Nearside Outer CV Gaiter Replacement

Changing the left-hand outer CV boot isn't as straight forward as I thought, so when I got round to doing it I thought I'd take pics for others to see.

First off remove the driveshaft in question.



I haven't gone into detail of how to remove the driveshaft as that isn't what this article is for. It's pretty straightforward though.

Here is the inner tripod joint as it comes out of the 'box.



Undo the circlip that you see on the end of the shaft and the tripod will/should just pull off. If it's a bit stuck, gently tap it with a soft mallet or drift.

Word of Warning: Tap it only on the solid part of the joint body, and not one of the three rollers as you may easily break it or knock it off and send millions of little needle bearings all over the shop!



Now you can pull the inner gaiter off after removing the clip. Clips can be reused if they are removed with a bit of care.



Now you can see the bearing that the inner gaitor was clipped to. This is pressed onto the shaft so you wont be getting that off without some pressing kit, but fortunately you dont need to get it off.

With a bit of effort the new outer gaiter can be stretched over this bearing. The new gaitors from Renault are a vinyl plastic rather than a rubber one so its not very easy but with screwdrivers and soakin the gaitor in boiling water it is possible. Just take care ot to split the new one!



Now you can remove the old outer gaiter if you haven't already. Hmmm not much grease left in that!



Clean up the joint and check it isn't too worn for re-use.....



Pack with new grease supplied with your new gaitor.....



Slide down the new gaitor into position, ensuring it sits in the groove on the outer member of the joint.....



And fit the new clips. This can be tricky as they have to be compressed a lot. It is a very tight fit and Renault have a special tool for it, but a good big set of pincers will do it. I squashed mine in the vice!



Next, clean up the tripod joint, slide it back on the end of the splined shaft and refit the circlip.



Job done!



Just stick it back in now and fill up the box with fresh oil. See the 'Manual Gearbox Oil Change' guide in the Engine/Mechanical section of the Knowledge Base for information on how to carry out one.