CV joint grease flung out - but boot is intact - '88 Voyager

I recently (3 months ago)replaced both halfshafts on my wife's '88
Voyager. It had been making a loud popping sound under the left
floorboard on left hand turns. All was well until yesterday when the
sound returned. It happens usually halfway through a left hand turn.

So today I jacked up the car to check the side to side engine centering
and lo and behold, grease has flung out everywhere from the inboard
joint. I cannot see any rips, tears etc. in the boot and the boot looks
clean as well. Has anyone experienced this before?

Using the pushing the axle stubs inward method after removing the large
hub nut, I noticed the engine/transaxle to be shifted off center
slightly to the driver's side (maybe 1/4").

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks everyone.

 

just curious, you removed the hub nut and was able to push the axle in 1/4
an inch ? I'm trying to troubleshoot a small trans leak and I think the
problem could also be a centering issue. But I thought you needed some
force to move the axle in the spline on the hub.

 

I've seen it before. It leaks out if it can. The big end of the CV joint
can leak from a hole (that you haven't noticed yet) or between the boot the
joint housing. It should be pretty obvious what happened by where the grease
is, but even if it's not, it's not going to make much difference. You'll
have to start over, pretty much. Perhaps it's still underwarranty? The
retainer should pull the boot down onto the housing and seal those two
together, at least in my opinion.

 

Well, I figured it out. The halfshaft I installed two months ago had an
inner end that was a two piece affair - the outer "shell" was bent and
crimped over the inner piece. Upon removal, whomever rebuilt the shaft
before it got to me didn't recrimp the joint properly and you could see
where grease had been streaming out under centrifugal force driving
down the road.
The replacement shaft has a one piece machined tripod joint that should
be leakproof. Yes Joe, it was under Advance Auto Parts lifetime
warranty. The counter kid removed the boot of the old one and there was
virtually no grease left in it!
Also, ncs - in response to your question - there was approximately 1/4"
difference in the amount of deflection or push in that i could measure
between the two axle stubs. Each one though was able to be pushed in
probably an inch. This was of course after the large axle nuts had been
removed. Your slight trans leak may be the seal where the shaft passes
into the transaxle. I've had that myself. Easy to change while the
halfshaft is out.
Thanks to all who helped.

 

thanks for the info. We went down the route of the seal change. I think
the trans guy replaced it twice and then replaced the entire housing. It
became a matter of solving the 'leak problem' and not cost anymore. He's a
pretty good guy. It still leaks, slightly but leaks. So the only thing
left was the possibility of the engine not being centered and leaking
because of that. It's the drivers side cv. I tried centering it by
measuring the axle lengths as in the manual, it didn't work, but I might try
again.

thanks,
nick