CV joint re-grease

[E30andy]

Hey Guys!

I'm slowly going through my 91 325ix sedan and am the point where I need to deal with my drivers side outer CV joint. The boot is torn so I removed the axle and want to clean and regrease the CV joint.

I haven't found any good how-to's so before I dive in I wanted some advice on any things to look out for while doing this. Some non-ix how-to's I've seen mention keeping the balls in a certain order and marking things before taking them apart. I'm wondering if it's that complicated?

Any advice is appreciated!

Thx!

Andy

[nrubenstein]

Personally, I just scrape the excess old grease off and fill the boot with the fresh stuff. I would NOT fully disassemble the CV joint.

I've been doing this every couple years for the last 9 years and it works fine for me.

[E30andy]

Personally, I just scrape the excess old grease off and fill the boot with the fresh stuff. I would NOT fully disassemble the CV joint.

I've been doing this every couple years for the last 9 years and it works fine for me.

So you can disassemble the joint partially? Is there a circlip or something that needs to be undone to partially disassemble the joint?

Thx!!

[nrubenstein]

So you can disassemble the joint partially? Is there a circling or something that needs to be undone to partially disassemble the joint?

Thx!!

You don't disassemble the joint at all. There is a circlip that holds the outer joint to the shaft. Release it and it slides off.

[E30andy]

Cool, sounds easy! Circlip easy to release? No special tool needed?

[nrubenstein]

Cool, sounds easy! Circlip easy to release? No special tool needed?

It's a pain in the ass fumbling around in there just because it's awkward and hard to see. You just need a standard circlip tool.

[E30andy]

Thanks for the quick replies nrubenstein!

One last question....what do you use to clean out the old grease? Brake clean and shop towels?

[nrubenstein]

Thanks for the quick replies nrubenstein!

One last question....what do you use to clean out the old grease? Brake clean and shop towels?

I don't actually try to remove all the old grease.

[E30andy]

I don't actually try to remove all the old grease.

Even if the car has been driven with a torn boot for an unknown amount of mileage? I would think you would want to clean out all the old grease and dirt that has accumulated while the boot was torn?

[Kershaw]

I wipe away everything at the surface and regrease it too. I suppose you could place the outer CV joint in a bucket of gas overnight to clean it and fully repack it, but I don't bother. The kits come with 2 bags of grease and I always use just 1. Obviously, ymmv and if you think the grease inside it looks like it's filled with gravel you do what you think is best.

I built myself a jig that I clamp to my work bench to do this. I just did another axle last Wednesday and I managed to pop it apart on the first tap with a brass hammer. Make sure you use brass to hit it apart, the brass will not damage the steel.

The joints aren't terribly hard to completely disassemble. I did it once to replace a broken cage. But I definitely don't think it's necessary for a reboot.

[E30andy]

Ok sounds good guys. I appreciate the help!

[mr2peak]

Pay special attention to the orientation of the parts. A few of the pieces look like they can go back together either way, but will bind if you get it wrong.

[E30andy]

It's a pain in the ass fumbling around in there just because it's awkward and hard to see. You just need a standard circlip tool.

So I'm trying to remove the circlip. Since the ends of the circlip don't have holes for a circlip tool to insert into, is there a special type of circlip tool to use for this application? I will admit I have little experience with circlip sand circlip tools so again, any advice is appreciated!!

[E30andy]

Been f'ing with this thing all afternoon. Does that clip even have to come off?? There doesn't appear to be enough space to spread it far enough to make much difference anyway.

Looking at YouTube videos, looks like hanging it from a vise and using a BFH (?brass) is the way to go.

[spdracrm3]

had to use a C/V joint puller/press on my front axles to get the joints off even with the clips released they wouldn't budge ,and were very tight going back on . was glad to have access to the right tool for the job....