1995 EVC CV Joint Boot Replacement Surprise

[Saturn]

While doing my front suspension work at the end of May/beginning of June, one of the inspections performed was the condition of the CV boots. They were definitely on the old side though still intact. A month ago replaced the plastic T connector in the cooling system due it starting to slowly weep coolant and noticed the passenger side axle and outer boot stained with grease. Apparently all the wrestling with the wheel/hub assembly was just too much. Ordered a set new boots for the axle and started reading up on the replacement procedures.

Yesterday lifted the front passenger side onto a jack stand and began the process to get access to the axle. Zapped the main 27mm bolt with my impact gun and was a little surprised when oil dribbled onto the floor when taking the bolt out. Undid the lower ball joint mounting fasteners and then removed the shock off of the car. Wrestled with the hub/caliper and finally the axle came away from the hub assembly. The outer joint still filled with grayish grease, a good sign. With a mallet, knocked the joint off of the axle and cleaned all the old grease out.

Going back under the van, started to look at the inner boot and found it loose and separated off of the CV joint. As I inspected it, realized something was not right. There was no inner collar left on the CV joint, all was left was a jagged ring. Using a knife, cut a slit into the outer side of the boot and then slid it down and off the axle. That is when I see the collar of the joint still inside the inner perimeter of the boot. Grabbing a M10 bit, loosened the 6 mounting bolts and removed the axle from the transmission. Checked the driver side and while the inner boot will need replacement soon, it is still attached to the collar.

In terms of getting a replacement, any brands I should gravitate to or stay away from?

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[Abscate]

Im not sure Im seeing the problem here. These things do come apart once you articulate them past the design point - thats normal.
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.ssS!

[elise111]

GKN makes the factory parts (at least on the VR6 versions), so I use those. Some folks have had good luck with cheap replacement axles like Europarts-SD offer, but if yours look good when cleaned, probably best to reuse the GKN parts.

Some swap left side and right side joints (not axles) for a 2nd life if that’s an option for you.

[Saturn]

[Saturn]

Saturday I received the parts and Sunday installed the new axle into the EVC. After cleaning up the old grease and residue on the transmission mating surface as well as the surrounding areas, it was pretty straightforward installation. The inner side went in quickly and the bolts were snugged and tightened.

Getting the outer joint in place and the spindles into the center of the hub took some wrestling to finally get things into position. Hand-tightened the axle bolt in place, reinstalled the lower ball joint onto the hub, mounted the the shock absorber back on the frame and then tightened down all of the fasteners.

As I was tightening the axle bolt, noticed the front wheel was now stuck fast. Looking around to the back of the hub, my guess was the ABS tone ring was not clearing the inside of the hub. Backed off the axle nut and the wheel started to free up. Since the van does not have ABS, the tone ring would need to be removed.

Always a frustrating to have to undo work which has just been completed. 15 minutes later the outer joint was freed from the hub. Using a punch and a hand sledge tried to force the ring off but it didn't seem to be moving at all. Grabbed a Dremel with a cutting wheel to ground a channel into the ring. After a few taps with the sledge on a large screwdriver, the ring split and it was removed. Buttoned the assembly back up and the wheel rotated just fine when the axle nut was fully tightened down.

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[volkybus]

Good job to all. I'm amazed how easy it's for you to get the axle off. I guess I've been out of the loop too long. How did you get the inner cv joint bolts off .I have the proper Allen(star) tool but it won't budge. I put pen oil on it Hopefully it'll come off tomorrow..Big VW show & campout this weekend and my stubaxle is gone I think. So anyway thanks for all your help o er the last 6 years I've owned her. This my 15th VW van I've owned from a 55 barndoor on. And this one has challenged me the most but I refuse to give up on her. She's the black and blue bomb..thanks again and sorry for being so 93 73negative about Ev's in the past...Bill PR N VT
In

[VanGeek]

Wish I had seen this before removing my passenger side axle so I could drop and reseal my oil pan. I ended up discovering the same steps: Remove inner CV bolts, outer cv bolts, lower ball joint, hub bolt, and then wrestling match with the hub and calipers to extract the axle. My axle and boots were in excellent shape so I just reversed the process to install the axle. A bit more challenging to align the spindles on reassembly, but generally got them lined up and then tapped and tightened the bolt to pull it in.

I've seen some youtubers attempt front suspension work like this by scaffolding and jacking-up the upper control arm. But seriously, it's a lot less work and risk of injury to loosen the nut that adjusts the torsion bar pressure. I measured the length of the exposed shaft before loosening the bolt. When the suspension work was completed, tightened the bolt until the original length of adjusting shaft was exposed.

@volkybus -- a few of my inner axle bolts were stubborn, but came loose fairly easily after some penetrating oil.

[volkybus]

Well my stub axel is shot and spins freely+ the boot is shot so it needs to be changed..Does anybody know my if the auto stub axel is the same (rt side) as the stick. Parts are hard to get here in the islands(PR) soaybe this is the straw that breaks the camel 's back...time will tell..thanks Bill in PR bur from VT