Right, but they sell boots that clamp/glue together so you don't have to remove the shaft. If I'm removing the shaft, I'm going to replace it - the part cost isn't the problem. The glue doesn't fix the CV joint. You get a new boot that glues together, and then you can re-fill it with grease. Yep, I'm sure a lot of the grease is missing, but re-greasing it won't help without a boot to keep it in place. The boot is torn down the middle, so no amount of zip ties are going to help... Just trying to determine if it's worth trying out one of these boots that you piece together or if I should just replace it when it goes. Having driven a lot of Subarus, I'm intimately familiar with this issue, I've just never tried to do anything about it except replace it when it finally sounds bad. Thanks for the feedback.
If it's just a matter of trying to buy yourself some time before you have a chance to do the CV replacement, I'd just try the clamp-on boot and give it a shot. Never tried anything like that myself, but I imagine it'll be better than not having anything on there. Shit will go downhill pretty fast without any grease in there. Mind you, without knowing how you drive, or what kind of driving you're planning on doing, there's really no way to guess how much longer it'll last. Will it last longer with a temp boot replacement? Yes. How much longer? Who knows.
Just noticed I made a typo in my previous post about weight of the wheels. My fronts are 14-15lbs, and my rears are 15-16lbs. 15, not 5.
I didn't know there were boots that could be installed with glue. I've only ever rebooted a shaft once and it was clamped on with a metal band. I always just replace the whole unit. Either way, with your CV clicking it's already been permanently damaged. Regardless of whether you replace the boot or replace the whole shaft it does have to come out. To replace the boot you need to slide it onto the shaft and then onto the outer CV, it doesn't just wrap around the shaft.
"What we've got here, is a failure to communicate." My whole point is: there are replacement boots that don't require removing the shaft. They are designed specifically for this purpose, and inevitably they will not be as good as the stock boot, but I was trying to figure out if anyone had used them with any kind of success. I know I can re-boot the thing by disassembling it. I just don't have a place to work on my car with anything approaching reasonable comfort.
I got ya now. I've never saw one of those before. One problem I see right away is you need to make sure those clamps will clear the spindle. I know some CV shafts that I've replaced literally have no room around them on the stub shaft side. It's still going to be a pain to remove the old boot without taking the shaft out. Or does it go over the old boot? It's kind of a band aid though since your CV is already permanently damaged.
I figured I could cut off the old boot. It's definitely a band-aid, I just figure I've had a few of these go and the point its at right now is probably a good thousand or so miles away from actually needing replacement. If I can get 2-3k miles or more out of it for a $20 boot and some grease... well, why not? The more I look at other experiences, though, the more I am inclined to just replace it. Couple people report that the boot is heavy enough to cause some vibration, and it's pretty universal that you have to keep packing them with grease because they leak.
I did an electric fan installation on a friend's badass '77 Olds Cutlass yesterday. He had this dual electric fan setup out of a Toyota (unknown model) that he got for free somewhere, and wondered if I could put it in his car. "Shit yeah!" was my response. I've done a lot of electric fan conversions, and was expecting to have to weld up a lot of steel brackets to get it to fit in the car safely, but this one went in almost like it was designed for the application: aside from some trimming of the fan shroud/housing (you can see where I had to cut some of the corners off to accommodate the radiator hoses and transmission lines), the bolt holes for the top mount actually matched the factory radiator support! For the bottom, I just made a simple bracket out of some angle steel and matched that up with the existing holes on the lower radiator support with some small tabs welded on, and I never had to drill a single hole on the car. As far as wiring goes, it uses a thermostatic switch for the primary fan, and the secondary comes on with the A/C clutch, though we are going to add a second thermostatic switch later. I also installed two master switches under the ashtray that allow him to turn them on whenever he wants. Unfortunately in the ensuing hubbub after the job was done (us drinking beers and bullshitting), I forgot to take a picture of what the setup looks like from the top. I'll add them later. Edit: I taked to him today, and he says that the temperature is much more stable on the car, especially at idle and low speeds. No word on how the throttle response has improved now that the engine isn't turning a big clutch fan, he hasn't gotten a chance to test it out yet.
How hard is it to replace the front wheel bearings on my 2000 Chevy S10 (4x4)? I've had em go bad once before, and I hear they're a pretty common failure item, every 60k or so (I replaced mine 80-100k ago). Last time, I had a mechanic buddy do it in his shop for a couple hundred bucks, but he's since moved away. I called my local shop, and they quoted me $950 for both front bearings. I think I found the bearings on GMPartsDirect.com for $200 each, part no. 12413045. Is it worth the pain in the ass to save $500?
Remove your brake caliper and rotor, remove cv shaft from wheel bearing[you don't need to remove it from the differential], remove 3 bolts holding in your wheel bearing. Usually you need a 12pt socket for the wheel bearing bolts. Getting them out without stripping them is really the only difficult part. To get your cv shaft out you'll have to pop off one of the A-arms or the tie rod. Can be done in about an hour and a half if everything goes right. Since yours have been replaced before and you don't live in the rust belt things shouldn't be too seized up. 60k miles is a pretty short lifetime for a wheel bearing though. Not worth replacing till they are making noise.
I'm having a problem with my 2001 Audi A4, and was wondering if you guys might be able to help me out. My car alarm started going off randomly a little while ago, and after some research online I found that the ECU/pump for the central locking system is what causes this problem. Water gets in through the rear taillights and shorts it out. So I went in there and got the pump out, and I'm currently letting it dry out. I also vacuumed out the puddle of water that was underneath it. My question is once the pump dries out is it going to work again or am I going to have to get a replacement? From what I can tell the wiring all looks fine, but I'm not very experienced with that stuff. Is there anything telling that I should look for? Also, what's the best way to find where the water is getting in a sealing it.
If it's your actual CLP, pull it apart and check for corrosion on the circuit board. If it looks damaged at all like this (bottom pics of the first post), then you are probably screwed: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.audi-forums.com/b5-forum/45459-vag-codes-2.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.audi-forums.com/b5-forum/454 ... des-2.html</a> The good news is there is probably a wrecked B5 A4 in a junkyard near you somewhere. Use this to find it: <a class="postlink" href="http://car-part.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://car-part.com/</a> The bad news is the part number, including any letters at the end, has to match up EXACTLY for it to work. And also, it's not cheap, even used. Ebay is an option too for stuff like this, and most places will have at least a minimal warranty period to see if it works or not. Also, you may want to check your car with VAG-Com, as it has most likely thrown a code about the CLP already. If you have a vent/hose under your gas tank cap, check and see if it is plugged. That very well may be the source of the leak. Edit: Here is a thread on QW about the same problem. It's the first place I turn whenever I want to look something up regarding my B5 S4. <a class="postlink" href="http://forums.quattroworld.com/a4/msgs/48146.phtml" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://forums.quattroworld.com/a4/msgs/48146.phtml</a>
I'm planning on buying a car when I get back from deployment, trying to stick to a $20k budget but can go up to $25k if necessary. Too far out to have any specific cars picked out but right now I'm torn between getting a used Corvette or a certified pre-owned BMW 3 series. My question is this--most of the Corvettes I'm finding on the market that appeal to me are around 2000-2003 models. A number of people tell me I'm asking for trouble buying a car that old, especially since it won't be coming with the warranty that the CPO BMWs have (although the Corvettes I'm looking at do average around $3-4k cheaper than the BMWs). My gut feeling is I'm OK as long as the car has low mileage (under 65k), the Carfax report is OK, and I get it checked out by an independent mechanic. Am I way off base here?? I like to drive fast but probably won't be going to the track or anything like that. I live in a medium-sized city in North Carolina that doesn't have a good import mechanic, plus I figure I can drive a BMW at any age but a 'Vette doesn't exactly work for a 40-year-old dude with kids (impractical and the creepy old man factor). The time for a 2-seater sports car is when you're 27 and single. Any thoughts??
Maybe this should be R&R: Just bought car insurance. With a DWI with single vehicle accident, total write off ~$20,000 I was expecting insurance to be astronomical, $150 a month to stay legal. Nope, did some shopping today. Ended up with Progressive for a whole lot more than minimum coverage for $78 a month. Granted it just for an Infiniti G20 daily but damn that is relief.
I would not want a 2-seater car. There are a SHITLOAD of fast cars available for $25K or less. Have you considered a Camaro, Firebird, or Mustang? You can also get a later model ('04-'06) GTO; hell, I tried to talk my dad into getting one of those a few years ago. Spoiler (He bought a Mercury Grand Marquis instead. Not a bad car, just boring. The place he bought it from even had an '03 Marauder on the lot, but he wouldn't go for it.) If there is no one close by who can work on it, and parts aren't easily available, I would consider that a huge downside. You are always going to be able to find parts and people who can work on Chevys in North America. I am also guessing from your post that you want a newer car (less than 10 years old). These days, cars and their components last a lot longer, as long as they are well maintained. I've bought two trucks in the past with almost 100K miles on them, and put over 100K more on the odometer and had no major problems (but they were very well maintained when I bought them, and I maintained them meticulously while I owned them). Hell, I bought a 20 year old Trans Am, and the odometer was stuck at 135K miles, and I have been driving it for two years, beating on it all the way, and it still runs fine (though I did make a few "preventative" repairs when I got it; I was just transferring parts off of the Camaro I had before that were recently replaced (water pump, 160-amp alternator, ignition system [I had a full MSD ignition system on the Camaro] or upgrades [like the headers and exhaust system, and better electric fan setup). If you want more recommendations, just ask.
I was in the same boat as far as the 3 series goes. I ended up with a 2007 G35 coupe. They're dead reliable, pretty quick, look great and even have a somewhat serviceable back seat. I'm a 40 yr old dude with a wife and kid and get complimented on this car all the time. It had 22k miles when I got it a few months ago and I paid less than $21k for it. Something to further confuse you with......
Thanks for the tips--I'd like to get something 2000 or newer and with no more than 70k miles (ideally under 50-60k). Trying to stay away from Mustangs because I live on an Army base and every third asshole there has one, but if I see one that blows my doors off and the price is right I'd consider it. The availability of parts is one of the big selling points for the Vette to me (compared with the BMW).
Have you considered anything other than the Corvette or the BMW? The Corvette seems mid-life crisisy to me. What about an Audi RS4, Saab 9-3 Aero, etc.?
For those of you into car porn, here's a video of two of our cars racing in Portland last week at the Rose Cup. Not much action, but the sounds of a 6-speed sequential gearbox sounds so raw and wrong, that it's right.