grease EVERYWHERE
 

OK so I just got the car back from getting the new struts, bearings and mounts replaced. I am driving home on the highway about 70 miles to get back. I notice when i get home that the brakes aren't working as well as they used to and that there is a burning smell coming from the car. When we get home I look around and notice the right front tire has smoke coming out from the wheel well. So i take the flash light look in and there is GREASE EVERYWHERE. Is this something that could have happened replacing the strut? I'm guessing a CV boot? But it looks perfectly fine. I can't find any seperation, but the grease is definately fresh coming out of it and has made a total mess of my once clean car. Is this something that I can fix myself? I am pretty knowledgealbe and do have a car lift at my disposal....does anyone know how to replace these either? I am just so frustrated with the car at this point.

First of all...get under there and be absolutely sure where the grease is coming from first.

If it is the CV don't drive the car until it's fixed. You have a few options on how to tackle that but let's be sure before we go there :wink:

Let us know...

Cheers,

I concur. Your friends at the shop tore one of your CV boots. Your car is now DOA. Driving the car like this will kill the CV joint. And the boots don't tear on their own. This is almost certainly the shop's fault. Make them repair it, but have the car towed there.

OK I got under there tonight with a flash light (didn't get to put it on the lift tho) and I am almost 100% sure it is coming from the CV boot. I can't find ANY tear in it though. The boot itself looks fine and there is all fresh grease all over it, not covered with road debris or anything, so I am assuming this is where the grease is coming from. Unfortunately not driving it is out of the quesiton at this point. The shop that I had it worked on (my cousin did the work) said they will replace it but I have to drive it the 70 miles there. I'm thinking I might just buy a new CV boot and attempt it tomorrow on the lift at my dads. Does anyone know how complicated of a job this is? Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

The choice for repair is your own although it seems the shop is at fault here.
To replace the cv shaft you need to remove the.
Wheel
Brake caliper
Hub bearing assembly

at this point if all your doing is changing the boot, you might be able to get it off without tearing into any further.
If the shaft is to be replaced (recommended) the wheel housing will need to be removed including
the steering linkage
suspension
perhaps the strut itself if it cant be supported.

There is an alternative if you're looking for a short term fix.

I've used split replacement CV boots on my Lesabre before. They come with a glue and CV joint grease. Just cut the old one off, use the new grease without getting it all over the boot, glue the 2 halfs together and then use the clips to attach the boot.

These actually held for a few years surprisingly. But still, you can use this route and pay about $20 for the boot and then have the shop replace it with a proper boot, or better yet a rebuilt half shaft.

Good luck!

Cheers,

Beware cutting the boot off though as the shop may say it wasnt their fault then.

OK so heres the deal now. Called al the local part shops around no one stocks the CV boot (pretty amazing seeing the wide range of cars i'm sure it fits) Napa might have been able to have it by tomorrow but no guarentees but their cost was $20. Called the dealership just for the hell of it and they wanted $42 go figure. So I've decided since I can't fix it today as I had planned that I will take up the shops offer of fixing it, they are even going to come and pick the car up, not too bad. I put the car up on the lift at my dads today and something definately happened to the boot, it is crushed and torn in one spot. I'm sure it happened putting the strut back on or at the alignment place. I'll keep you posted as to what else might happen.

Be advised that driving the car with a torn boot will destroy the CV joint.

yah i kno, but unfortunately I have no other option and no other car to drive while it's going to get fixed, I'm just trying to keep the miles down on it.