CV Boot

Mechanic at dealership said my CV Boot was ripped...wanted me to fix it for $1000... I said no but wanted to know from all of you how impactful this issue is to my 2001 996?

If dirt gets in and the grease goes away, your CV is toast You can't replace a CV, only the entire axle. If they are not damaged, they can be rebuilt

As posted above, you will destroy the cv joint if you drive with a damaged boot. Water and dirt enter and destroy the lubrication, cause wear and will result in joint failure. You need to fix it. If the cv joint itself is still in good shape, you can replace the boot with a boot kit. You'll want to disassemble it, clean out the old grease, and repack it with new grease. Every kit I've used came with everything you need including grease. You may need a set of special crimpers for the oetiker clamp.

Thanks for the feedback...If I can't do the work myself can you tell me if $1000 is a reasonable amount? Also if anyone knows of a good shop in the Toronto area that does good work but not break the bank? Thanks in advance

I can't comment about reasonable service prices for Porsche service work, or the book rate for a job like this. Are they replacing the boot and repacking or putting in a new axle? If the boot(s), are they doing inner, outer or both? Assuming a single axle, cv joint boot kit only, and them doing the removal and reinstall of the axle, I'd guess 3-4 hours book time. Doing the boot takes more time with joint disassembly cleaning out all the old grease and repacking the bearing. Replacing an axle is faster but has higher parts cost. In my home garage, I can easily swap out an axle within an hour. A CV boot job takes me a couple of hours (but costs a ton less in parts). I'm not rushing either job, and there may or may not be beer involved. Aftermarket axle boot kits are in the tens of dollars, aftermarket kits with a new bearing are well under a hundred. Those are online prices (like Pelican, for example). Parts at your shop will be full price, and may be original equipment, so that could drive up your costs. What does a Porsche dealer charge per hour $150? Say 4 hours times = $600 in labor, $100 in parts, $50 in shop supplies and taxes. Multiply that $650 USD by today's CAD exchange rate ($1USD=$1.25 CAD) and it could imagine it being $800 CAD. If I were you, and I couldn't/wouldn't do it myself, I'd find a good independent Porsche shop and have them do the work. Their labor rate is going to be a lot lower, and may not rake you over the coals on Porsche factory parts, using good OEM options. Also, this job isn't rocket science, and a CV joint is a CV joint - any shop that works on VWs or Audis can do the same job (in case you are in an area without Porsche indie shops).

I think that cost is crazy....$1000 to put a new boot on? I would find an Indy or better yet find a place that rebuilds cv joints. Alot of the shops would remove the entire axle and send the unit to a rebuilder and then pop it back in the car. That $1000 is paying for a lot of different hands (and mark up) on that part.

Is it in the inner or outer boot? I assume its in the rear - or do you have a C4? As others have said - it will need to be addressed sooner or later and that all depending on the severity of the rip. That last thing you want is for the grease to come out and contaminants to ruin your joint. Are you able to see it yourself? Is grease flying everywhere? $1000 seems steep, but is that USD of CAD? To put things in perspective, I had two ripped outer CV boots on my front axles. Replacing them required removing underbody panels, wheels, and taking out several bolts involved in the front suspension - and that was just to get the axles out of the car. Since they were on the outside, I had to disassemble the inner joints to get the new outer boots on. Then, reassemble inner cv joints - pack both inner an outer with new grease and reinstall everything. It was not a particularly easy (or fun) job. That being said, there are tools that can be used to expand a new boot over the joint itself and do an outer boot while the axle is still in the car. If the shop has one of those - and they don't run into any unforeseen issues (assuming its the outer boot) its not a terribly difficult job.

Everyone, thanks for the feedback and I appreciate it. It's a C4 and I just took the front bumper off to clean the radiators (a lot of crap even cigarette butts!!)...I did my best to look at the front and did not see grease flying out of there...checked the back and didn't see grease might be small and the car will be stored in the garage in October for the winter.

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So is the rip in one of the front boots? I first noticed my outer front boots were ripped because the inside of the wheels were completely filthy with grease. With a flashlight I was able to see the rip pretty quickly - it was about 30-40% around the circumference of the boot. If the rip is on the inside the underbody pan is probably catching grease and it won't be as obvious. If you decide to tackle the project yourself let me know. I made a few videos of various stages of the process. Getting the axle out isn't as hard as it sounds - but I'd recommend a high torque impact gun to get the center axle nut off. Its torqued somewhere to the tune of 300 ft/lbs I believe. If you aren't going to be driving the car much this winter, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Just sitting there shouldn't do it any harm - damage would be caused by a lot of use with less than optimal grease + contaminants in the joint. Even if the CV joint is destroyed (which is unlikely) you can get a completely new genuine axle with new joints as a complete assembly for around $600.

High torque impact gun, or a breaker bar with a torque multiplier while the wheel is still on and the car is on the ground. Mechanical advantage is magical.