CV Boots.. - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

#1 08-06-2003, 01:29 PM

Well today I started driving and I hear this noise..almost like a muffler banging up and off the ground...but no dangling muffler. Like a "puck puck ouck puck" sound. I suspect the CV boots/joints in the rear to be the problem, as I only hear it every once in awhile. Question is...how much are these to replace? My boots only have surface cracks that don't even go all the way through.

I hope this isn't the problem, and that it will magically go away.

Rick Miley · #2 08-06-2003, 01:38 PM

I replaced both half shafts with rebuilts from CarQuest for around $69 each. The next closest price I got was something like $179 each but I forgot where that was. Fastlane is over $400 each, but that looks like it is for new, not rebuilt.

sokoloff · #3 08-06-2003, 09:16 PM

Those rubber boots often look like hell, but if the cracks don't go all the way through and they aren't leaking, then they could look like hell and be just fine for 10 or 15 years. Mine have.

Rick - I'd love for you to report on those Car Quest half shafts after you've given them a good test. I seem to recall someone saying that the half shafts from Car Quest were not very good or long lasting. No experience with them myself. Just trying to collect the info should my time ever come.

Len

BoostnBenz · #4 08-07-2003, 03:15 PM

Well if it were making that noise it'd be severly loose and about ready to lock up. They should slide into the ends but not go up and down at all (perpendicular to the middle shaft). I heard bad things about either carquest or napa. If there isn't oil all over the boots and the areas around them then I really doubt it is the CV doing it.

Rick Miley · #5 08-07-2003, 03:21 PM

Well Jeff, I have to disagree with you on two things. Number one, they can make lots of noise and not be "ready to lock up." Mine clattered half way from New York to Tampa, plus a week of around town driving before I replaced them. Well over a thousand miles in all.

Second, they don't have to leak to be bad. Mine were not leaking a bit.

BoostnBenz · #6 08-07-2003, 03:43 PM

About ready.

Were they rebuilt before? I could see them going bad like that, but wearing out just from normal use on a factory part seems odd. Yours were also being lubricated (with metallic oil) while they were quiting, most of the time they run dry and the hotter they got the more they expand, the more damage done, the more heat created....

rwthomas1 · #7 08-07-2003, 06:32 PM

I have one axle from Pepboys-$99 and one from Carquest $69. Carquest couldn't get two when I needed them.... I blew a new Pepboys axle in the first half-mile after installing it. The replacement and the Carquest axle has been fine now for 12-15K. Both offer lifetime replacement warrantys so I don't really care if they blow once a year, they are easy enough to swap out. RT

samiam4 · #8 08-07-2003, 11:25 PM

I've done axles several times,

Not hard-but my time is worth something. I cannot aggree with rwthomas1's position of replacing them all the time with the lifetime replacement warrantee.

You want a new or rebuilt LOBRO/GKN axle(doesn't matter which store or suppilier). I went the cheaper route and got stranded out of town. I put used axles in the car(AKA Dr Booth always saying how long they lasted). Both dead in less a year. Much less than the rebuilts that went 40k. SO, let see that was 1998 and then in Y2K total expenditure exceeded the cost of new axles.
Not to mention lost day at work, and putting axles in a car 3X's instead of once!
Solution, I got NEW a GKN/LOBRO axle for $278 and it included shipping(and you save $$ by not having to send in a core). Last time I checked with mercedeshop he claimed the current price including shipping was about $350.

If the boots are not leaking- don't touch or breath on them!

Michael

Rick Miley · #9 08-08-2003, 08:34 AM

Current Fastlane price is $417.99.

P.E.Haiges · #10 08-08-2003, 10:21 AM

Samiam,

Where did you get the axle for $278? What model car was it for?

P E H

84300DT · #11 08-08-2003, 11:05 AM

i now have 17k miles on carquest rebuilt 1/2 shafts - no problems
whatsoever sofar.

samiam4 · #12 08-08-2003, 12:36 PM

I'm drivng a W123.130 PE Haiges,

As far as axle life you probably know nothing about the quality until you get past 60k miles. IF it fails quickly it was assembled wrong.
The axles are basically a fancy bearing. Now how does a remanufacturer take a worn-out bearing race and make it tight again??? They extrude-hone the worn out brg races. Then, they install oversized ball bearings. If they don't re-heat treat the race, you'll get 40-60k miles or maybe less because the metal was surface heat-treated to begin with. That's what I've seen- goes for a rebuilder in Dallas, Portland, and somewhere in PA.

I got mine at the time from Benzbin. They dropshipped it from the distributor SSF which is in SF California.

Michael

#13 08-08-2003, 01:06 PM

Taking to the mechanic today. The boot is definitely cracked and torn back a bit. It is also the original axle with 330,000 miles on it. I think this is the problem, I can't think of anything else. It comes and goes. The mechanic will have a look at it. I can get them for 55 bucks a piece, and the mechanic will install for labor, if this is indeed the problem. If not..I don't know. But this is my thought. It definitely clutters, makes puck puck noises, and its not a good sound. I can't think of it being anything else.

The mechanic will tell me. He is a European Mercedes mechanic from Portugal.

samiam4 · #14 08-08-2003, 01:26 PM

Kyle,

I don't think your Mech can install a new boot. HE can do a split boot. These axles are not like Porche/VW/Audi/Honda's. They must be pressed apart and require $1500 tool. Dealer could do it if they have the tools.

Michael

BoostnBenz · #15 08-08-2003, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by samiam4
They must be pressed apart and require $1500 tool.

Nope, no special tool needed, I did my own. But you do need access to at least a 12ton press, your instance would probably be a waste of time to put new boots on. By time it starts making noise there is so much play in there that it isn't just replacing the boots. I've caught mine before they made any noise, still a hint of oil in them too. I started a DIY site for this but never uploaded the pictures, it just has a couple pages of text.

Did you test it for 'torsional' play? (perpendicular to shaft) If there is ANY this way they are bad. See they make noises at times because when they get wore out they wear at the most common place on the race, but when you hit bumps or turn it moves to a different spot on the race. (so you should probably try feeling for play in its normal state, on the ground)

Good luck,