Pre-Emptive - Check
regularly, maintenance item as & when they tear.
Need to fixReplacement boots are cheapest from Mazda.
Replacement CV Joints are cheapest from aftermarket suppliers:
- USA - www.raxles.com do NEW (not remanufactured) outer CV joints for 85$US,
including ABS rings if required, both MTX & ATX joints are available. The
use of remanufactured joints is not recommended for outer joints due to the
greater angle the joint is subjected to and remanufacturing destroying the
case hardening of the joint resulting in a materially weak construction.
- UK - UK & Ireland offer true OEM CV-Joints for 100ukp.
CV Boot/Joint Installation
Once the axle is out of the car the boots may be changed in this manner:
1. Remove the clamps from both boots. The easiest way to do this is with a
cutoff wheel, but be careful not to hit the steel under the boot.
2. Cut the boot from end to end. This will enable you to remove the boot and still see how everything fits together. A sharp knife or carpet scissors works well.
3. The inner joint is either a ball and cage design (manual transmissions) or a tripod design (automatic transmissions). In either case there will be a c-clip at the outside of the outer (boot) end of the inner housing. Remove it.
4. Carefully pull the tripod or cage assembly out of the housing. Don't worry if the balls fall out of the cage. Worry a lot of the rollers fall off the tripod. You may want to wrap masking tape around the outside of the tripod to make sure nothing happens. I'm being overly cautious here. You'd have to screw up real bad to knock a roller off the tripod.
5. Remove the c-clip that holds on the tripod or cage assembly.
6. Remove the tripod or cage assembly. The cage assembly will pull off easily. Note that it can go on two ways but only one is correct. The tripod may have to be tapped off with a dead blow hammer. Tap gently on the rollers until it comes off. Be careful not to put any flat spots on the rollers or else you will have a vibration problem.
7. When the inner tripod or cage assembly is removed you can clean out the outer joint as well as you can. Don't try to take the joint off the shaft or you may break the end of the axle bar.
8. Put the supplied grease into the outer joint. Don't spend a whole lot of time on this. The grease will get properly distributed in about 10 rotations of the axle when it's back on the car.
9. Install the boot. Once the boot is in place tighten the large clamp. With the small end of the boot in the proper location on the shaft slide a small screwdriver under the boot to let any trapped air escape. Then tighten the small clamp.
10. Slide the small clamp for the inner boot onto the axle and then install the boot. Tighten up the small clamp.
The best clamp to use is the one ear Oitiker type. This is the clamp that is in the EMPI boot kits. If you are careful you can use side cutters to crimp it but the best thing is the proper tool. I think Lisle makes the tool as well as Oitiker. A nail puller or anything that can crimp with two parallel surfaces will work. Tighten the clamp until the boot won't turn on the housing. (My aside, Mazda Main Dealers using cable ties should be taken out and made to change both clutch & timing belt on the V6s in one day).
11. Re-install the tripod or cage assembly and c-clip.
12. Fill the cleaned up inner housing with grease. (You did clean it didn't you?)
13. Re-assemble the inner joint assembly by sliding the tripod or cage assembly into the inner housing. Re-install the large c-clip.
14. Tighten the large clamp. It is not necessary to "burp" the inner joint, in fact try to get some air trapped. If the clamps are tightened when the axle is completely compressed and the air is let out of the inner joint, a vacuum will be created. This vacuum is strong enough to pull the axle out of the transmission in some cases.
Last Upload: 31st January, 2002. V1.50a
URL http://homepage.ntlworld.com/dorothy.bradbury/probemx/p_p11.htm