I know this is a common problem, especially for those of us who track our cars - the CV joint grease gets quite hot at the track and liquefies to a point where it can seep out under the CV boot clamp, leaving a greasy mess on the inside of the wheel. It just happened to me this past week. I've read KS-CS's article on this:
Leaking CV Boots - Repack and Clamp - Articles
and was wondering if anyone has tried a different style of clamp - why not use a screw-type clamp, like a long, skinny hose clamp? Also in reviewing PelicanParts web site there is lots of confusion over the proper length of the outer boot clamp - 73 mm is apparently what Porsche says and is what Pelican sells, but a lot of folks report that's too big - they end up using a 68 mm instead. Any experience on the correct size to get?
I use a screw type hose clamp on mine and have had no problems for over 2 years.
You're correct that the part that
Pelican
and
Porsche
recommend is too big. I had wondered about the screw-type clamps too but saw a lot of people online claiming it would cause an imbalance/vibration. I used the universal band-type clamps along with the tool to tighten them and it couldn't have been easier.
Quick tip: When the car is on jack stands and the wheel is hanging free, the CV boot will practically pop off the joint once you get the band off. After you repack the boot, put a jack under the wheel you're working on and raise it up a few inches to make the boot easier to get in place.
A follow-up question - this afternoon I put the car up on jack stands and got a closer look at the problem. I was a bit surprised to see that the main build up of grease in and around the CV boot was not at the clamp area, but rather more towards the hub. There's no obvious leakage around the clamp. Sorry, but I spent a half hour cleaning it up before I took the attached photo. So - would repacking the boot with grease and replacing the CV boot clamp do any good, or do I have some other issue here?
Can you move the boot at all? The clamp should be so tight that there's no wiggle/twist at all. If the clamp allows movement I'd try repacking and re-clamping then check again after a while to see if any more grease is in the area.
The clamp seems tight - I can't rotate it by hand. But I've lost so much grease that this coming week I'll try repacking the boot and applying a new clamp.
Next
weekend I have another track event, so it'll be a good test to see if either I've fixed the problem or not.
Unless the CV housing has a hole/crack that would allow grease to leak out... the hot grease probably just moved to that area over time. Just keep the area clean and monitor if any new grease leaks present.
Seems strange that it could leak from the other side? Or is that brass portion crimped onto the outer joint?
Follow up - I repacked the CV joint and reapplied the boot clamp, then went out for another DE. Same problem recurred - no leakage from the boot or clamp, but lots of grease made it out through what appears to be a crimp joint circled in red in the attached photo. My indy is trying to figure out if there's any repair that can be done short of replacing the entire axle, which is available for a mere $1085 from my local
Porsche
dealer.
Did you ever come up with a solution to this, without replacing the entire axle?
