Hi: 2004 MCS 155K. Driver's side axle inner CV boot spewing grease. I have it out of the car. As I see it I have three affordable options: (1) reboot it at a cost of about $15. (2) Cardone axle from RockAuto, no core charge, $55 plus shipping. (3) Cardone A-1 remanufactured axle from RockAuto, $60 plus $40 core charge, plus probably two shipping charges. Advice? I have read that some folks discourage rebooting. TIA.

 

I got mine from Autozone with lifetime warranty for about $90. My son has used the lifetime warranty several times with ease on his VW Passat.

 

If the axle wasn’t making any noise And most of the grease was still present (ie it all hadn’t oozed out), I’d try rebooting it before replacing. I recently did the inner boot on the driver side of my R53 and it’s a pretty easy job. Besides the new boot kit, all you need are some circlip pliers and a clamp crimping tool (both tools are in the $10 range at most auto parts stores).

 

Fastlane: Thanks. Yes, lots of grease left. I think I had a very small leak for a while but while rebuilding the front suspension (including a snapped off pinch bolt) I think the manipulation of the left axle increase the leak. Did you have any difficulty in removing the outward portion (i.e. the half with the roller *****) of the inner CV joint? I have seen videos where it is necessary to use a 3-jaw puller. Was that your experience?

 

For future DIY folks

USE HEAT ON THE PINCH BOLT AND AN IMPACT WRENCH TAKE YOUR TIME PLEASE

Also, no on the 3jaw puller and you can get grease for cheap and just goop it in/on.

 

+1 on the reboot. I did one recently on my R53 and it's working just fine.