You need some good ...

I'm getting ready to do CV boot repack and replacement on my 2000 Boxster S as I discovered three torn boots a couple of weeks ago while changing the gearbox oil. The last time my boots were check was when I performed an oil change back in the middle of January. I don't know how long my boots have been torn but I have no noises etc. from the area on either side so I believe I'll be alright cleaning and repacking the CV joints.

My car has 97K miles with me as the owner for the last three years and 23K miles. I don't know if the boot have been changed before. As I have access to a lift and great tools and support at our Navy hobby shop, I wonder if it is worth considering CV joint boot R/R as a periodic preventative maintenance task.

I am aware that the Boxster S is tougher on boots than base models. How long a life (time or miles) should I expect out of the boots (I'm replacing with OEM from Autohaus)? My car is a daily driver with a short commute. I do not track the car.

I did a rear wheel bearing on the drivers side last fall so I have an idea on what to expect getting the axle That being said, I haven't done this specific job before so I reserve the right to never do it again!

dghii
2000 Boxster S 6speed 112k miles

... gloves and a couple of rolls of paper towels.
It's a dirty and smelly job!

Generally on the 6-speed tranny cars the boots tend to last about 35,000 miles, maybe a bit less.
So if you do it around that mileage as a preventive measure your CVJs will last a long time.
One trick I use for the 6-speed cars is to extend the boot just beyond the axle's dimpled mark.
I prefer to stretch them just about 1/2" longer because this avoids the boot rubbing against itself when the suspension is extended which is what makes them fail.
If you need instructions, you can find them here: [www.pedrosgarage.com]
Happy Boxstering,
Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 311,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

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Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"

"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older"... Mario Andretti

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose" ... Ayrton Senna

I have studied the instructions on your site, hence my confidence in performing the work. Do you have any tips for R/R the bearings out of the inner CV joint or should I just wipe out as much grease as possible and apply the new grease. I know I can't take apart the outer CV joint so I wondered if I really needed to bother with disassembling the inner joint.

I have my laundry list of supplies to buy and although our hobby shop provides all the shop rags I want for its $1 shop fee, I cannot stand to waste them on ragging off the grease.

Thanks again.

dghii
2000 Boxster S 6speed 112k miles

take a punch of some sort and mark the faces of the inner and outer race of the bearing cages, so u can align them afterwards.... they will be loose after u remove the covers, and want to fall apart.... That way, you know which way they should go to reassemble them....

loads of videos on ways to reassemble the cv joint after it falls apart.

I got kinda lucky in reassembling them....

P

Plan to get to the shop when it opens at 10am and get after it. Also plan to do the passenger side rear wheel bearing while I've got stuff apart.

I've got blue loctite but have seen site talking about using red but the shop manual says nothing about using either. Any ideas?

dghii
2000 Boxster S 6speed 112k miles

... take your time and go step-by step.
You don't have to disassemble the inner joint.
You can clean it like the outer one, but to me it's just easier to take it apart to clean it.
Once you learn how to reassemble it, it's a cinch.
Happy Boxstering,
Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 311,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

---

Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"

"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older"... Mario Andretti

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose" ... Ayrton Senna

dghii
2000 Boxster S 6speed 112k miles

good luck. i followed pedro's directions, however was convinced by Alcantera that the control arm bolt was really difficult to get off. I do have a small ball joint press. He suggested going with the the alignment bolts as in:

passenger side cv joint, I just marked them before hand. with an awl and sharpie marker.

I did it on jackstands as I didn't have a lift installed 3 months ago.

P

First, thanks to Pedro for excellent instructions!

My Friday CV boot R/R got cut short as I made the mistake of going into work "just for a minute". Anyway, I got started about 1 pm and managed to complete the drivers side. I didn't think I'd have enough time to get to the other side so I put things back together and called it a day. I plan on doing the other side sometime in the next week.

The job is not that bad....but I was fairly worn out by the end of the job. Its funny how some things that I anticipated being tough were not at all and other took me more time than I'd imagined. Actually, seating the new boots and tightening up the clamps took more time as I found it hard to mess with with the boots with all of the grease. (and I tried my best to be neat). The clamps were the same thing...just hard to mess with when everything is a little slick.

Two items of note...
1. My ignition switch started messing up on the way to the hobby shop so I have another task to complete. I do have a new switch that I ordered a few years ago as a 'just in case'. Just gotta find a small screw driver.

2. On the short drive home from the shop, I felt the rear of the car kind of shimmy sideways. At first, I blew it off as being too aware of how the car was running after completing the boot job, The car did the same thing again and I pulled over to see if my axle had fallen off but no, everything looked in order. I decided to limp the last mile or two home and during the drive I decided I must not have tightened something completely....sure enough, I had hand tightened the nut on lower control arm to wheel hub ball joint...duh! I jacked the car up in the driveway and tightened the nut and, gosh, my car is all better.

Its a good thing I don't do this kind of work for a living....

dghii
2000 Boxster S 6speed 112k miles