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Tue Feb 09, 2010 10:29 am

Hey all, I'm not sure I have this down right and would like to see it done prior to doing it myself. The idea I get is you just jam the CV lube into the joint until the boot is full, I have the empi CV axle assembly that come put together, do I need to take them apart? I was hoping someone had a video that I could check out to make sure I'm doing it right. I've searched here and on YouTube and haven't come up with anything VW specific, thanks, Dave.

Tue Feb 09, 2010 10:54 am

The Bentley Manual would be your best bet.
Sorry man, I was laughing at your thread title.....sounded a bit like a porno video search. :lol:
You might try a search in the forum and see if anyone has posted photos while doing this job.

Tue Feb 09, 2010 11:13 am

This is what I used as a guide:

http://www.type2.com/bartnik/cvjoints.htm

"DO NOT disassemble the new CV joints. Yes, they are supposed to be that tight. That just shows you how sloppy your old ones are. If you disassemble the new ones, you will likely never get them back together. I find it easier to grease the joints before installing them on the axle. But your mileage may vary. Get out your grease. If you bought new CV boot kits, they should come with tubes of grease for you to use. If not, get your grease from the parts store. Make sure your grease is intended for use in CV joints, it will usually say that on the packaging. It will also say it's an "extreme pressure" grease. I decided to give Mobil 1 synthetic grease a try. Turns out that the grease is red, so it gives the whole job a nice splash of color.

You want to use two tubes of grease, half a tube per CV joint. Volkswagen specifies that you use 90 grams of grease per joint, a little more is good. You pack the joint full of grease like you would a wheel bearing. Get a big glob of grease in the palm of your hand, then force it up into the joint. You will eventually start seeing it come through when looking at the other side of the joint. Use that reference point to see where you need to push grease through. Keep packing it in there, then switch to the other side of the joint and do the same thing. Get plenty of grease in there. You will find it very messy and disgusting, but it's gotta be done.

Repeat that procedure with all four joints and set them down on a CLEAN piece of newspaper. Now wipe your hands off and let's prepare the axle shafts. Make sure they are clean, then put the boots on. Stretch the small end of the boot around the end of the axle shaft, and then the boot can be slid down into position. You'll notice on the axle shaft that there are two bumps at each side. The small end of the boot is supposed to seat between these bumps. Get both the boots on and in place."

This is a good one too:

http://www.van-cafe.com/home/van/page_16_9/cv_joint_maintenence.html

Tue Feb 09, 2010 11:29 am

No one is going to touch their vid cam while they are doing the CV's. For the same reason you take a leak before you start the job.

Tue Feb 09, 2010 11:51 am

peaceful warrior wrote: The Bentley Manual would be your best bet.
Sorry man, I was laughing at your thread title.....sounded a bit like a porno video search. :lol:
You might try a search in the forum and see if anyone has posted photos while doing this job.

Laughed myself at the title...

Tue Feb 09, 2010 12:07 pm

Here's a good link: http://www.outfrontmotorsports.com/cv_assembly.htm

Tue Feb 09, 2010 3:28 pm

Desertbusman wrote: No one is going to touch their vid cam while they are doing the CV's. For the same reason you take a leak before you start the job.

I was thinking this exact thing when I read the first post.

Tue Feb 09, 2010 4:02 pm

Desertbusman wrote: No one is going to touch their vid cam while they are doing the CV's. For the same reason you take a leak before you start the job.

Didn't think about that.....

Tue Feb 09, 2010 4:04 pm

Should I remove the boots to do this???

Tue Feb 09, 2010 4:10 pm

Tue Feb 09, 2010 7:40 pm

If you don't have the kit MAKE SURE that you get CV grease. I somewhat recently needed to repack my joints and O'Rileys only had one tube of CV grease so I went over to the Advance Auto Parts and the kid said there is no such thing as CV grease, just to use whatever kind I had because all grease is the same. :roll:

Phil

Tue Feb 09, 2010 9:04 pm

just drive around until you see a VW bus and a guy or gal with grease up to their elbows... :wink:

Tue Feb 09, 2010 9:21 pm

pwilson wrote: I went over to the Advance Auto Parts and the kid said there is no such thing as CV grease, just to use whatever kind I had because all grease is the same. :roll:
Phil

Couple times a similar situation occured and I went straight to the manager. Insisted that they fire the retards a$$. To not know and to say that he didn't know and offer to inquire about it is perfectly O.K. But to pretend that he knows and spew out garbage is totally out of line. Time for him to go get another job.

The best thing to do is research and know exactly what you want and don't ask for any help in those stores.

Tue Feb 09, 2010 10:19 pm

yeap, heard the same thing from seasoned mechanic actually. in the end we found some ujoint grease, but I decided to keep hunting. I think I finally found EP-2 (proper cv joint grease classification) in a gun tube at AUTO_ZONE, no where else. you would think everyone would carry it. Fun fact tho, one tube is .exactly. enough to do 4 joints. which is great wehn you are doing 4 joints, but what do you do with half a tube?

Wed Feb 10, 2010 1:34 am

NAPA also carrires CV joint grease but you have to ask for it.

Thu Feb 11, 2010 9:50 am

I have had poor luck finding it at NAPA, neither of my local ones had it in stock, nor even knew what I was talking about. I brought a tube I bought from autozone (15 min drvie) to my NAPA (3 minute walk) to see if they REALLY didnt have it, cause I was sick of driving to get the stuff.

Thu Feb 11, 2010 10:02 am

MA = the dark state. :P

Call up NAPA and ask for part #SL SL3174 and it is 4.0 oz high moly StaLube tubes. The tube is nice as it fits in the tool box for when you need a quick lube.

They also sell part # CVB 6863000 which are little plastic bags of high moly CV joint grease for about $2.50 a pop.

Thu Feb 11, 2010 10:56 am

Moly grease is readily available, there must be at least 4 places in our small town that I can get it, I think even Wally World has it. You just need a quality EP-2 grease with a moly additive, it doesn't need to say "for CV use" on it anywhere. I usually chose to buy the Valvoline Moly grease of the ones that I can get.

When assembling the joints I only use the bare minimum of grease to protect the surfaces. I only add the bulk of the grease to the joint immediately before installation, this makes the job much cleaner. I use a grease needle to fill the joint and then smear a big glob into the cup in the flange. You do not need to fill or even come close to filling the boots.

You can even partially install the joint dry before greasing it. Just install the bolts loosely leaving enough slack so the your grease needle will fit between the CV joint and the flange, and then pump the joint full before tightening the bolts down the rest of the way. This way is still messy as grease will want to come back out the open joint.

BTW any grease is better than no grease or dirty grease. If you are on the road and a joint starts thumbing or a boot tears use any available grease to keep the joint from being run dry and dirty.

Mon Apr 04, 2011 12:43 pm

I purchased 2 rebuilt half shafts - they appear to already be greased - but each one came with 2 large plastic bags of grease - called the rebuilder company - he said it was extra - use it if I wanted - well - that made it seem like he didn't know what he was talking about - so help a newbie out here - does the boot need to be full or not - do the cavities where the half shaft mounts to the axle shaft be full or not -

When I took it apart - the cavities were full of black grease - so if it needs to be that way when I put it back - then I will get it that way - but don't want 3 lbs. of grease back there if it's not really needed - just want to do it right the first time...

Oh yea - it's for a 1979 Transporter type 2

Mon Apr 04, 2011 12:51 pm

get 5 of these and save one for emergencies. Or any VW shop will have it in this size. I used to use the tubes and tubs like everyone else but these are an easy way to insert it and get the exact amount VW calls for. I have no objection to just using Moly EP grease or Sta-Lube CV grease from NAPA if that is the direction one choses to go. Make sure it has a good moly ratio as not all moly greases have as much moly in them.

http://busdepot.com/details.jsp?partnumber=UN1250090