[s-cars] CV Boot Replacement Writeup

[Paul Heneghan]

Aha, I can help out here.  I did it on Saturday afternoon.  Fairly
straightforward if you've got the tools and the Bentley manual.

I've extracted the following from Scot Mockry's excellent website and added
a few pointers of my own in the light of my experience over the weekend.

See http://www.sjmautotechnik.com/trouble_shooting/trans.html#CV

1. With the car standing on the wheels (i.e. not jacked up), loosen the
wheel bolts and the outer large axle bolt (called the bolt/washer assembly
in the Bentley).  In my case the centre bolt/washer assembly needed a 27mm
socket, a short extension, a t-bar (one that I don't mind bending) and a 6
foot scaffold pole.

2. Jack the car up until the wheel is off the ground and support it using
axle stands etc.  Make sure the car is VERY stable before crawling
underneath or putting your head in the wheel arch.

3. Remove the wheel and the centre bolt/washer assembly.

4. Pull out the ABS sensor slightly so it doesn't get damaged when removing
the drive shaft.

5. Using the appropriate splined bit (not hex, not Torx, but triple square -
10mm on quattros from what I remember) on a long extension, remove the six
(M10 on my car) inner CV Joint bolts.  It is a good idea to clean out the
dirt/grit from the inside area of the bolt heads to avoid stripping out
these bolt heads.  The inner CV joint sometimes sticks to the flange - you
might need to wrestle with it!

6. On UK spec cars, removing the RHS driveshaft is easy.  Turn the steering
fully to the left, raise the inner end of the shaft as high as it will go,
and then pull the outer end out of the hub.  Two years ago when I did the
left hand side, I couldn't get enough clearance, and lost a lot of skin off
my knuckles trying to free the outer end from the hub.  Later, a lister
suggested removing the reversing light switch on the gear box to give an
extra cm clearance for the inner end, and then the outer end should squeeze
past.

If you really can't get the driveshaft out using this technique, you can pop
the lower ball joint out after removing the clamp bolt/nut.  I've always
struggled to pop this joint out unless I remove the anti-roll bar, so I tend
to try to avoid doing this.

7. Cut off the clamps that hold the inner and outer ends of the boot onto
the joint and pop the outer CV joint off the shaft.  If you are lucky, your
joint will have a circlip that lets go of its own accord when you screw in
the outer driveshaft bolt (if it is threaded continuously) and keep screwing
it in until it pushes the joint off.  Older CV joints used a snap ring that
needed to be spread while pushing the joint off.  I never had enough hands
to do that!  When the joint comes off, make a note of the which way round
the domed washer and spacer are.

8. Clean the joint thoroughly.  Most people wipe up as much grease as they
can, and then wash the joint in solvent.  I tend to dismantle the joint, but
you have to reassemble the components (outer, inner, race and balls) in the
same order.  I tend to mark all the components (except the balls) with a
grinder to help reassembly.

9. Put both boot clamps onto the shaft first, and then slide the new boot
onto the shaft.  Replace the domed washer and the spacer (plastic) washer
with the ones that come in the kit, making sure they're the correct way
round, and then put the new circlip on the shaft.  In my case, the Bentley
told me to put 80g of grease in the joint, and the remaining 40g in the
boot.  Then I held the driveshaft vertically with the inner joint on some
cardboard on the ground, and the new outer joint on top of the shaft, and my
wife whacked it with a wooden 2x4 until the joint seated itself.  Vent the
boot by sliding a small screwdriver up the small end to let some air in.
Put the boot clamps on and crimp them.

10. The rest is obvious.  The bolts that fasten the inner joint to the
transmission flange are 80Nm for M10 or 45Nm for M8.  The outer driveshaft
bolt (27mm outer or sometimes a large internal hex drive) usually needs
something like 200Nm plus a quarter turn.  You'll need a large extension for
the quarter turn!  This bolt stretches, so should be replaced every time it
is undone.

US spec cars might be different.  READ THE BENTLEY!

If you need more info, do a google search on ["triple square" cv joint
audi].

Paul

-----Original Message-----
Date: Sun, 3 Apr 2005 20:24:45 -0500
From: Douglas Fifield <douglas.fifield at gmail.com>
>Can anyone point me to a writeup on an outer CV boot replacement for a
>95.5 S6 Avant?