How bad is it to replace the wheel bearings and the inner and outer CV boots on a 2004 A6 2.7? I need to replace all of them, because I had to drive on bad rims for a bit and now they are all shot. Also, does anyone else seem to notice a slight high squeal come from your vents when you turn left when the heat is on? I thought maybe my power steering pump, but when I did my timing belt last week, we checked the pump and all is fine. Oh and I need advice on re-hanging my driver's door. It turns out it has an air leak which also lets minor amounts of water/moisture in, so when it gets cold my windows ice up on the inside and all of the electronics inside the car freak out. Sorry for all the questions, I just can't afford a real mechanic.

 

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Bearings require a press, but other than that are pretty straightforward

CV boots are also pretty straightforward, just like anythinge else with our cars its a time consuming pain in the *** but not overly complicated

if your squeal is coming from behind the glove compartment it is the blower motor. don't know why it happens when turning left (mine does it too). I've tried removing cleaning the blower assembly which has helped slightly but it still does it

not sure about the driver's door

 

Alright, thanks I kind of hoped it wasn't the blower motor but until I come into some money I will have to live with it. If I need a press for the bearings I'm going to have to take it to a shop then.

 

just take the hub and bearings to the shop. most will press the old bearings out and the new ones in for a couple of dollars. no need to take the whole car and pay for the removal and reinstallation, especially if you are going to be doing the CV boots as well.

for the blower motor, just take it out, clean it up (you would be amazed at how much "gunk" was in mine) put a couple of drops of machine oil on the spindle and put it back. as I said, it made a big difference on mine. yeah, it sill makes the squeal from time to time but not near as bad as it used to'

 

Alright, thanks a lot! I just need to come up with the money to pay for new boots, and bearings no lol. Where is the cheapest place for to get the kits to do these? ECS and Blauparts are a bit out of my price range right now.

 

Hey Kite09,
I've found good prices at autohausaz & rockauto. Heads up on front CV boots. I got mine from advance & althought the boots fit good, the C clips they provided were wrong size, so had to reuse old ones. If you get boot kits, be sure they come with the axle bolt & grease. This bolt is recommended to be replaced on removal. It's at a high torque + angle of turn. Also, be sure you have the proper crimping tool for the clamps.

 

Awesome thanks CRuby. I'll look into that. I think maybe right now I'm going to do the CV boots, double check my back ones and whether or not they are broken and hold off on the wheel bearings for a few weeks. I know its not a good idea to push them, but I can only do what I can afford for now.

 

Oh, and what do you mean by crimping tool? And do you think I could replace the clamps with screw ties?

 

Each boot has 2 clamps that squeeze the boot against the cv joint so the grease stays inside the boot. There are different types of clamps, some universal that you can do with screwdriver & pliers & others that require a special crimping tool that locally bends the clamp to tighten it. Generally any new boot you buy will come with clamps & sometimes grease. Just know what type of clamp your getting with the boot. The bolt is in the more complete kits. I've heard of some people using the screw type hose clamps or even plastic zip ties, but I'd stick with the clamps provided with the boots. The screw hose clamps can add some offset weight that may throw off balance & the plastic zip ties are rube golberg & temporary at best.

With the center axle bolt, be prepared for some heavy duty torque loads. My axle bolt takes a 17mm recessed allen (which wasn't initially in my toolbox) & I needed 1/2"' breaker bar with a 2 ft pipe extension just to get enough torque to break it free. When putting on the new bolts, after changing boots, I torqued it up (190 ft-# I think...but recheck this) plus 180 deg angle of turn. During the 180 AOT I was definitely worried I was going to break the bolt. Then Snap! Oh sh_t, I though I broke the bolt. But it turned out I snapped the 1/2 " extension. Boy was I glad it was the extension & not the bolt. So, point is...be prepared.

 

Wow, that is an awful lot of torque. And I think I will need some help from my mechanic friend. Hopefully he won't charge me too much to do these. Any advice on replacing the inner boot? Because the driver's side inner boot is torn, and the passengers side outer boot is torn. And I'm guessing the inner boot is a whole nother can of worms.