donskeeter

i have not spent much time on this yet, but i noticed grease on my garage floor, under what would be the driver side, a little inside of the front wheel. it looks like a white lithium type of grease, and just looked weird. it was clean looking, almost looked foamy, but that may have had something to do with the rain.

i looked under the car, and i don't see grease all over the place. the amount of grease on the ground was what i would consider substantial, about an 8 inch by 4 inch oval spot. almost looked like was sprayed there with some force, or got there in a liquid state, because grease doesn't usually just drip. maybe it wasn't grease, hell, i don't know, but i'm pretty sure it came from the front end of my 97 a8.

i'm going to crawl under it and check it out better today, but thought i'd get this out for a little feedback, since this forum has helped me out in the past pretty well.

thanks, and i'll check back later.

chenishead

Torn CV boot?

alextimmons

<center><img src="http://www.audipages.com/Tech_Articles/susp_whls_brake_steer/cv12.JPG"></center><p>At any rate, you'll be able to tell by looking right away, especially if it has leaked that much grease out.

Chances are it was a recent tear and the grease packing inside the boot has dripped out.

Does the "substance" in question look at all like the image posted?

escapA8

<center><img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/31455/escapa8_cv_boot_and_speed_sensor.jpg"></center><p>

alextimmons

Or at least SOMETHING to give it superior structural integrity.

donskeeter

i'm heading out to crawl under right now. thanks for the pics everyone. if it isn't the cv boot, i'll be back for sure.

escapA8

Agreed. I have had two or three of these go bad on me the past seven years. Should check mine today.

donskeeter

i crawled under, then took off the wheel for a better look, and the boot is intact. there's old grease thrown around with loads of road grime on it, but nothing fresh at all. and the boot farther up the shaft seems good, also. i can find no point of origin for the white grease substance (i'm thinking i'll take a pic if it happens again, for reference).

i'm wondering if it just came from something else, but it's got me a little nervous. nothing else gets parked in the garage except the audi.

now, when i gave the boots a squeeze, they don't seem to be, i guess you could say, "full". i'm sure i could probably loosen up the clamps somehow, and squirt some additional grease in the boot, but i haven't researched if that is recommmended or not.

thanks again for the assistance.

mpollan

I recently replaced my left front with a Raxle unit - the boot is much beefier than OE FWIW.

mAgnum8

That old grease comes form those boots, the inertia flings it all over the place. If nothing is torn, could be loose clamp. Clean the boots, clean the grease and clean the grease off your garage floor. Go for a drive and park it. Check tomorrow for grease splattered around anywhere.