gear oil instead of grease in my cv joints?

[n***@dontspamme.com]

Hello,

I pulled the cv joints on the transaxle-end of my axles, and found that they
were full of what appeared to be 90wt gear oil. I understand that they should
have been packed with grease?

This is the first time I've had these joints apart (previous owner was kind of
an idiot, so I'm concerned about what might be going on). The outside of the
surface of joints had some oil on it (i.e. evidence of leaking), but it really
didn't look like the transaxle itself was leaking. If there was a leak, it must
have been from the transaxle into the cv joint.

The axle is a heavy duty bus-style IRS. I just wanted to confirm from someone
who has a bus transaxle that this joint is in fact supposed to be packed with
grease, and there is not supposed to be a flow of oil from the transaxle into
the joints.

Thanks!

[Dane Tyler]

Should be packed with CV grease (not regular bearing grease).

Dane
'69 Bug
'63 Bug

Post by n***@dontspamme.com
Hello,
I pulled the cv joints on the transaxle-end of my axles, and found that they
were full of what appeared to be 90wt gear oil. I understand that they should
have been packed with grease?
This is the first time I've had these joints apart (previous owner was kind of
an idiot, so I'm concerned about what might be going on). The outside of the
surface of joints had some oil on it (i.e. evidence of leaking), but it really
didn't look like the transaxle itself was leaking. If there was a leak, it must
have been from the transaxle into the cv joint.
The axle is a heavy duty bus-style IRS. I just wanted to confirm from someone
who has a bus transaxle that this joint is in fact supposed to be packed with
grease, and there is not supposed to be a flow of oil from the transaxle into
the joints.
Thanks!

[dave]

Post by Dane Tyler
Should be packed with CV grease (not regular bearing grease).

Yes Dane is right!

Check the cap seals on the inside of the trans flanges. They are probably
damaged or missing allowing the trans oil into the CV joint .

later,
dave
Reminder........
Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way,
when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them, and you have their
shoes. Frieda Norris

[Jim Adney]

Post by n***@dontspamme.com
I pulled the cv joints on the transaxle-end of my axles, and found that they
were full of what appeared to be 90wt gear oil. I understand that they should
have been packed with grease?

Yes, they should be greased.

Clean off and look at the face of the tranny output flange. You should
see the outer section with the bolt holes, an intermediate conical
section, and a flat inner portion that is green and somewhat soft.

The inner section is a seal that is pressed into the center of the
flange to keep your gear oil from leaking into the CV joint. If that
seal is torn or missing that would explain your observation.

-
-----------------------------------------------
Jim Adney ***@vwtype3.org
Madison, WI 53711 USA
-----------------------------------------------

[Hal]

Post by n***@dontspamme.com
I pulled the cv joints on the transaxle-end of my axles, and found that they
were full of what appeared to be 90wt gear oil. I understand that they should
have been packed with grease?

They should have been. Most likely the reason you're seeing gear oil
in there is because the axle flange rubber cap is leaking or missing.
You may have trouble finding a replacement, I don't know if
aircooled.net sells that by itself or not. You may wind up having to
purchase a transaxle gasket kit to get those caps. Alternatively, you
could clean the inside of the axle flange with some brake cleaner, get
-all- of the old lube out of there, and lay down a layer of RTV over
the circlip, completely covering the end of the axle and the circlip.
You must remove ALL of the oil from the flange area or the RTV will be
a wasted effort. The idea is to keep oil from migrating out of the
differential assembly via the splines on the differential gear.

Chris

[Sleepy Joe]

Post by n***@dontspamme.com
Hello,
I pulled the cv joints on the transaxle-end of my axles, and found that they
were full of what appeared to be 90wt gear oil. I understand that they should
have been packed with grease?

You need axle flange rubber cap seals available from aircooled.net.
Clean the old grease off really well.
stick a screwdriver into the old seal and pry it out.
apply some orange permatex rtv sealant around the new flange cap.
gently press it in with your fingers and get it aligned correctly.
gently tap it in a little with a socket the matches the cap seal.
let dry 24 hours.