Why grease leaking onto my wheel?

Boxster driving is fun.

[flmont]

I sure would not know,..But could it be it's missing a seal of some sort or its to much grease. ?

[particlewave]

I’ve seen this problem many times: IMS (Incompetent Mechanic Syndrome).

[JayG]

There are CV boot replacement kits. Unless the CV went dry or got a lot of dirt in it it is likely they can be rebuilt and not have to replace the axle

[The Radium King]

umm, look at the corrosion on the axle - doesn't look like it has been replaced three times recently. looks like the boot may have been changed - did you pay $900 to change a cv boot?

[particlewave]

Originally Posted by The Radium King

umm, look at the corrosion on the axle - doesn't look like it has been replaced three times recently. looks like the boot may have been changed - did you pay $900 to change a cv boot?

Exactly.

The grease looks like it’s coming from further out.

Boxster driving is fun.

[jonogt6]

Originally Posted by 100percent

Thanks for looking at this guys. I actually have the old axles. I took them with me after the repair. So unless he gave me somebody else’s old axles, then he did change them out.

Anybody else have an idea where the grease may be coming from?

Id be very worried why they'd gone so rusty! Mine are 20yrs old and look nothing like that even with British winters.

[Starter986]

Seriously... I'd be taking it to another mechanic and ask, "Are those new axles".

If the reply is not affirmative... We're getting you $900 back.

[78F350]

I recently bought two new axles from Rock Auto for an 80s VW. One was marked as a "manufacturer's closeout" and was priced at about 1/10th the cost of a genuine, new VW part. The axle arrive unpainted with some rust spots on it "new". The axle for the other side was good quality, new, and priced a lot higher.

If your axle was a new part, I expect it was a cheap knock-off made of Chinesium rather than an OEM $900 part. Someone saved money and it wasn't you.

Boxster driving is fun.

[blue62]

Originally Posted by 100percent

Hi Guys. Thanks for sharing. Please let’s not get caught in the rabbit hole of speculation regarding if the axles were changed. I have the set of original axles that were removed. The $900 cost was refunded for the problem axle because they couldn’t stop the grease from leaking. Now I just want to focus on why it keeps leaking grease, and where it is coming from.

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[steved0x]

If you still have your original OEM Porsche axles, can you post some photos of those axles and show where the grease is coming from?

My recommendation would be to get new grease and boots on those axles, and reinstall them.

My Boxster axles were leaking grease out of the axle vent hole due to heat from tracking, I cleaned them out with kerosense and then acetone, repacked with Redline CV-2 high temp grease, new boots, and they have been great ever since, no more leaking.

[Starter986]

Originally Posted by 100percent

... let’s not get caught in the rabbit hole of speculation...

You're ****************ing with us, right? Half the stuff you read on here is based upon speculation.

How do you know the axles returned to you came from your car?

Best wishes on identifying that grease leak.

[blue62]

After looking at some pics of rear axle assemblies there does not appear to be a seal at the inboard end of the axle.
StevedOx's assessment of grease coming from the vent hole makes much more sense.

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Boxster driving is fun.

Boxster driving is fun.

[Starter986]

Originally Posted by 100percent

I knew eventually the unhelpful conspiracy theorists would show up and bomb or troll my post. This is unfortunate.

I have no reason to believe the conspiracy theory that the axles were not changed. The Porsche Indy shop flat bedded my car to the shop after the new axle was leaking. Do you really think they would spend all the effort of flat bedding my car, garaging my car 3 times to tell me they changed the leaking axle, texting me pics of the pulled axle, giving me the original old axles, and then refunding my money when I asked to cut ties with them? Seriously. Yet, I’m sure there are still ppl who will insist the shop didn’t change the axles, and spent all this time and effort, so they could make a whopping $900. That’s your prerogative. Please don’t post on my thread if that is you.

Im concerned with the leaking grease due to mechanic incompetence or some unique problem, and not a conspiracy theory. The shop was taken over by a family relative. I learned this after the fact.

Please let’s ignore unhelpful posts, and keep on topic.

Conspiracy theory? You had your car garaged three times and the indy still couldn't fix it? The second time I would have found a new mechanic. Those rose colored glasses won't last forever.

No one insisted on anything... just giving consideration to a variety of scenarios. But, for some people who live in a world where no one gets screwed by their mechanic, I suppose it's better to have their head buried up their, er, buried in the sand.

$900 is $900. And, $900 later the mechanics still couldn't figure it out. smh

Good luck on finding out what is the problem.

Good day.

[The Radium King]

geez. it's been weeks since i've been called a conspiracy theorist. how depressing. well, you're obviously smarter than the rest of us, so i'll add my comments for the rest of the unwashed masses as you already know the answer you want to hear and appear to want to yell down anyone who tells you otherwise.

i've never seen a porsche axle rust like that so quickly. a search of this forum shows multiple threads on axles going bad, especially on the s due to the longer transmission and bigger offset between transmission flange and wheel carrier. when faced with the failure, most folks (not the smart ones though, apparently) avoid the $900 per axle cost when there are less expensive fixes available.

first, repair the existing axle. typically the axle doesn't go bad, just one of the cv boots tear and if left open long enough (by fools who don't perform proper maintenance on their car) grit can get in and degrade the cv (constant velocity joint, but of course you know that). there are two, and one is more repairable than the other.

if your current axle isn't repairable (and typically a torn boot is just a regrease and replace the boot situation, not an $1800 replacement situation) then buy a used axle off ebay or whereever and rebuild it. again, much cheaper than $900 per side.

finally, there are the 'jobber' axles. $100 per side, but pure garbage. pure garbage. they rust right away, they leak grease, they don't have the same articulation as the oem units. made of unamerican chinese steel.

so, perhaps your indy did buy two $900 axles, and is warrantying them every time you come back, and they are rusting immediately upon installation. or perhaps your indy bought some cheap jobber axles, or used axles, and is trying to repair them every time you bring them back. note that the cv that is leaking in your case is sealed; the only place grease should/could be coming from is the vent, however it is on the other side of the wheel carrier at the end of the axle and you would see grease behind the centre cap. looking at the pics, it looks like the dust cap is coming off the cv (it's at a bit of an angle). how unfortunate that porsche sent your honest indy THREE axles with bad dust caps.

but you knew all that, right?

[78F350]

Why grease leaking onto my wheel?

100percent: Forget the price, the shop, how many times it was replaced, who is at fault, and your personal feelings. That looks like a defective axle and not one built to Porsche OEM standard. Take your car to a dealership. Have it replaced correctly and it will not leak grease.

For future readers: This grease looks like it is leaking from the crimp seal rather than the boot. If it is like that new, it was either made from improper materials or poorly crimped. You can buy a new axle for about 1/10th the price of a Porsche axle, but it will likely have problems exactly like the one displayed by the OP.
A 'good' axle will wear out at the rubber boot. The boot will eventually crack and leak grease. Like TRK said, replace the boot in a timely manner and the axle will be fine. The other 'normal' place for grease to leak is from the clamps after the boot has been replaced. -From too much grease, clamps placed improperly, or the wrong grease being used.




...that's enough Forum time for today, I have cars to work on.