Thats a good question. For my manual transmission cars I always slather a little axle grease on the splines. Just a thin film. I suppose the same would apply for CVT. What fluid does CVT use? Gear oil or transmission fluid?

 

It used transmission fluid. I saw in person not add anything and another person use standard grease. The old axle looks like it has transmission fluid on it but not sure if that from the transmission or added. Since the old one looks like it had trans fluid on it i'll just do that.

 

Ripped inner CV boots are a common failure on these cars now that they're 10+ years old. I replaced mine not too long ago, ended up changing just the inner boots (as long as the bearings are still in good shape and there is no extreme wear on the inside of the pots). The biggest challenge is putting the band clamps on after the grease is packed in and the boot is on, and you can actually use a PEX water piping clamp tool to cinch those clamps down perfectly. Much better than mangling them with pliers or putting hose clamps on.