CV Boot replacement
 

I was under my 85 Carrera last night trying to pinpoint a small oil leak and instead I found a torn CV boot! The grey lube from the joint has started to spray out on to the surroundings.

How hard is it to replace these rubber boots? The torn one is next to the engine. I do all my own maintenance, including value adjustments, but have never dealt with the transmission or these drive shafts.

J. Perry
85 Carrera
68 912

The hardest part is removing the 6 hex bolts . I raised the car with tires still on and placed a 2x4 under the tire to stop it from moving while removing the hex bolts. As each bolt has to be removed at the same spot. You will understand once you get there. Once that is done, you can remove a cir-clip which holds the cv on the splined axle. Use Needle hose pliers to do this. The CV should slide off the shaft with the help of a rubber mallet as long as there is no rust.
Try not to let the bearings come out of the assembly as they are a little tricking to install once out.

The whole process took me around 45 minutes each shaft.

Have fun...

Before attempting to remove the six bolts from each axle, it's a good idea to invest a little time under the car with something sharp, cleaning dirt and crud out of the bolt heads. You definitely want your hex bit to fit cleanly ALL the way into the holes before trying to remove them.

And you'll probably want to get new bolts for reassembly. I personally don't worry about the old ones being "worn out" or anything, it's just that the hex hole is likely to get mangled a bit during removal. They're a little over a buck apiece at my local dealership.

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Greg Slater
1980 SC
gslater@uswest.net