CV Joint Repacking
 

My neighbor has a torn boot on his 300d and has purchased a split boot kit to use until we can pull the axles at a later date. I was thinking that we could inject the grease with a large syringe into the joint to assist with packing. I keep running across references that the boots also have oil in them as well . . . is this true or is this broken down (liquefied CV grease)? Need the CV expert please! Thank you!

I'm ignorant on this question, apart from the fact that my indy did lubricate my CV joints. I'm pretty sure he loosened the clamp and squirted lubricant in with a syringe or something. Sure fixed my problem and it's still happy years later.

Anyone?
 

Do CV's get a squirt of gear oil in boot in addition to greasing the joint with CV grease?

I would like to know the answer to this one as well....

A special Proprietary CV grease, Just CV grease, any kind of grease or a combination of gear oil and grease?

I believe it is a specific oil. I always thought the long average lifespan on the mercedes cv joints was attributed to using oil. Grease tends to displace after awhile, goes hard sometimes tool.

Grease does not like to flow at all at really cold temperatures. Oil probably does not either but it would respond faster to any warmth generated in the joint.

Again, whats known is the joint is packed with CV grease, the question is is a small amount of gear oil/other added to each boot when replacing/repacking joints/boots?

When I replaced my boots on my axel half shafts there was I believe 90cc's of oil in the boots. Mine had not torn yet so it was preventative maintenance. The boots I purchased came with CV grease which we packed into the joints, 1 packet per joint. No oil was put into the boot after packing the joints. I measured the amount of oil after removing the clamp, pulled the boot down then turned the whole thing on its side to pour the oil into a measuring cup.

Lubrication technology has advanced in the past 20-30 years. The use of oil or grease is likely to yield similar results. I believe most auto cv joints are now packed with grease. Maybe this is because when a boot fails, the grease hangs around a lot longer.
Moly grease works well.

I am interested to know the part numbers of the Split Boot Kits and who makes them.

About a year and 1-1/2 ago there was none available. So this could be an important find for all of us!

When the Axles were made they used Gear Oil in them.

However, all of the most complete boot kits I have seen; not just for Mercedes come with Grease.

So I am guessing that one or the other will work but they should not be mixed.

CV Joints get "CV Joint GREASE"
 

"Split Boots" are ALWAYS a "WorkAround" ["Hack"].
In "street English" "At best a Temporary fix"

The hardest part of "Bootery" is getting the Half Shafts (Axles) out (Off) the
Chassis.

I spoke with a factory trained Mercedes tech (about 72 years old and still working!) He confirmed that the cv's are packed with CV grease and that any fluid coming out of a boot is a combination of grease and condensation -no il is added in other words. My neighbor and I are doing an experiment with a sealed boot that we are going to split open and then reseal -will let everyone know -thanks!

After doing a DIY on these boots (search my name with cv boots), I would say that it is possible to add grease (or oil) in to each existing boot while the axles are in-place (without removing the axles). Although in my case I removed the axles and replaced the boots with Dorman's and used semi-syn oil axle oil instead of grease.

If I were to add grease, I would simply remove the clip around the boot (probably on the axle end instead of the shaft end - or both), slide the boot away from the axle, find a way to suck or remove the 'old' oil out of the axle, then apply the grease.

Once greased, slide the boot back and re-clip. You can get new clips from NAPA. Do not use wire ties as clips. You can actually reuse the old MB clips if you remove them properly. You will need the clip tool. NAPA and AZ sell them.

If you want to clean out the axle joint more effectively, take the axles off the car so you can work on it much better.

This is all on the premise that the old boots are still in good shape.

If you want to replace the boots without dismantling the axle, there are a few threads here covering that including mine. The FEBI boots will require you to dismantle the axle which I think is not meant to be a DIY b/c I believe its much more complicated than rebooting.

Also, I would not gamble on the Advance Auto Axles. I put a set on and they immediately made noise. Thats when i decided to reboot. Rebooting is not that tough. Just get the right tools (cone and clip tool).

Do a search. there are plenty of threads on rebooting in the forum. Here's the one I did....

It is not that big of an issue but if grease is used the cv joints should be periodically repacked from time to time. When removing failed front cv joints on other brands of cars. I had noticed the grease is pretty scarce on the working parts sometimes. Then again those front joints have a greater radius of actual operation compared to the back ones on 123s etc.

What does the mercedes factory manual recommend? Personally I still like heavy oil. Or at least the concept. Wear only takes place if the film of luibricant is not separating the metal parts. Whatever is used should have a good pressure rating.

My FSM hard copy states the use of "Spider joint oil" in quantities of 230-310g depending on the model and whether the inner or outer joint is being serviced. Spider joint oil (gear oil) is what I have found to be in all of the older models.

The manual also calls for 150g (inner joint) or 120g (outer) of "Longterm grease" to be used in the 126.04 model. Longterm grease is the moly grease that you receive with a new boot today.

The problem I see is it is difficult to properly pack the joint when using the grease as opposed to the oil. The grease can have a dry "bubble" where the oil will always flow to the entire joint wear surface.

I used moly but may go back and try to inject some gear oil using a syring.
However, I question the mix of oil and the Astoria stretch boot material.