Oil / grease around front left CV

[jazd]

Anyone got any ideas why its like this and if its a problem?

[wai]

Yes, it is a problem.

Looks like the rubber boot has failed. It might not be obvious at first, but these mouldings are known to end up with pin holes where the mould joins are.

When it stops spreading grease around, it simply means that all the grease has gone.

Depending on the age, as things are apart, it might be worth replacing the CV joint as well as most kd what needs to be done for that will have to be done anyway.

[Umai Naa!!]

Looks like the boot is split, which is normal wear and tear.

From memory, to do the inner one pictured, you may need to disassemble the outer one to get it off.

I could be wrong, as the MK5 has a couple of different setups.

[Umai Naa!!]

Yes, it is a problem.

Looks like the rubber boot has failed. It might not be obvious at first, but these mouldings are known to end up with pin holes where the mould joins are.

When it stops spreading grease around, it simply means that all the grease has gone.

Depending on the age, as things are apart, it might be worth replacing the CV joint as well as most kd what needs to be done for that will have to be done anyway.

The CV joint is most likely ok. The inner ones don't wear like the outer ones do. Once it's all apart, give it all a really good clean.

If you buy the genuine kit, you get new grease, a boot, clamps, belleville washers and circlips where applicable. You'll need one kit per CV, and inner and outer are different.

Also, you can't cheat by cutting the old boot off, and using a boot expander to get the new one on, the genuine boots don't have much flex in them to stretch over the CV.

[jazd]

Yeah right so the boot actually locks the grease in hey. I'm guessing this is something I should fix fairly quickly so the joint isn't screwed?

Thanks for the replies.

[brad]

take it to a CV joint specialist. They'll clean, relube the joint & replace the boot in a flash & it won't cost much.

[wai]

Yeah right so the boot actually locks the grease in hey. I'm guessing this is something I should fix fairly quickly so the joint isn't screwed?

You want to get it done as soon as possible. From the picture, the boot does not appear to have a cut in it. If that was the case, then dirt getting in will ruin the joint very quickly.

You do not want to delay it.

[jessv3]

I just had the exact same thing on my MKV GTI, i noticed some grease on one of my rims so had a look underneath and noticed both boots had splits in them. I took it to my mechanic who said that if I left it too long the CV's would end up going, so I had the boots replaced fairly quickly, it was a labour intensive job which cost me $400 all up.