Just acquired a used manual 6 speed 2000 A6 2.7T loaded with 82K and loving it! Need to take care of timing belt sometime in the next few months. But right now I noticed that both ribbed boots that are just inside the front wheels that covers some linkage have tears in them. Grease has spun around the inside of the wheels and made a mess. Looks like $5 parts but also looks like some major dissassembly of front end behind thewheels.The mechanic said it would be $500 because of the labor to take it all apart.Yowza! Is there any other solution???? I'm tempted to fab somethingon my own....glue the tears....needle and thread. Gotta be a way. Love this forum and glad to join up!

 

Hey Nic

I would suggest you fixing these torn boots sooner rather than later, as it could get even more expensive if the CV joints get damaged due to dust and debrit making it in there. The whole purpose of the boot is to keep the junk out and the grease in.

Although I agree that the $500 sounds like a lot of money, it is a reasonably big job and requires some special tools to get the steering joint removed etc. Here is a good DIY on doing a CV Boot replacement http://www.vaglinks.com/Docs/Audi/C5..._CVBootDIY.pdf

I had to buy a front end servicing kit to get the one ball joint tool and still had to make some major modifications to it to fit on the one joint. All of this to save me from not buying the VW tool which is around $250...

FYI the boot kit is around $30, which includes the boot, grease, axle bolt and boot strap.

Here the tool I'm referring to... http://www.VAGLinks.com/Pics/TieRodEndTool_002.jpg, http://www.VAGLinks.com/Pics/TieRodEndTool_003.jpg& http://www.VAGLinks.com/Pics/TieRodEndTool_007.jpg,

I hope that helps to give you an idea on the work involved etc.

Cheers
Massboykie

 

Hey Nick,

I just went through the whole ordeal and posted on here as I went along. Read this post.
https://www.audiforums.com/m_904606/tm.htm

Also, there are numerous other posts, just look for "CV joint".

Here is the bottome line from my experience.
1.) Replacing the boot only does not cost 500 dollars. In fact the mechanic I use said they have a special tool that stretches the boot over the CV joint.

2.) Replacing the axel assembly is something many suggest, but I could not find a cheap rebuild kit and also did not want to deal with a rebuilt axle that wouldn't fit or causes the axel adjustment to be changed, alignment, etc.

3.) I use blauparts for most of my Audi part. Good quality German OEM equipment. The outer CV repair kit was something like 85 dollars.

4.) My mechanic was cool, he let me help with the repair and we got the outer CV joint replaced and put back together in less than 1 hour. Total labor charge was 80 dollars.

5.) When my other CV boots and/or joints go, I will definitely fix them myself.

 

Hey Nick

I agree 100% with S31523. The first one is a little intimidating, but the second one will not take me more than an hour either.

Once I had the axle and joint assembly out of the steering knuckle, I did not have a very hard time getting the joint off the drive shaft at all.I simply kept the joint straight and put the outside axle bolt back in. It goes right thought the joint and eventually popped the CV off the shaft. Just as an FYI. As mine went bad during winter I completely stripped the CV and cleaned it thoroughly so I knew there was no grit and grime in there. If you do decide to do this make sure you put everything back in exactly the same place I marked the inner and outer rings with a scribe and removed/replaced theballs in the same order.Not sure if this was really necessary, but I'm paranoid so I did.Putting everything back in was easy.

Like I said it was intimidating, but not nearly as hard as it sounds. I would add that you need to know your way around some tools though, not something I would attemptif it was the first time I ever worked on a car. But that's just my opinion not pun intended. As an FYI, my independant shop quoted me $350 to do the boot. Not sure where you are, but in this area that was about par for the job as mechanics are expensive around here.

Hope that helps.

Cheers
Massboykie

 

Wow. It does look intimidating but ya'll encouraged me to try it myself. Changed out the radiator on the Astro Van last week. I do my own brake jobs and stuff like that so I'm not afraid to try! Ordered the boot kit yesterday. Appreciate the links and advice. I'm goin' in!

 

Good luck. Read all the posts. For me, the sticking point was getting the control arms out. You may want to hit the control arm knuckles with some WD40 and let it sit for bit and get some good anti-seize lube for the reassembly (my mechanic did this). Also, get a nice BFH.

 

BFH: Definately needed. It's good for other things around the house, too!

WD40: Use something stronger. There was a thread a while back about rust penetrants; Mouse Milk, PBlaster, or Kroil work far better than WD-40. I can speak for Kroil; the stuff just*works*. Permatexmakes a decent anti-seize lube for reassembly (then again, they make just about every sort of chemical for a car!).