Cv Grease

[Mike Andrew]

How thick is the CV grease supposed to be? I am about to reinstall my shafts after an engine drop & the grease in them seems to be somewhat runny. Time to repack with new grease?

Additionally, is the gasket to be sealed or applied dry?

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by Mike Andrew

Time to repack with new grease? ...

Yep...

[Mike Andrew]

Ugh, I was afraid of that. Maybe it's time for new axles and pack 'em clean rather than going through the PITA of cleaning everything.

[KFC911]

How many miles on your CVs? FYI, when I repacked mine at around 50K miles, the CV joints looked just like new, so it would have been a shame to waste $ on new axles (spend the $ on something else). Now if your mileage is "up there", and they're original, I would consider what you're proposing. It's a "messy" job, but very doable as it was one of the first things I tackled on my car back when.

[Mike Andrew]

55,000 miles and they are original. I really haven't put a thorough eyeballing on them yet to check condition but will take a look tonight. My thought process is that it will be much easier to replace them and know what I have for the next 50,ooo miles. After I get one cleaned tonight, I guess that I will know.

[hcoles]

I'm in the middle of this myself. I did notice the grease was runny.. I don't know if this is a bad thing... runny means it gets moved around in there and that could be a good thing.
My car has the cv's that are not disassembleable on the axle side so I cleaned them and put the grease in there that came with the trans. side cv's. On the trans. side cv's I'm using Redine CV grease. So we will see. If I don't see divots or galling on the grooves them I'm reusing the cv's. Look at the bottom of the grooves where the balls run. When the cv's are new they ride on the edges of the grooves as they wear they move and start riding on the bottom and eventually eat a hole in the bottom of the groove. That's my quick observation of the situation.

[Gunter]

The Moly grease in the CV's gets runny because of the churning over time; NOT good!

Solution: Clean, inspect, reassemble and use new Moly grease as outlined by the factory and you're good for another 50k.

Unlike EP2 bearing grease, Moly has an inherent tendency to stick to the CV-parts that need lube: Balls and grooves.
Use a clamp or Zip-tie on the small diameter of the boots.
Some people use the flange-seals, I don't because the seals contribute to the flange-bolts coming lose over time.
Pre-torque the Allen bolts cross-wise first, then do the final torque; Schnorr washers are recommended.

Unlike Carreras, SC-axles have an advantage that the CV's can be switched straight over (For a new running-surface) without changing the rotation of the shafts to avoid inducing reversed torque-stress.

[Mike Andrew]

Gunter,
Yeah, my grease, or some of it, is as runny as a baby's diaper. I will definitely clamp or zip tie the boots regardless of repack or replacement.

I assume that you mean switching the CV itself from one shaft to the other. I did see the torque reversal stress issue mentioned a while ago.

Liqui Moly or Swepco?

[rusnak]

I agree with Gunter. Runny grease is a sign that it has broken down. CV joints and axles are expensive, grease is cheap. Mine is an '84 3.2 911 so I can replace cv joints. I am on my 3rd set, so I have experienced the re-packing excercise a few times, plus helping others on theirs.

I have found that Redline grease does not hold up. Liqui Molly is one of the best. I have had good results with Valvoline Super Syn too. You really do get different results with different grease, so it is important to select the right one. Mobil One Synthetic grease breaks down in the summer heat we have here.

[JFairman]

If your CV's aren't clicking or clunking when going form reverse to forward they are proabably fine.
They are easy to clean and repack, it just takes time and it's messy.

At 50K miles you will probably find the races the balls run in polished in the forward direction and thats fine as long as there are no grooves and the cages are not cracked.

The molybdenum disulfide in moly grease adhere's to ferrous metals like steel and iron and gives extra cushion and lubrication with the grease but does nothing extra for aluminum, brass, or any other metal.
Standard moly grease has a very low percentage of moly in it but you can buy moly paste (permatex sells it in a little tub) which is around 60% molybdenum disulfide and mix some into the grease if you can't find the correct molygrease made for CV's.

When it gets runny it is used up. It should be thick and sticky.

Also, a relatively stock SC engine doesn't have enough torque to snap an axle if you reverse the rotation of it (in my opinion).
Turbos and the bigger newer engines with variable valve timing do have enough low and midrange torque to do that.

[hcoles]

cv's easy to clean and repack... if you don't have the "integral to the axle" type like I do. Then cleaning out is more of a chore but doable... I used every type of cleaner:
- critrus
- soap and water
- brake cleaner
- carb cleaner

Was getting to the point of not being worth it...

[JFairman]

Last time I did it I used brushes and gasoline in a 5 gallon drywall bucket because it was cheaper than mineral spirits.
Now... I'd just buy mineral spirits.

A few shots of brake clean followed with a blast of compressed air would be a good final rinse before repacking.

[RWebb]

you are getting good advice - I'll add that grease is merely an oil that is suspended in a clay matrix. "runny" means that the oil is no longer suspended but is "coming out" REPLACE

IIRC, Sherwood likes Valvolene Synthetic grease

I bought Swepco grease a long time ago and use that.

You could also put a thin coating of Mb paste on the balls & cages before adding the rest of the grease or grease mix.

These things lasted a long time before we had the quality of lubricants we have today. The critical thing is to do the maintenance, and that includes careful inspection of the wear items.

Be sure to find the thread with the VW service manual pages copied into it; they are very useful.

[RWebb]

Also:

"gasoline in a 5 gallon drywall bucket"

OK, we are putting an extremely flammable liquid in a plastic bucket. After it ignites, it will quickly burn thru the bucket, then the fire will spread as the gas runs all over the area, perhaps engulfing the motor, car, garage or whatever is nearby.

NEVER NEVER NEVER

(not that I haven't done stupid things myself.)

[KFC911]

I used diesel fuel in a 2 quart pitcher for the outer CV that isn't (easily) removed from the axle (G50s). There's also a caveat somewhere about using compressed air. As suggested, find Warren Hall's excellent posts and the VW schematics...

[glenncof]

My experience on a 1985 - my first CV joint went out at about 185K miles. The other 3 are still original at 190K.

When I replaced one the high temp grease was like dark moly, not thick and pasty. It was premium stuff.

Based on my experience I would not do anything unless the boots were bad or you race.

Just let it wear out as cleaning for repack is not worth the effort especially late '85 and on.

You can see my project here:

Constant Velocity Joints – 1985 Porsche 911

[ManaMan]

I just reinstalled my motor and tranny an hour ago, had some help in the drop, but had to install by myself. How many pounds of torque for the CV bolts? Thanks in advance!

[mossguy]

Manaman- 61 foot lbs for the 4-bolt joints.

Tom

[mossguy]

Manaman - 34 ft/lbs for the six-bolt (M8) axles

From Wayne's book.

Tom

[ManaMan]

Originally Posted by mossguy

Manaman - 34 ft/lbs for the six-bolt (M8) axles

From Wayne's book.

Tom

Thanks again......that's what I have.