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Right up until it fails Posted by Ari [Email]  (#2847) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Ari) on Tue, 12 Jun 2001 15:04:04
In Reply to: how far can you drive on...., Andy [Profile/Gallery]
, Tue, 12 Jun 2001 12:05:16
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And it won't be fun. A CV joint failure at any speed above a crawl will remind you of the Pontiac motto: We build excitement!
Whenever I find a ripped CV boot, I park the car until I fix it. At most I'll drive it four or five miles. This isn't because I'm afraid of a failure - I won't drive it to that point. But I've had a few times when I've caught the tear early, and there's still a decent amount of grease in the boot, and very little or no dirt. Under those conditions, I've prayed hard and repacked and replaced the boot. So far it's worked - I haven't had to replace a CV joint. But that's because I found the problem early, and didn't drive on it.
If the boot has been ripped for a time, and the inside looks more like crumbled Oreo cookie than clean grease, the CV joint is probably toast. At that point, replace the joint, or possibly even the whole axle, as the labor is the same and sometimes the price is less. But I still wouldn't drive on it very far. As you lose grease and add dirt, the joint will produce more heat, which causes the grease to run out, which produces heat, which - you get the picture. So a bad CV joint can go to a siezed joint pretty quickly. I'm partial to keeping the rolling parts rolling when I drive.
As a quick check, I always give the inside of the wheel wells a quick check every few days. You don't have to jack up the car - just peek in when the wheels are cocked. If a CV boot fails, it usually sprays grease around the back of the tire and the inside of the wheel well. That's how I've noticed my torn boots early.
, Tue, 12 Jun 2001 12:05:16, Tue, 12 Jun 2001 15:04:04 <-- Viewing This Message, Tue, 12 Jun 2001 15:41:08
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