a knife. There was no spatter of grease any where, and it looked like he just done it.

The Escort CV joint boots are a pain because you got to take them apart to put on a new boot. Cheaper to just get a rebuilt drive axle.

But if the joint isn't clicking when you go around corners, I'd say try the two piece boot first, unless the grease remaining within the boot is badly fouled with grit.

Or to get really frugal, you might wrap a plastic bag around the entire present joint, and watch it for a few hundred miles. Fasten it with electrical cable ties.

Thanks! for your help there guys!..I had a GOOD look at it yesterday.The boot actually looks really good.BUT:the grease..not that much.. has CLEARLY been getting UNDER the lip of the boot near the axle shaft and finding it's way out onto the shaft.You can see it..and feel when you press on the boot there..see a bit come out.Clearly..the boot is not tight enough on the axle shaft.I felt the clamp and I can spin it around pretty easy.Obviouslly the clamp came loose.Doesn't APPEAR damaged.I dunno how that happenned.I may not be able to get the clamp seperately(a regular hose clamp is too wide.) However..the boot kits with the clamps are cheap.$15. I'll take care of that today.

As far as fixing a damaged boot..I can't see why a torn or slghtly damaged boot can't be fixed.Temporarily.You'd have to keep an eye on it now and again.PROVIDED of course that pretty much all of the grease is still in the joint.As mentioned by Escortservice..grease gone=joint toast.Or soon to be.LOL..that's what happens when the boot gets torn..loses it's grease.I am sure a few peole have tried fixes.Personally..if the joint has no play,no roughness,and can be or is fairly clean.Pull back the damaged part of the boot..pack it full of grease.Clean the boot with a bit of lacquer thinner.A BIT! or something that will clean off the oil and glue it back together.Some of the two piece boots you have to glue together anyway..I could see trying silicone,Goop..or maybe another type of glue.I WILL try a boot repair when I have to and see how that tests out.SURE BEATS pulling an axle shaft out of one of these.

Escortservice.NICE! tale of SLIMY mechanic.Good point about the fresh cut/no grease lost..

The two piece boots are crap. They leak through the seam especially when making extreme turns. The type I used has a slit down the middle with nuts and bolts to hold it together. They are at best a quick fix until you either replace the boot with a solid new boot that is like the original or replace the shaft as already mentioned. I have read that after 6 to 8 hours of driving on a CV joint without the grease is all you'll get before having to replace it for wear.

Welll...getting just a clamp is NOT! so simple.Phoned/went to a few auto parts places..NO clamps seperate from the boot kits.No one had the boot kits in stock to compare the clamp to.Phoned Ford..NO original equipment clamps.Boot kit with clamps is cheap..$20.BUT!! the "replacement" boot with the clamps.The clamps might NOT fit the original boot.Not in stock anyway.They may be too wide.Hose clamps are too wide.I called a few hardware/industrial supply business's.Nope.

Decided to head over to my local GM dealer.They SEEM to have the answers for me for theses rinky dink problems.

Everything I or anyone else ever wanted or needed to know about this.


LOTS! of answers.
1..go to a NAPA auto parts place.They sell universal clamps.Maybe they have the right size.
2..take off the old clamp.Get your sheet of aluminum..cut a thin strip and wrap this around the recess in the boot where the clamp goes.Build this up higher than the recess.Put a regular clamp on it.
3..Use one of those locking plastic ties.The flat thick ones.
4..Use one of those aluminum strip type locking tags used on tractor trailer doors
5..use a thick enough piece of strong wire.Twist it up good and tight with the vice grips.Cut the ends off.
6..use a pair of half clamps..the kind for plumbing and electrical cable pipe..and some small nuts and bolts.

Still leaking a bit? No problem..put a rubber piece around the axle shaft right against the boot.Clamp it.

Still..silicone seal.

Still..some vehicles..because of the travel in the suspension..that flexes the joint/boot..the condition of the boot..lost it's stretch..

Ya Gotta change the boot.

I either have to fix this NOW!..somehow..or bite the bullet and yank the shaft.Temporary..ROFL..LMAO..I SURE have enough options above! Trying them beats yanking the axle.and I keep a good eye on it is ok.
This car has simply treated me TOO WELL!!..and I have looked after it pretty well..for me to treat it in such a manner as to just drive it..leaking cv joint grease until the joint runs dry and wreck the joint.

I used a "split" type replacement when my boot cracked, it's
been on for 2 yrs. now and still holding out OK..If you do decide
to go the split boot route make sure to clean out the CV joint
THROUGHLY with brake cleaner( I used 3 cans!) and then
re-pack the sh** out of it with good quality hi-temp bearing
grease...Good luck!....

Thanks..I went to the NAPA store.They have universal replacement clamps..and one in the right width.Problem solved..not really.

The clamp fit PERFECT..pretty much identical size to the original.Tightnened it up with the proper pliers.The boot NOW didn't slip.

STILL leaked.I figured that the rubber must be old and just doesn't want to compress well anymore..and there must be a gap/oval area somewhere between the lip of the boot and the axle shaft.Yes there was NO dirt/grit under the boot.

Cleaned it up and siliconed the end.

Still leaked.BUT! the silicone didn't dry properly..on the axle shaft,the boot,the cap where I re-sealed it, BAD! silicone.First time for that since I started using silicone..since about 1977.

Somehow managed to get all the half dried silicone off,clean it again and re-seal it.

The joint hasn't lost much grease..guess I'll see if it FINALLY sealed.

LOL..for all this mucking around IF I had known what seemed simple at the time..turned out to be such a PITA..I couldda changed the friggin shaft already..and HAHA..still might have to.Oh well.

Welll...getting just a clamp is NOT! so simple.Phoned/went to a few auto parts places..NO clamps seperate from the boot kits.No one had the boot kits in stock to compare the clamp to.Phoned Ford..NO original equipment clamps.Boot kit with clamps is cheap..$20.BUT!! the "replacement" boot with the clamps.The clamps might NOT fit the original boot.Not in stock anyway.They may be too wide.Hose clamps are too wide.I called a few hardware/industrial supply business's.Nope.

Decided to head over to my local GM dealer.They SEEM to have the answers for me for theses rinky dink problems.

Everything I or anyone else ever wanted or needed to know about this.


LOTS! of answers.
1..go to a NAPA auto parts place.They sell universal clamps.Maybe they have the right size.
2..take off the old clamp.Get your sheet of aluminum..cut a thin strip and wrap this around the recess in the boot where the clamp goes.Build this up higher than the recess.Put a regular clamp on it.
3..Use one of those locking plastic ties.The flat thick ones.
4..Use one of those aluminum strip type locking tags used on tractor trailer doors
5..use a thick enough piece of strong wire.Twist it up good and tight with the vice grips.Cut the ends off.
6..use a pair of half clamps..the kind for plumbing and electrical cable pipe..and some small nuts and bolts.

Still leaking a bit? No problem..put a rubber piece around the axle shaft right against the boot.Clamp it.

Still..silicone seal.

Still..some vehicles..because of the travel in the suspension..that flexes the joint/boot..the condition of the boot..lost it's stretch..

Ya Gotta change the boot.

I either have to fix this NOW!..somehow..or bite the bullet and yank the shaft.Temporary..ROFL..LMAO..I SURE have enough options above! Trying them beats yanking the axle.and I keep a good eye on it is ok.
This car has simply treated me TOO WELL!!..and I have looked after it pretty well..for me to treat it in such a manner as to just drive it..leaking cv joint grease until the joint runs dry and wreck the joint.Man, you guys go through a lot of unnessary work. To get take that halfshaft out is no problem. If you can't take out a drive shaft& replace that boot in under 45 minutes, you shouldn't be trying this other stuff. Take the wheel off, take the caliper off, take the big axle nut off, take the lower ball joint free from the knuckle, take the tie rod off the knuckle, drive the halfshaft back and swing the strut/knuckle out of the way. use a long prybar and pry the shaft free from the trans. and it comes right out. Then cut the split boot off with a razor blade. Take a brass hammer and knock off the outer cv joint. wipe all the grease free from the shaft. Slide the smaller clamp on first then the boot in place and clamp using cv joint pliers. Sqeeze grease in the joint and the rest in the boot,slide the bigger clamp on the boot,leaving it loose, knock the joint on the shaft and clamp down, reassemble the shaft. Now don't forget to torque down the axle nut to proper specs. It's like 170 foot pounds or something like that. If you go to a shop it's like 2 hrs labor plus the cost of the boot kit. But you have to have some special tools. Torque wrench, cv pliers, pry bar.

I was going by what a couple of service manuals(Factory) and a few people told me..I haven't ACTUALLY done one of these.

1993 1.9 wagon/auto.

" LEFT SIDE.. Remove transmission crossmember"

MAYBE you don't have to pull the crossmember.Manuals say so..I haven't done one..heard that you do.

Looking under there as I did today...this is a 12 y/o car in the salt belt.Removing cross members is sometimes the end of the car WHEN they are this old.ESPECIALLY! in cases where 'member or subframe bolts go into either "nutserts"..OR welded(on the back) INACCESSIBLE nuts that often simply twist off and break taking a hunk with them.Fixing this by welding a patch in AIN'T fun..nor always possible.

Removing this crossmember..it is virtually impossible to see the condition of the subframe where the transmission crossmember bolts onto.The nuts DO NOT look like even with my torch or impact gun will come off.On the other side of these bolts that go through the transmission crossmember and into the subframe there is really no room for a head..SOOooo..the bolts don't have any! I am not sure how the bolts are held in place.They are almost like an inverted head carriage bolt.These suckers from my experience will spin or break.Getting them off from there IN ORDER to remove the crossmember ain't gonna be fun.Just something I dunno..about driving with the crossmember bolts broken/stripped AFTER you're in the middle of a simple axle shaft change that don't do it for me.OR ending up with a BIG! job..

I think it is fairly easy to see WHY I DON'T really wanna have to pull the crossmember..If I don't really have to.But..like I said..maybe the manuals are wrong..maybe the people I talk to are wrong..me..just goin' by that..I dunno..havent't done one.

Someone know FOR SURE on the LEFT side of this car..whether you have to pull the crossmember or not to change this axle?

Thanks..

Wow you guys are making a big deal about an easy job, axel replacement is 30 min. job. Forget what the book says, this is how to do it in the real world.
This works on any '91 - '95 LX auto or standard, not shure about other years or GTs

1 with an impact wrench remove the 1 1/4 in. nut
2 jack up car, letting the spring extend fully
3 remove wheel
4 remove clip that holds brake line to strut
5 remove top bolt holding strut to steering knuckle, and loosen bottom bolt
6 hit end of axel with large brass hammer while pulling out on strut
till splines move
7 remove the loose bolt from step 5
8 steering knuckle will pull out enough to pull the axel out
9 use a pry bar to get axel out of transmission (more difficult on left side but crossmember does NOT have to be removed)

brake caliper, tie rod, and lower ball joint do NOT have to be removed
outer cv joint does NOT come off , you have to take the inner tripod joint apart and remove snap ring to replace boots

Check the trans. output seal while you have it out, if you replace it, use ONLY oem part from Ford dealer, aftermarket part is junk.
Use antiseeze compound on outer splines when installing
Outer nut must be TIGHT, if not wheel bearing will fail, this nut holds the bearing assy. together

Thanks for that info.

I got some silicone that wasn't bad..LOL..like the last one.Cleaned the boot off..siliconed it.Took about a minute.

Checked it a few times and again when serviced last week.

Fine now..since Sept.