How important is a CV boot?

replace it or you will soon be spending $$$ to replace the CJ joint. there are 2 different CV boots for the '91 accord one for the DX/LX and a different one for the EX/SE

Is the boot just the rubber casing? Shouldn't cost too much to replace, eh?

I dont know what the CV boot is...i have very little knowledge about cars.

Well, I believe that the boot is the rubber casing that protects the universal joint - it's got to do with your drive train..... I was hoping to get a response from Dyslexia.

Welcome to a2k, by the way, sweepstop.

If the CV Joint Boot is torn then water, sand and dust off teh road is going to get in there and eventually all that excess junk is going to eat away at the CV joint itself and you'll find yourself replacing the entire half-axle.

It may happen a year from now or it could happen tomorrow but eventually it is going to happen if you don't get it fixed. I had one replaced last year and it ran me $120 but I ignored one a few years back on a Subaru and it ended up costing me over $700.

You can pay now or pay later...

its a rubber like sleeve that goes over the CV joint to keep out road gabe (crap) from getting into and destroying the CV joint which is part of the transaxle, the boots themselves cost about $15 each and a decent mechanic would need about 1 1/2 hrs which means its a labor intensive rather that part expense. a common cause of boot failure is excessive heat from defective brakes so i would have the brakes checked at the same time.

Is it a must to replace transaxle with outer boot worn?
Hi. Hope somebody can help. I discovered that my cv boots were worn when the transaxle started to do a "click click" when turning, which means that it is defective. Repair cost is way high. I can live with the "click click" noise that occurrs once in a while. Is it dangerous to run the car with the outer boot worn? It it a must to replace the transaxle because of that? I don't want to spend a large amount of money, unless it is absolutely necessary.

You do need to replace the joints. Most places just replace the entire half-axle because getting the joint off of the axle takes several hours and when you figure in labor costs it's usually cheaper to just replace the whole thing. Don't confuse a half-axle with the transaxle. There should be no reason to replace the transaxle (aka transmission) just because of CV joints.

If your's is clicking when turning it is starting to go. It's only a matter of time before that is you sitting on the side of the road. I sit dangerous? You bet. That front wheel coming off at 60 MPH in traffic could ruin your whole week.

Have you ever seen one of those cars sitting on the side of the road and it looks like their front wheel broke off and the whole car is sitting their cock-eyed with the wheel at a really weird angle?
That is usually the result of a CV Joint finally giving up the ghost.

If I may add this to what Dys and Fishin' have said. If it starts to click the joint could fail at any time---if it fails you have no power to that wheel and the other axel will just spin in other words the car can't move.

Try the yellow pages for a place that specializes in CV joints or axels for front wheel drive cars. They will sell you a rebuilt axel complete with new boots full of grease.
They will also install if for you. They should do that for approx $125--150 per axel. If you go to a new car dealer they will charge approx $300per axel.

Every time you have the oil changed have the mechanic check the boots for signs of grease which means the boot has a hole in it. All the grease will quickly be thrown out and as the hole enlarges the sand and other trash will ruin the joint. You can drive it until it starts to click during a turn----then change it immediately.

Try the yellow pages for a place that specializes in CV joints or axels for front wheel drive cars. They will sell you a rebuilt axel complete with new boots full of grease.
They will also install if for you. They should do that for approx $125--150 per axel. If you go to a new car dealer they will charge approx $300per axel.

You wrote this a few days ago. Can you suggest any sites where there are detailed procedures for the do-it-yourself mechanic. 93' accord that needs at least one CV boot and joint replaced.

How long should a CV Boot last?
I suppose a CV Boot could be torn at anytime, but I recently had one replaced on my Jeep Grand Cherokee, and now, not even two months later, it's torn again. What are the odds of this? Should the place where I had the work done have to fix it for free? I haven't done any offroading or unusual driving of any kind.
Thanks for any advice,
Brian

Re: How long should a CV Boot last?


It's possible that either the boot was defective or the shop that isntalled it torn it a bit putting it on which then led to the larger tear. 2 months though. You'll probably have a lot of frustrations trying to get them to accept that it was their fault but heck.. Why not try?

Front wheel drive vs. all wheel drive
In a previous post, someone mentioned looking in the yellow pages for a repair shop to work on front wheel drive cv joints and I have seen just that in the phone boot. But what about all wheel drive vehicles like my Subaru Forester?

Also, is this boot filled with something? There is some gunk near the torn boot and when the engine heats up, it smells terrible.

Re: Front wheel drive vs. all wheel drive


There isn't really anything special about the Subarus. The first car that I owned that had CV joints was a Subaru wagon (I should have never gotten rid of that car. *sigh*). Any shop should be able to deal with it.

The boots are filled with axel grease. That "gunk" is probably some of the grease along with road crud that's stuck to it while you were driving.

Many thanks
The dealership is about 50 miles away. So I am glad for what you said. There's a mechanic that has been recommended to me just about 8 miles away. Much easier to work in.

And glad to hear the good news about Subarus. Again, thanks.

Boot vs half axle
The mechanic tells me it takes so much labor to replace just a boot that it is almost cheaper to replace the half-axle with a rebuilt half-axle.

Any comments from anyone?

Seems odd that it would be that close just to replace the boots. I ran into the same thing when the CV joint itself had to be replaced (see my earlier comment here form June 30th).

Get estimates for having just the boot replaced and then for replacing the half-axels and compare the two. If he's saying that the CV joints are bad and need to be replaced then he's probably 100% correct.

Repair
No, he said that replacing just the boot was so labor intensive that it was easier and just slightly more money to replace the half axle. Plus the boot has a 90-day warranty and the half axle has a 1 year warranty.

Replacing the half-axle with a rebuilt half-axle will cost $180.

We have two 1996 Isuzu Rodeos (manual) that the CV Boots are torn. They are usually used in the field in a desert area. It sounds like they have not been torn too long and the popping noise is not too noticeable. The mechanic quoted Approx $500 for the parts. I assume this has to be replacing more than just the boots. He seems to think we can drive them but from what I have read it could get ugly if the joints go. My recommendation to my work has been not to drive them till we can get the boots fixed. I would appreciate any feedback. Thanks