gear oil leaking from inner cv boot

[james butler]

i seem to be getting oil seepin thru the join of the boot and the joint. the boots brand new but wen i took the drive shaft out to fit it the little washer type seal in the flange fell out n i didnt notice untill ide put it back 2geva. is this gona be critical?

[Nate]

to change the boot, did you just unbolt it from the 'ear' on the gearbox? if so it's not likely to be gear oil. could just be a watery bit from the new cv grease?

[PeteGLi]

If the small round seal has come out of the middle of the drive shaft flange, then yes, it is critical eventually, as you will lose oil from the gearbox and it will wash the oil out of the cv joint causing it to wear.

I have had to change an inner cv joint boot recently and there was no seal in the drive shaft flange. The cv joint came apart on me whilst still on the driveshaft and when I drained the oil there was only 1 litre instead of 2 in the gearbox.

I have since changed all the oil seals in the gearbox, the springs and brass tapered washers behind the drive shaft flanges and the clutch release bearing and round end cap and, refilled with the correct amount of oil. It goes back in the car later this week and I expect there to be a dramatic difference to gearchanges and running.

I have also replaced both inner cv joints.

[james butler]

yeah i unbolted it from the flange and undone the hub nut to get whole drive shaft out for ease of fitting the new boot. yeah it does look like watery substance but leaves oily residue on floor. not a lot but any leak meks u cack urself dosnt it. ile drop the shaft out and wack the seal back in. i did check the gearbox oil level and it was fine.plenty in ther but i suppose after a while it will go down.
just a pain tho knowin i gotta drop the shaft out agen!
cheers

[james butler]

yeah peteGLI was right, the oil was leaking through the flange splines into the boot. so for future refernce, anybody doing anything with driveshafts and gearboxes the litle cap in the end of the differntial flange is important!now i dont have a pool on my drive and the other half spattered around the engine bay.