CV joint grease compatability

[srivett]

Here's the problem, my VW has bolt on inner CV joints that are open to the world when you pull the gearbox. I assume that I got gargabe on the backs of the CV joints so I plan on scraping them down, spraying them with brake cleaner, and blobbing in more grease. I soooo hate the VW tranismission/axle designers right now. What a disaster...

Anyway, I picked up some MEVOTECH Duraflex moly/lead based grease that is made in

. Will this be compatible with the grease that I'm leaving in my CV boots? There is NO way I'm cleaning them completely as this project is getting out of control already.

Thanks, Steve

 

[Quest]

no, you shall not, under any circumstance, mix 2 different makes/composition grease (CV?) together, citing compatability problems and perhaps leading to accelerated breakdowns.

I always wash/rinse out any old CV joint grease whenever I replace/service my CV boot, and replace with the equal amount of new CV grease (mostly moly-based, some mayhave graphite inside. I've seen domestic CV grease comes clay-based!) and a new poly CV boot.

bottomline: if you know exactly what brand/type of CV grease is being used in your CV joint, you may be able to lube the joint with exactly the same grease.

 

[Riflemen10x]

Hi Guy`s,

Take the time to remove the axle and clean it out real good.If you leave and dirt in it it will destroy the joints.I have fixed many a CV joints that were making noise with a good cleaning and fresh grease.Make sure to blow out the joints with compresed air to remove all the solvent and to remove any debree that the solvent didn`t dislodge.It will be worth the time and money to do it right.When you pack the joint with grease make sure to get it all into the joint the grease in the boot dosn`t do anything but take up space.

Riflemen10x

 

[srivett]

The conclusion to this story is that I am lazy and bought a pair of reman axles instead of cleaning the old ones.

They were origionals and had 400K km on them so the rubber was sorta starting to crack. I would have had to redo the 4 boots and considering the mileage I was not motivated. The new axles cam with differenc pouches of grease which is odd, one is green and the other is black. Obviously they were built on different days of the week but it doesn't mention what the grease is so I will not get them mixed up.

Nobody makes new axles (they just sell the new joints) for this application other than VW so I had to settle for remans.

Steve

 

[srivett]

That was a waste of time...the VW axles use bolt on inner CV joints that have the internals open to the air when off of the car. The remans did not have anything to protect the exposed area during shipping and I found some paint chips in the ball bearings. That may be good enough for a Neon owner but it ain't good enough for me. So much for Caldone remans, gonna try Mevotech remans next.

Steve

 

[srivett]

Heh, I feel like I'm doing all the talking in this subject.

One of the axles I got today was labeled as a new return and it had a cut boot. So, I've only accepted 1 of the 4 axles I've ordered. The one axle I did accept needed a quick hosing of brake cleaner too. These things must be assembled in a dungeon full of lint covered rags and a total lack of lighting.

Steve

 

[Flash]

Steve,

Just did the inner joint on the driver's side on my 99.5 Jetta. Managed to get the cage in backwards on reassembly and had to pull the whole thing out again. As a result I lost some of the green grease that came with the new boot kit. Ended up mixing in some red synthetic stuff that my father-in-law had. Put the whole thing back in and it works perfectly. With 150k miles, I feel absolutly no guilt in mixing greases. This is my commuter car which means it's usually driven about 10 miles to work every day. In any event, the joint is now clean and I figure that mixed, new grease is better than no grease at all, which is what it had before.

Cheers,
Ashley

p.s. Why didn't you just get 'boot kits' that come with new boots and grease? I bought mine at Advance Auto for $18.88.

 

[srivett]

Ashley,
It ended up that I did have to change a boot on one of the new axles shortly after purchase. I damaged it during a wheel bearing replacement. Anyway, I wanted new axles because my car had 240,000 miles on the origional axles. I didn't think they'd last too much longer with or without new boots since I'm kinda abusive to my vehicles. Well, as abusive as 52 horsepower can be. hehehehe

Steve