What's the verdict? Degrease or no degrease when repacking CV's?
 

Both on this BBS and in other places I have heard conflicting stories about whether the use of degreasers is acceptable when rebuilding CV joints. I am doing mine tonight and would love to use some brake cleaner to get 'em really clean so as to not contaminate my fresh Redline CV grease...but I certainly don't want to hurt the bearing surfaces or cause grease not to "stick".

The reason for replacing the grease is to check for wear and to put fresh grease into the system (I know, duhhh) so unlike the outside of your engine, you don't need to be perfect. I would remove as much as possible with a lint free paper towel (or rag you never plan on using again) then repack. I wouldn't introduce a new chemical into the equasion.

I second that - don't use a stripping agent with the porous nature of the races. Just clean 'em up and repack.

Remember to be fastidious about orientation: races must match front/back and "o'clock" and balls to same locations.

John

Chisp,

I have used Brakleen, B-12, Varsol, even gasoline over the past 30+ years on CVs, and never any 'returns' or problems! Degrease 'til you could eat off them ...

The races aren't porous ... they're HARDENED!!!

Degreased mine using laquer thinner 25,000 miles ago. Worked great.

Tim

Even if the races are porous - lacquer thinner evaporates very quickly and does not leave much of a deposit. Thats how I cleaned mine - I'll let you know in about 10 years if it was a problem.

I have never heard of degreasing being a bad thing for bearings...as long as you get the cleaner and contaminated grease out. Seemed odd to me that it would pop up relative to CV joints.

Plain ‘ol Stoddard Solvent (Safety Clean) will cut the old grease and is compatible with any petroleum based lubricant. Blow out with air and let dry before putting in new grease. I worry about even fingerprints on hardened steel parts when using lacquer thinner or brake clean.
I don’t disassemble the CV, that insures all the parts stay where they were.

Best,
Grady

If you CV boot is torn, definitely degrease the joint because road dirt and grime is already mixed with the grease in the joint, which can lead to accelerated wear of the cv joint.

I wasn't fastidious (nice word John) enough & when I tried to install them, they didn't articulate properly. If there is any galling, discoloration, or pitting I would replace them. In fact if they are the factory originals with over 100k miles, I would replace them regardless of thier condition, as they will have exceeded there service life.

you have to strip them down, clean to bare metal, inspect all the races for pits and holes (big pits), and be sure the cages are not cracked. you can't do it properly otherwise. what's the good of regreasing a bad cv?

I wiped as much grease off as I could, then I stood each end in a small bucket of mineral spirits. It really loosened up and removed the old grease. Then I took out and blew dry with the air compressor. Finally I soaked again in soapy water and blew dry again. They were clean, easily inspected and certainly free of any solvent before repacking. Also, get some disposable vinyl gloves and the repack will be much easier.

John

John, at 125k miles do you think I should just replace them all? I don't have them apart yet but wouldn't mind saving the hassle if there's a good chance I am just going to repack a bad CV. I have one off and it seems very snug with no play between the two races but isn't clean yet so I cannot see races, etc.

Do you often see CV's that last much longer than 125k miles? If so I'll keep going. If not maybe I should just replace them.

I'm no expert. My p-mechanic did a little inspection last time I was over and mentioned I should repack my cv's. So I pulled the axles and cleaned as described. I had no wear marks at all and he even said they looked great. By the way, I've got 131k on my car. I guess if they are well packed and taken care of they can last a very long time.

John

I used a Safety Kleen parts washer -- dired and let sit before greasing. Any residue should not be a problem. I have not had a problem - but only have about 1k miles on since then.