green grease left side of engine???

[PaulMP3]

I just finished installing my ground kit, and went out for a spin when i hear a clunk clunk clunk. I pull over immediatly, thinking i left a wrench or something in my enginebay, but find nothing on the ground. When i get home i jack the car up and i see green grease on the oilfilter side of the engine, on my swaybars and axles. The car still runs fine, it was running a rich at idle but i think that may be because i reset the ECU when installing my ground kit, and it tends to do that for some reason. after idleing for a 30secs it goes to 14.7:1. Im gonna head back out and check again if something fell out of my engine baym or if i hit something?
I hope im just paranoid.

 

[Matthew]

never heard of green grease...hmmm...maybe you ran over something?

 

[kcbhiw]

Check your CV boots. Sounds like one may have been punctured by something. A lot of CV joints are filled with a green grease.

 

[Matthew]

i guess you learn something new everyday...

 

[PaulMP3]

That was the first thing i checked, i saw no holes or rips.

 

[PaulMP3]

I just got back, i found nothing in the road. Except a few sticks and a broken hub cab. hmmmm. I get home go under again and reinspect... No more grease seem to be anywhere. It is on my axle swaybar and also on the underside of my alternator. I inspect all rubber joints closely with a flash light an i see a small tare about 1/8" in the rubber joint comming out of my tranny :mad: . It is the rubber boot right next to that green thing.

How soon does this need to be fixed, and how hard is it to fix.

Any help would be great.:

 

[PaulMP3]

Check your CV boots. Sounds like one may have been punctured by something. A lot of CV joints are filled with a green grease.

was this my CV joint?? I thought that was the rubber booty where the wheels turn??

 

[Protege5Gurly]

If its a lime/mint green then its most likely axle grease (CV joint). The CV is that ribbed boot where the wheel turns. If thats the case, get it fixes ASAP since you dont want a siezed wheel when ur driving.

Pe@ce

 

[PaulMP3]

its the booty on the axle.

 

[Installshield 2]

It is the CV joint...Independent suspensioned cars have CV joints on both ends of the axles...It is so the diff can stay fixed while the axles themselves can move with the suspension...The other side of the gearbox has an intermediate shaft or "half-shaft" and then another driveaxle with two CV Joints...

 

[PaulMP3]

how hard is this to do myself?? I will have to totally remove all front brakes and suspension correct?? and i would assume i will probally need an allignment.

if not how much would a shop charge? should i goto my local mechanic or MAZDA?


I still dont know how this happen? i must have left something in the engine bay and when i turned it fell down there. Im soo pissed. I though i was buying new brakes and rotors this week. looks like i will have to put those off.

 

[Installshield 2]

Go ahead and still order your brake parts...If you do the work yourself you are going to be removing the parts yourself...The work is not difficult just tedious and messy...You have to remove the axlebolt in the center of the wheel and basically disassemble that side of the car's front suspension (I am assuming the driver's side since you said it is the boot up against the gearbox)

You have a few options...Some dealers sell a replacement boot kit for most of their vehicles...These are harder to find at discount parts stores such as Autozone or Napa. DO NOT use a generic universal "split" boot that just slips over the axle...Those never work right and always allow the grease to flyout all over everything. So the axle will need to be removed and the inner CV joint ripped apart...We (MTX owners, not Auto owners) have "Ball and Cage" type CVs that have a lot of parts and need to be re-assembled identically as removal, just like cam bearing caps...

If you can't get a replacement boot kit things will start to get expensive...you will either need to buy a new axle from the dealership, find an aftermarket axle new, or a used part from a junkyard....Expect to pay about $140 for one axle from the dealer, about $90 with a $40 core replacement (so when you take your current axle back you get a $40 refund) from Autozone or Napa. I have no idea what a junkyard would charge...

I called a friend who owns a shop here in State College to see what he charges for an axle replacement: $38 (Not inclucing the axle, that is for the labor only), and his labor fee is $45 per hour...that should give you an idea of what to expect from a non-dealer shop install as long as their rates are about $45/hr...

If you are interested in doing the work yourself, I have the shop manual right next to me...I am not going to post all of the details on the work unless you are doing it yourself...Let me know...

 

[PaulMP3]

Im gonna get some prices and see how much it will cost. Maybe I'll come up to state college....

It is my passenger side.

 

[PaulMP3]

for the time being would it be smart to put some electrical tape over the rip to stop the grease from flying all over.

 

[Installshield 2]

That would fix the problem of more grease flying, but you do need to take care of that pretty soon or the inner CV joint will be destroyed....Becuase of all the moving parts, they get "packed" with a lot of grease...The more they are used without enough grease the faster the parts were and the sooner they seize...

Where is Yardley, Pa? I called a kid who co-manages Gemini Eurosports in State College...He doesn't actually own it but manages all the technicians and knows what they charge for certain work...But unless you have a Porsche, BMW, Merc, or even a VW they will treat you like s***, so I wouldn't take my car there...Before I bought my P5 I used to take my other cars to Care Care Auto Parts in Huntingdon Pa, which is about 25 miles south of State College...Great guys work there and their labor used to be only $35, so i would bet you would get the work done cheaper there and even get treated better...I only live in State College for school, the people here tend to be pretty snobby...

 

[kcbhiw]

I just finished installing my ground kit, and went out for a spin when i hear a clunk clunk clunk.

Thinking about it, the clunk could either be something hitting the axle [boot] or the CV joint itself is already toast due to the loss of grease. When driving it do you still get the clunk?

 

[PaulMP3]

That would fix the problem of more grease flying, but you do need to take care of that pretty soon or the inner CV joint will be destroyed....Becuase of all the moving parts, they get "packed" with a lot of grease...The more they are used without enough grease the faster the parts were and the sooner they seize...

Where is Yardley, Pa? I called a kid who co-manages Gemini Eurosports in State College...He doesn't actually own it but manages all the technicians and knows what they charge for certain work...But unless you have a Porsche, BMW, Merc, or even a VW they will treat you like s***, so I wouldn't take my car there...Before I bought my P5 I used to take my other cars to Care Care Auto Parts in Huntingdon Pa, which is about 25 miles south of State College...Great guys work there and their labor used to be only $35, so i would bet you would get the work done cheaper there and even get treated better...I only live in State College for school, the people here tend to be pretty snobby...

yardley is right across the river from trenton, or right off the RT1 on the turnpike.

My girlfriend is leaving to PSU tomorrow. Its gonna be crazy up there this weekend. football and move in

what kind of protege do you have??

 

[PaulMP3]

Thinking about it, the clunk could either be something hitting the axle [boot] or the CV joint itself is already toast due to the loss of grease. When driving it do you still get the clunk?

The clunk clunk i was explaing was something bouncing around my engine bay(stick or something ) It only clunk two or three times then the clunk was gone. It rides fine right now, the clunk was definitly what cause the damage. It have only put 15miles on since it happend.

I went to the mechanic/performace shop near my house and the guy said a new cv boot is about 100$ but i might need a whole new axle. Im gonna bring it back so they can take a look at it right when i get home from work tomorrow. He said as long as i dont drive much, and stay away from dust i should be fine, and all i will need is a boot. This shop is real cool, the guy was super charging a mustang when i pulled up.

 

[GOTZOOM?]

Whatever you do, dont buy splitboots, they don't work.

 

[Installshield 2]

I have a black 02 Protege5...Sounds good, yeah I started moving back in today and it took me about 3 hours to get from my house to my apartment, which takes about 35 minutes normally...

As long as the mechanic sounds good to you and you think you can trust him, go ahead and let him do it...