[qqzj]

2007 MDX 130k miles, front passenger side CV axle inner joint

Just found this out today incidentally. The grease seems green in the wheel well. But when I wiped it up with a paper towel, it looks just plain black. I examined the boot carefully. The boot is intact. It is not broken. Then I ran my fingers around the edge where the rubber boot meets the metal housing, I can feel there is some grease leaking out from the seam. Here is the picture.

So it must be that the metal band doesn't do a very good job and some of the CV axle grease is seeping out. I use seeping because it is really slow. I have never seen any thing dropping on to the garage floor. Here is how I would deal with it. Please take a look and let me know if I am missing something.

It seems to me that dirt cannot get into the rubber boot. So inside is still clean. So I am planning to first clean the mating area between the metal housing and the rubber boot. (Should I use Brake Clean or Alcohol?). Then I plan to use a medical syringe with a fine tip to inject some axle grease into the rubber housing to replenish the leaked grease. Then I am going to seal up the boot area with some gasket maker. Since there is no relative movement between the end of the boot and the metal housing, this should work.

So, does my intended solution make sense and am I missing anything? Please share your opinions, suggestions, comments or critique. Hopefully this would work. The axle seems savageable. I don't want to rush in and replace such a CV axle with an aftermarket one with unknown quality. Also, where can I buy such syringe and what is the correct axle grease to use? What is Honda's OEM grease for CV axle? I have gasket maker for valve cover gasket. That should work, right? Thanks!!!!

 

[csmeance]

take the band clamp off (do not damage boot) and pull boot back. Check joint for any signs of dirt entering the joint/grease. No dirt/grit you can clean off excess old grease and add fresh new grease.

You can buy axle grease at auto-parts store. Best thing to do is pack the whole boot with new grease, slide it over the joint and then tighten down a new clamp. The clamp can be a PITA without the right tool.

Wouldn't be surprised if there is a small tear. Same happened on my passenger side and slung grease around. Yours looks like inner joint whereas mine was outer joint.

 

[AcuraAddicted]

That looks exactly what it looked like when I accudentally undid the left axle inner boot on my driver side when wiggling out the lower control arm. The colour, the consistency looks identical.

 

[qqzj]

What did you do with the axle? Did you add grease and packed it back together? Or, did you install a new one?

What is the secret to get the old one out? Thanks!

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[AcuraAddicted]

What did you do with the axle?

There was not much grease that oozed out, so I just secured the boot back (didn't add any additional grease) and cleaned up. Two years later all is good. From your photos it looks like your grease leak is a bigger one, so I'd probably add grease before sealing the boot back (and check the boot for cracks, obviously).

 

[Omega supreme]

You def have grease getting flung out. Check out Raxles.com. Marty there rebuild better than oe. I have used him numerous times on audis and they have lasted thousands of miles.

 

[qqzj]

You def have grease getting flung out. Check out Raxles.com. Marty there rebuild better than oe. I have used him numerous times on audis and they have lasted thousands of miles.

If there's any damages to the metal, can Marty fix it? Thanks. How much doss he charge?

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[jimhow4545]

I would suggest remove the axle ( I know it a lot of work) and buy a Napa axle Constant Velocity (CV) Driveshaft.
I replaced both front axle with NAPA last summer and they are still running great. And buy a boot kit from Acura online to rebuild your old ones. The boot kit comes with grease, axle nut, boot and metal tie wrap, metal rings.
However, the boot kit cost about $55 for one each end of the axle. A brand new NAPA AXLE is about $100 with discount.


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[AcuraAddicted]

Do not use any aftermarket (that includes Napa) axles for the MDX if you want them to last.

Do the rebuild yourself using the kit from Acura instead if needed.

 

[RainGoat]

You’re stuck with needing to weigh your specific needs. Also, while I expect OEM lasts longer, it’s hard to know what that difference is and if you’ll hit it in your ownership. (I’m planning another 100K so I suspect I would)

OEM is always a safe bet but rebuilding a CV is a messy affair for sure & not one I relish. If you’re not doing the work yourself, that will add on to the price as well.

Aftermarket CVs are usually readily available with lifetime warranties. If you do the work yourself, this makes this a cost effective solution. If you don’t, the labor costs could add up over time. Even if you do it yourself, it could get old.

(Auto parts stores are generally very good at honoring their lifetime warranties. I know guys who have their trucks lifted too high & grind through a CV a year - they tell me they never have a problem getting it replaced. For what it’s worth, I don’t advocate their approach)

(In my offroad trucks it turns out Nissan’s CV has a greater range of motion & is preferable for that reason; however, I doubt any of us truly offroad in our MDX’s to the extent that such an issue would matter & I don’t even know if that is true for these CVs. Plus that’s usually the result of a spacer lift that changes suspension geometry - generally not something we would do - though I have seen it in suspension lifts as well - again, I don’t personally know of a lifted MDX)

 

[RainGoat]

Do not use any aftermarket (that includes Napa) axles for the MDX if you want them to last.

Do the rebuild yourself using the kit from Acura instead if needed.

Ugh, my driver side CV has occasionally made noises when accelerating rapidly at a severe angle-like leaving our subdivision onto a 45+mph road. I haven’t really wanted to look as it’s not common except at extreme angles but I bet I’ll need to do both between 150-250K. After your strut assembly procurement issue, you’re making me wonder if I need to get these boot kits now? (I’m mad at myself for putting off doing the front struts when ai thought about it 2-3 years ago - I should have bit the bullet & just bought the preassembled OEM). Please make a video if you replace/rebuild your CVs again (love starting my project by reviewing your videos first)

 

[AcuraAddicted]

Ugh, my driver side CV has occasionally made noises when accelerating rapidly at a severe angle-like leaving our subdivision onto a 45+mph road.

Yeah, because I am NOT looking forward to replacing the axles, I'm not doing rapid accelerations with extreme steering angles anymore (I just don't want to hear this sound once).

After your strut assembly procurement issue, you’re making me wonder if I need to get these boot kits now?

I don't think these are going to be discontinued just because most likely these boots are shared among other vehicles.

Please make a video if you replace/rebuild your CVs again

Thankfully, I didn't have to replace them yet. And I'm really hoping I won't But if I ever will, I'll make a video, of course. That being said, there's nothing really special about axle replacement in the MDX (and you can even replace the front passenger one without leaking the transmission fluid because it's connected via the halfshaft on that side. The hardest part would probably be wiggling out the axles on the knuckle side. I think you cannot avoid undoing the struts from the knuckle for the room you need, may be even the tie rod end (ugh!).

 

[qqzj]

Thanks guys for chiming in!

If you have any tips or insights to share on the removal and install, please do share. If you have any good pictures on how CV passenger side is connected to the rest of the car, please let me know.


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[Garzad123]

Here is the tool I used to remove the cv axle from 2013 MDX front, passenger side. I slipped it behind the metal canister and then hit the tool with a rubber mallet until canister popped out. Boot deattached from canister while replacing strut; thus you are not seeing entire cv axle. I replaced with after market and did not rebuild.

 

[jimhow4545]

This is how I replaced mine:

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[jimhow4545]

I am bought this pry bars set from harbor freight and used the longest ones to hammer out the axle

 

[jimhow4545]

Dndjdjdjjd

 

[qqzj]

This is how I replaced mine:

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Do we have to remove rotor and caliper, and caliper bracket?

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[jimhow4545]

Do we have to remove rotor and caliper, and caliper bracket?

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Remove the caliper assembly with the brake pads in place. No need to remove the rotor.
Make sure to loosen the axle nut BEFORE jacking up the car and removing the wheel. Just use a small flat head screw driver to pop off the wheel cap. Use the bottom of a bucket to rest your caliper assembly and set it aside. DO NOT discount the brake line, just remove the brake line bracket.

About the sway bar end link. If yours is old it’s probably very PITA to remove the nut. This is going to be VERY hard for you unless you have something to cut it off and replace with a new one.
I would suggest before you will do anything, remove the wheel and try to remove the sway bar end first and see it’s come out easily.


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[qqzj]

Does the Napa axle come with a new axle nut?

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