Help needed

[ozspearo]

Hi all,

I had the car (02 S, 46k miles) on the hoist today to do an oil change so decided to have a good look around underneath for the first time since buying it 6 months ago. With my very limited knowledge I was mainly looking for the obvious. I found two things of concern;

1) The RMS appears to have a very slight leak, not enough for it to be leaving oil on the garage floor, but the area around the RMS has oil on it where it has seeped out. I've read the multitude of posts on this but my question is..how much is too much? Is this small amount of oil telling me it's about to get very bad, or is it something that could go for years without getting worse?

2) I don't know what they're called (maybe drive axle or drive shaft boot?) but the rubber boots just inboard of the rear wheels are both badly split. I know this is not good but I want to know if the boots can be replaced or do I have to replace the whole drive axle? (For those with a Bentley manual the boot is shown clearly in the last photo on page 42-4).

I have pics of both problems but can't figure out how to attach them to this post. I can email them if anyone thinks they might help in giving some advice.

Thanks in advance.

-Scott

[funster]

I also have an 02 S and have done the drive shaft boot replacement. It's not too bad of a job. I might suggest that you also replace the wheel bearings while you've got it apart if they haven't been recently done because it's not that much more to take apart. I bought the boot kits at my local import store and they were about $20 a piece and the bearings were about$50 a piece. It cost $40 a side to have a machine shop swap the bearings in the hubs. Doing everything took about 8 hours of my time which spanned over two days. I'm sure more experienced people could do it faster.

[ozspearo]

Thanks Funster. I'll start sourcing parts tomorrow. I have a friend who is very competent at this stuff so I'll get him to give me a hand. I'm glad it sounds better than the $500+ job I was originally picturing.

Cheers,

-Scott

[ozspearo]

Can anyone confirm this is the kit I need?

https://www.************************************************************/search/product.aspx?sid=qk1tfx2biyfg1yj34purpl45&makeid=800019@Porsche&modelid=1388358@BOXSTER%20S&year=2001&cid=17@Drivetrain%20Parts&gid=2285@CV%20Boot%20Kit

Thanks.

-Scott

[choeglund]

Unless you have a warranty, I wouldn't mess with the RMS until it gets worse. Just check your oil level periodically.

[funster]

That looks just like the kit I used it's the same one for all 4 boots. The driveshaft disassembles at the inner boot by removing the lockring then sliding off the inner cv joint. you can then slide the boot from the outer cv joint up the driveshaft. You'll have to disassemble the control arms to remove the driveshaft. ( it is at this point that you can remove two bolts, unplug a sensor, and disconnect the pin to the ebrake to get the hub out if you are doing the bearing)