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Found time to do an oil change on the R53 last night. Lifted her up and noticed an insane amount of grease all over the control arm on the drivers (left) side. The outer CV boot has torn from the axle causing one heck of a mess, and it looks like it's been that way for a while based on the funk.
I've watched videos and read on replacing just the boots, though I'm leaning more towards spending a little (lot) more money and just replacing the axle. That should eliminate any wear questions, right, by replacing with a new axle? And make the replacement a lot quicker?
Searching around, PelicanParts has a few listings. One is around $200, another is only $70. Descriptions are the same. Weird... And the genuine Mini axle for $500.
Do you think it's wise to replace the whole (half) axle with the $200 deal? Anyone close to zip 15370 that would like to help me out? :-)
Do you hear any clicking from the axle while turning? Did you look inside the torn boot and does it look like there is still grease inside there? If it has no noise and still looks to be lubricated you may get away with not having to replace the axle. If you can get away with a reboot, do it because Genuine axles are not cheap. The GKN OEM supplier axles are great OEM replacements, but personally if I could stick with a Genuine axle and not have to replace it, that's the route I would go. What year is your R53? MINI and GKN make a reboot kit for fairly inexpensive HERE.
I'm not hearing any clicking yet. If I buy the outer reboot kit, will I need to pull the axle on the driver's side completely out to install the new outer boot? Or can I leave the axle in the trans?
You need to pull the whole axel out and most likely replace both boots, or at least the clamp on the inner one. You have to remove the axel from the inner one to get the outer boot on the axle. Hitting with a hammer a few times, kind of nerve racking. But not too bad. If you buy a new axle get OEM, its worth the extra cost, the cheaper ones fail quickly and you'll be doing it all over again within a few months.
I'm not hearing any clicking yet. If I buy the outer reboot kit, will I need to pull the axle on the driver's side completely out to install the new outer boot? Or can I leave the axle in the trans?
People typically remove them in order to have easier access. If you have a Bentley Manual it states to remove the axle to do the reboot. It may be a good idea to do both boots while you have it removed for added insurance. There are a lot of DIY's if you Google and here are a few boot threads with some advice and help.
Thanks all. It doesn't sound like it's too bad of a job, though I will need to get snap ring pliers. I'll try to snap a pic of my busted boot. It would probably be wise to look at the right side too.
Is there a way to easily tell when a new axle is required? The damage of running it without grease?
We have pliers HERE as well. The clicking noise and there being no grease inside the boot are some good indications of a possible bad axle. You can also check for any looseness/free play in the joint.
Yes, the inner boot is the one closest to the transmission. This DIY on NAM HERE should be useful to you. It definitely looks like there is a fair amount of grease everywhere. Can you look inside the boot and see if the joint still looks to be lubricated/grease still inside? You can go in slow tight circles in a parking lot, switching going left and then right with the windows down to see if you can hear any sound coming from them. Definitely check the joints for free play as well.
There's no way I would pay 500 for a stock axle. The link I provided is from one of the vendors on this website. Detroit Tuned. He recommended O'Reilly for a replacement.
I've put in local parts store axles in the past and to say they only last months is ridiculous.
If you are still convinced that you should still spend a lot on an axle you can still save money by getting one from the driveshaft shop. Just google it. They sell a better than oem axle for $400.
There's no way I would pay 500 for a stock axle. The link I provided is from one of the vendors on this website. Detroit Tuned. He recommended O'Reilly for a replacement.
I've put in local parts store axles in the past and to say they only last months is ridiculous.
If you are still convinced that you should still spend a lot on an axle you can still save money by getting one from the driveshaft shop. Just google it. They sell a better than oem axle for $400.
Luck of the draw I guess. I bought from raxles.com, supposed to be well made, had two fail within months. My car is why they don't sell mini axles anymore. Bought an oreilly one, lasted two months. Broke on my wife 500 miles from home. Replaced with oem, no problems since. 200,000+ miles on them now.
Definitely try to reboot. I avoided CV boots for years but finally realized it's about the same amount of time and waaay cheaper. Not very hard. You have to wrestle it out and in either way. There's only a few giant ball bearings in there. Playing with the grease is fun!!!
Look for factory boots or high-quality replacements (GKN). You will need the boot crimping pliers. If you want some motor geek street cried, you can used redline synthetic cv grease with red moly.
I did try discount axles once. The splines were cut so badly, I couldn't slide them into the transmission. Some people talk about filing them to fit. Seemed like a sign they are junk to me. Was super thankful I hadn't turned the old ones in for the core deposit...
I wish I was closer to you cause I'd help you out if you weren't half way across the country from me. I'd do a reboot, I had to replace both of my inner cv boots recently, I'd never done it before but it was very simple.
To do the inner boots, I didn't take the axle out of the transmission, I just took the axle apart at the inner joint. You probably get better access by removing the axle from the trans but it seems like more of a hassle to pull it out. I also improvised my own pliers for the clamps by buying a pair of end cutters and filing them dull. I think you can also use a screw type clamp instead of the CV boot clamps, which I would probably do cause I think I fought with those damn clamps for near an hour.
There's a decent DIY on here that I used but basically what I did was:
1 loosen the axle nut (make sure you pry up the part that gets hit with a punch so it can't come loose)
2 jack up car
3 pull off brake caliper and disc
4 disconnect tie rod end from steering knuckle
5 disconnect lower ball joint (I found it easier to leave the ball joint connected to the lower control arm, and remove the 2 13mm bolts and pull the whole joint out of the knuckle)
6 cut the clamps on the bad boot
7 pull the outer half of the axle off the car (make sure you've got a pan down to catch the grease
8 clean it up, remove the snap ring and slide off the bearings
9 clean it more and put the new boot on the axle
10 put the grease in the cup, fight with the clamps (swearing helps)
11 reassembly is the reverse of removal
I really dreaded this job but it wasn't bad at all. I'd say that if you have the internet and can change your own brakes, this job is very doable. I think it took me about 3 hours a boot, mostly because I fought with stuck bolts and those stupid cv boot clamps.
I jacked her up last night to check for play in the axle - no play! YAY! I'm going to order boots tonight, probably GKN since they're highly recommended from you experts. Too bad no one local stock these boots so I could start this weekend, though it's my own fault for waiting.
Any tricks for removing the nasty grease from all over the chassis? Someone mentioned the paint prep product. I thought about some kerosene, though there's probably better options.
I use brake cleaner, a little on a rag. Don't use it on shiny paint and don't hose it all over the place. It doesn't seem to hurt the flat paint in the engine compartment. Around here you can buy the old fashion red label stuff which is carcinogenic but not flammable. And a new green version that is extremely flammable. Given the choice I use the old non-flammable stuff and work with gloves and good ventilation.
I used brake cleaner but I want to say I read somewhere that you're not supposed to use a solvent because the residue can mess with the new grease. So far I haven't had any problems though.
My way of containing the mess was to have a large drip pan to cover the floor, and then a open pan that is designed for oil changes to catch the grease. I caugh almost all of it in the oil change pan and the drip pan caught the rest. I also used lots of those disposable blue shop towels. Every body says it's a messy job but I didn't think it was too bad.
P.s. If you do pull the axles from the tranny, have a pair of new DEALER snap rings to replace the ones on the end. Every time I try to use aftermarket snap rings they either don't fit or don't "snap" ... I don't recall if the GKN boots come with new snap rings. I think those would be ok
The new boots arrived from PelicanParts yesterday, 2 days ahead of schedule. The box for the one boot had a Mini sticker on it, the other had Toyota. A quick call to PP verified I have the correct parts. I'm planning on tearing into her tonight.
From what I've watched and read, doing a reboot means I can skip pulling the axle from the transmission. I don't have snap ring pliers...
Springy? Oh that just sounds like a wonderful time. What's the suggested method for removing then, without snap ring pliers? Flat blade screwdriver? How do you get it back on? Or is it the 'snap ring' that's the problem, or the boot clamp?
Here's the two boots. I plan on confirming with PP again today, just to double confirm. Tried looking on GKN's site, but it's pretty useless.
Last edited by missinmyjeep; May 18, 2016 at 07:00 AM.
Springy? Oh that just sounds like a wonderful time. What's the suggested method for removing then, without snap ring pliers? Flat blade screwdriver? How do you get it back on? Or is it the 'snap ring' that's the problem, or the boot clamp?
Here's the two boots. I plan on confirming with PP again today, just to double confirm. Tried looking on GKN's site, but it's pretty useless.
That's interesting. The one with the Toyota doesn't have the part number either. Do you see one on the box anywhere? Can you shoot me your order number? I'll double confirm this for you.
