College student on a budget here, I have a 2005 Cooper S convertible and my passenger side CV boot is torn. The car has almost 100k miles on it so instead of replacing only the boot I'm thinking it's a better idea to replace the entire passenger side CV axle. I went to a shop and they said they would charge $472 for labor, which seems reasonable? If I can do it myself and save money though I'd much rather do that.

I do basic maintenance myself (oil changes, etc.) and have also replaced the engine mount and alternator myself and a few other smaller things without too much difficulty, but I wouldn't call myself mechanically adept, as some of these repairs were a little outside my comfort zone. I've looked up how the CV axle is to be replaced in the car and it seems fairly straightforward, but videos and instructions seem to always make things look more straight forward than they actually are. For those of you who have done this repair, how difficult is it compared to these other things? Should I bother trying or should I just take it to the shop?

 

Another thing, I'm thinking of going with the remanufactured axle from Cardone, which doesn't come with the carrier bearing, so looks like I would have to beat it off my old axle with a hammer? That part makes me a little nervous, is that something to be concerned about?

 

A few things to consider:
-With only 100k miles the CV joints are probably still in good shape. This assumes the CV boot was torn recently and contamination hasn't yet taken its toll on the joint. If this is true then replacing the boot is A LOT cheaper than replacing the axle and not a lot of additional work.
-I would not recommend rebuilt axles, they're just not worth it. Also, I suspect that carrier bearing is going to give you more than you bargained for. You can get a new OEM (GKN brand) axle for a few hundred, still cheaper than the shop that quoted you.
-The outer CV joints have a tendency to get rusted into the wheel hubs on these cars. Start soaking it with penetrating oil a few days in advance, get a hold of sledge before starting the work.
-Be careful removing and installing the axle in the transmission, it's easy to damage the seals (more so on the driver's side)

 

Budget and time and experience being an issue , autozone sells cv repair kits that will clamp over the exciting boot making a tight enough seal to hold in the grease. It's a 2x piece design and just slips and clamps over the existing boot. May be worth a try

 

When you pull the CV axle from the transmission some fluid is going to come out.

 

Hello,

Your post is quite timely. Yesterday I pulled the front wheels of my R53 to spray some penetrating oil in anticipation of replacing my front brake pads and rotors (*which I did today). I observed that my passenger side inner CV boot was torn and that there was evidence of grease and dirt accumulation nearby. Well, first I noticed all the grease and dirt, which I promptly cleaned, then I noticed the boot.

While your description suggests that I am a more seasoned mechanic than you, I have never done this job. As such I can't tell you whether you'll be fine doing this job. Only you can decide if you want to push your comfort zone and endure the growth it creates. While I always have some trepidation doing a job I've never done before, I am going to try it. I understand from professional mechanics whom I know that the job on a MINI is more complicated than typical.

Your post suggests that you've watched the Mod MINI video on CV axle replacement. Am I right? He uses the Cardone CV Axle, and says it doesn't come with the carrier bearing.

As far as I can tell, there are two different Cardone CV axle offerings for the right side. One is reman (p/n 609280). The other is apparently new (p/n 669280). I bought mine from Rock Auto, new. The new was cheaper; go figure. I don't know whether it comes with a carrier bearing, so I ordered a carrier bearing too.

 

I had a couple of torn cv boots a few years ago, no clicking or popping from the joints. I bought boots for $25 each and it was surprisingly straightforward job. Oem axles are the most reliable so I would try to replace the boots and see. It will be significantly cheaper than what the shop told you, and you will probably have more reliable axles.

 

Since the original axles are better quality than many aftermarket, you could also check out having yours rebuilt by Way Motorworks. Take a look online and see the writeup of what they do- looks pretty comprehensive.

 

Well my post shows I didn't understand what was going on. First, OP is posting about an R52. The Cardone parts I posted are for R53s. I don't have any idea whether the OP's car uses the same parts, and any R52 owner should be sure to get the right ones for his/her car. Second, it's not the carrier bearing that is at issue, it is the carrier bearing bracket. The new Cardone CV axle I bought did not come with the bracket. And the supplemental part I ordered & received was not a bracket... so I had to transfer the bracket over. No big deal.

I replaced the passenger side CV axle today at a great local shop that rents tool-equipped lift bays to the public (Hooray for Gearhead DIY here in RI!) I did the lower engine mount too while I was there.

For the OP: freeing the tie rod end, control arm, and frozen spindle from the wheel hub was some kind of small bear (not a Kodiak, but maybe a Brown bear?). It was completely doable and I never felt over my head. Moving the carrier bearing bracket from the old axle to the new axle was super easy, and a pleasure by comparison with the rest of the job. I live in New England, where the car has lived for its 19 year life, so things have a tendency to weather hard. If you live in a more hospitable climate, it should go faster for you than it did for me. I would not hesitate to do the job again if I had to do so.

I was prepared for fluid to come out when I extracted the old axle, but none did. It is apparently hit or miss.

I am destined to find out for myself if the Cardone axle is inferior to the OEM. I put the old axle in the scrap bin at the shop, but perhaps I should have held on to it for rebuilding??? I had no idea that WMW rebuilds them. I never had any pops or clunks to indicate that the joint was bad, but there was plenty of evidence that old grease had spewed everywhere, so I don't think the problem was exactly new on my end. I had thought about buying an inner boot and replacing it, but the old grease, and Mod MINI's video suggesting that the inner boot replacement was fraught with difficulty, suggested that was pointless.

 

so many posts on aftermarket knockoff axles popping out and destroying things like transmissions... Safe for passenger side, but not drivers side

I replace boots unless the axle bearing cups are pitted/worn

 

I replaced a couple boots on my '06 R52 a few years ago. I don't remember much about the process but I was able to do it without a problem. There must have been some videos on YouTube. As was mentioned above, the OEM axle are likely higher quality than most replacement brands out there. My car has over 200k miles and I assume they were the original axles, so its the boots not the axles that are problematic.

 

i replaced inner boots without removing the axles from the car. It was my first time and I thought it was very straight forward. The hardest part for me was getting the clamps on the boots, but a bit of swearing got the job done.