Starting to have my fill of the Yaris... (Split CV Boot)

[detroiter]

So while crawling underneath the Yaris today, I noticed on the drivers side lower arm area, some sort of muddy looking stuff. Figured it was just dirt buildup yet while looking at the passenger side, there was nothing. So I go to clean it and it feels alot like some sort of grease, definately not dirt. Well after some tooling around, come to find a small rip in the CV boot. It's not flapping and you can't even see the opening, so it must be still keeping stuff out. I havn't had any sort of noises or clicking, so I would have never even known if it wasn't for looking close underneath. I just wonder what the hell would have caused it to happen.

Called Toyota dealership and they tell me they don't cover any sort of work like that, it's not part of warranty. I call local parts stores and the CV boot is $50 and that if I needed two joints to be replaced, each one is $500. F' that.

Any ideas on what I should do to try and resolve this? The manager at one dealer said to bring it in and if it wasn't something that I intentionally did (run something over, damage it by accident, etc), that he would replace the boot and the joints if needed. Knowing them though, they will try to weasel their way out of it.

Like I said, there's no noises or clicks at all so anything possible that I can just patch the boot up or something inexpensive?

[ddongbap]

Isn't that part of the drivetrain?

You can run w/o the grease, it just sucks w/o it.

[lilredrocket]

Put back on your stock suspension and take the car put there and tell them to replace you CV shaft once it starts leaking it starts going bad. I would not recommend running a CV without greese.

[detroiter]

Well I can't take off the shocks and springs to go back stock, I can't afford to switch it back just to take it in. The springs and shocks have nothing to do with why the boot has a rip. Worst comes to worst I'm just going to put some grease in there and seal it up with some black silicone.

i find it hard to believe that just because a single $50 piece of rubber gets a cut in it, that you need to spend $1000 just to replace the joints along with it. That's rediculous. There must be some sort of solution. I've been reading about some sort of cv boot kits that are two halfs and they clamp on so that you don't need to take the axle and other garbage off to get to it.

[ddongbap]

The modification is directly related to the problem. Even though its not the cause of the problem, your local dealer will give you crap about that for sure.

[detroiter]

That's already a given. They would probably cry if it was TRD springs and shocks too.
Car is not even 2 years old and already a problem like this. Not so sure I'll be buying a Toyota again. A new one anyways.

[1NZYaris1]

you probably hit a peice of rubbish on the road which cut the boot .
just replace the boot , put in more grease, and you will be fine :thumbsup:
or let Toyota do it , theres no way your CV joints will need doing .
they will do 20,000Km with out grease before you will even here
any sort of failure noise ( clicking ).

[detroiter]

Thanks guy, I'm not really convinced I need to replace the CV joints along with the boot. The things don't make noise or click, nothing at all. I'm not going to replace something that doesn't need it, especially at that cost. How hard is it to replace the boot and how long would it take to do?

[yaris-me]

Years ago I replaced a broken boot with a replacement kit. I don't know if they are still made. They are made to go around the joint and are snapped and glued together, then clamped to the shaft. I bought it at the local parts store. You might check around if they still make it.:iono:

[detroiter]

If you or anyone can find a kit online like that, can you please paste the link? I appreciate it. I've been trying to find a kit like that online but no such luck except for
some online shop in the U.K.

[yaris-me]

It's called a split boot. There are split boots for Honda and Acura online. I can't find one for Toyota. There are sites that advise against the split boot. If I find something, I'll post.

http://www.raxles.com/splitboots.aspx

http://www.aa1car.com/library/2004/bf100434.htm:smile:

[detroiter]

Here's the method that I've come across. Seems like a winner...

http://www.saabcentral.com/~munki/technical/transmission/cv_boot_stretch_type.htm

[ddongbap]

Did you know those Honda guys just replace the entire boot/halfshaft? They've got it easy. Ours is too expensive to do that.

[bronsin]

You just disassemble the ball joint/tie rod end and press the axle from the lower end of the strut. Then the axle can be removed from the car and a new boot fitted. Wondering if they sell just the bootsince most boots problems are solved by fitting a new axle these days. Ive used split boots and they sometimes work and sometimes dont work. Fitting an origional boot isnt that hard.
Its rare to hear of a boot splitting on a new car. BTW I think if you patch the old one itll just eventually tear open. I check my boots every oil change regardless. You dont think you might have poked a hole in it when you worked on the suspension?

[jambo101]

I wouldnt trash Toyota for a torn cv boot as it could happen to any car,When modifying your suspension did it not occur to you that you were now giving your dealer a huge loophole to jump through if you had any problems in that area of the car,any dealer would have done the same thing, so lets not throw the baby out with the bathwater eh.Toyotas are good cars.

[ozmdd]

Just buy a replacement boot from a parts store, fill it with grease and swap it out. Your CV will probably be fine if it hasn't accumulated a bunch of debris/water. Swapping a CV boot isnt that hard.

[R2D2]

The important thing is making sure the joints are clean and getting the grease back in there. Once the dirt gets in those CV joints they are not long for this world.

Make the dealer go good-it's part of the drivetrain and your mods shouldn't have caused the problem.

R2

[CTScott]

Check out Yaris drive shafts on eBay. I bought a complete low mileage one with boots intact for $50. Is it the inner (next to the tranny) or outer boot (next to the hub) that is ripped? On the bent axle that I pulled off, the inner boot was shredded, but the outer one is still good.

[detroiter]

It's the one that's directly behind the transmission. I was looking under the car more this morning, I find it hard to believe something could easily get up in there at the boot. Under the boot directly is part of the car frame and looks like it protects it pretty well, it's definately not exposed out in the open. Well at any rate, I have an appointment Tuesday morning and they already pre-ordered the part, so I'm guessing at the least they are going to go ahead and do the replacement because they don't want a p.o'ed customer.

[regal]

I am shocked that the front axels are $500 a piece, that is a Bavarian price, what the heck is going on. This is a common replaced part on any car, makes me seriously reconsider owning a Yaris.

[CTScott]

I am shocked that the front axels are $500 a piece, that is a Bavarian price, what the heck is going on. This is a common replaced part on any car, makes me seriously reconsider owning a Yaris.

When I was looking for a replacement axle for Crashy, I checked with a couple of auto parts places and they all said that there was not an aftermarket axle out yet, so purchasing from the dealer was the only choice. The local Napa parts store (where I purchased axles for my Subaru for $80 each) said that once aftermarket ones are available they typically sell for 1/4 the price of the OEM ones. I went the eBay route and got a low mileage, complete axle for $50 + $15 shipping.

[corolla 3tc]

With a car only two years old I would try not to go the spit boot route but that being said over the years with older vehicles I have had good luck with the bolt together split boot. The glue together ones, not a ounce of luck there.
I'm also shocked to discover how expensive the axle assemblies are. Over the years I have replaced them in a few different vehicles ( Plymouth, Vw and Toyota) and they were all priced reasonably. Here's hoping the cost comes down.

[detroiter]

Just saw a few posts were made in the thread.

Well long story short, the dealership didn't cover the boot or anything, I had to pay for it. But they lowered the price pretty well on the parts and labor. So to install the boot, the cost of the boot and everything else, it came out to $180. I guess it's relatively cheap considering how much labor costs. It was worth paying so I didn't have to do it myself and for a piece of mind of having it fixed for the snow and ice coming soon.

[bronsin]

I think you got a good deal on that, given it was from a dealer!

[talnlnky]

That's already a given. They would probably cry if it was TRD springs and shocks too.
Car is not even 2 years old and already a problem like this. Not so sure I'll be buying a Toyota again. A new one anyways.

I believe i did a similar thing at 13k miles.... while they were doing a free oil change they said there was a leak of some sort... took it to the service dept the next day, and they called it an "axle seal", but it went bad and sprayed oil/grease all up the firewall i guess.

Bone stock yaris.... I believe it happened on a logging road when camping... there was a ditch in the road... bout 6inches wide... and 4-6 deep.... I was doing 40 and didn't see it till the last second... Hit it pretty hard. Thats the only thing I can think of that caused my issue. Haven't had a problem since... the fix was pretty fast... think it took the shop less than an hour. They also fixed it for free.

I'd go back and complain ... unless you are past the 3yr/36month timeframe

[127.0.0.1]

glad it is fixed...

cv shafts are a piece of cake to replace, and they are cheap. the best fix
is to pull the axle and install a new one, or as a minimum, a new boot and fresh grease
after disassembly

if you modded the Yaris warranty will not cover the boots. the boots WILL rip
if you change the ride height from stock. if you didn't raise or lower the Yaris
then there is no practical reason they ripped.

[yaris-me]

Watch your tire wear pattern. If it becomes uneven, you'll need to realign.:smile: