Outer CV Gaiters

ci_newman · 8 Sep 2006 at 08:07

Morning all,

It appears as though the O/S Outer CV gaiter has had enough of life and has spilt CV grease all inside the wheel arch of my ZX.

I have located the hole to a needle-point sized hole in one of ridges, but the rest of the gaiter is perfect (i.e. no rubber wear). I can only assume something caught it when I was doing some *cross-country* driving and has snagged it but as I'm now trying to sell the car I'm reluctant to spend an entire week replacing the whole thing and likewise sending it to a garage to have £80 worth of work done on a £300 car.

Being that the hole itself really is small (i couldnt see it without squeezing the gaiter to push more grease out) are there any repair kits available for CV gaiters? Ideally, i'd like to re-pack the joint (syringe or otherwise) and either stick a patch over it or even a 'stick-on' replacement.

Any ideas? Cheers!

moss · 8 Sep 2006 at 08:15

You can buy a sticky universal CV boot for less than £10.00 or a normal one for even less.
The sticky boot takes minutes to do, but wont last as long as a normal boot.
Either way it wouldnt take anywhere near a week to replace a CV boot, more than an hour tops for a total newbie.

jon.bda · 8 Sep 2006 at 08:16

Get some good degreaser spray, clean up that area spotlessly and then chuck a little silicone sealer on it. My boss repaired a small hole in the gaiter on his ZX diesel like that and it lasted the three years he kept the car for...

ci_newman · 8 Sep 2006 at 09:19

moss said:
You can buy a sticky universal CV boot for less than £10.00 or a normal one for even less.
The sticky boot takes minutes to do, but wont last as long as a normal boot.
Either way it wouldnt take anywhere near a week to replace a CV boot, more than an hour tops for a total newbie.

Well, according to my haynes book of lies, in order to do the gaiter the driveshaft has to come off of the car and be clamped in a vice

A quick sealant might do the job well!

I havent really got much to lose

Lopéz · 8 Sep 2006 at 09:48

Since when did changing a CV boot take a week?

You can change a whole driveshaft in under an hour! If a local yard has a £15 driveshaft it will likely be easier to just buy one of those and swap the whole thing as they're only held on by a hubnut at one end and a circlip at the other.

ci_newman · 8 Sep 2006 at 11:30

I'm largely not keen on the removal of the driveshaft

Past experiences have left a driveway full of gearbox oil and a PITA to refill it again!

If the sealing method doesnt work (havent got anything to lose) then yes, i'll be forced to remove the d'shaft! It means I have to hunt down a 35mm socket to undo the hubnet though

Third Opinion · 8 Sep 2006 at 12:15

I have repaired one with superglue in the past. Just depends how big the hole is.

Augustus · 8 Sep 2006 at 17:12

yep superglue is fantastic for it.

-westy- · 8 Sep 2006 at 17:25

ci_newman said:
I'm largely not keen on the removal of the driveshaft Past experiences have left a driveway full of gearbox oil and a PITA to refill it again!

If the sealing method doesnt work (havent got anything to lose) then yes, i'll be forced to remove the d'shaft! It means I have to hunt down a 35mm socket to undo the hubnet though

You don't have to remove the driveshaft to do the outer CV gaitor!

just swing the hub assembly awy from it, and use a universal CV boot thing.

a ribena bottle well greased up should do the trick for sliding it on.

Enfield · 8 Sep 2006 at 17:36

Can't add to this thread but did I see you last night heading to the M3/Dummer in a black M reg MR2?