Axle boots

I've got a leak in the boot on my driver side axle. The one that is connected to the trans. All the bolts are tight and when I squeeze the boot I can hear air seeping out. I wiped off a bunch of globs of axle grease off the engine fork while I had it up on the lift today. Is there some way to reseal it? What do I do?

Mickey......Generaly speaking, if it's leaking, it's shot.....
I'm assuming you have the factory type unsplit type, secured with the crimp on clamps at each end......There is no practical way to tighten the clamps, and if you have a hole in the "rubber", it's time consuming to properly clean the area for repair with silicone rubber....It's not very pretty either.

The quickest, simplest fix is the "split boot"....Just don't over tighten the screws that seal the split.....Replacing with factory type boots isn't that hard, just time consuming....

Hope this helps....

Do you have swing axle or IRS? The split boot works with swing axle.

Eather one is not to bad..You pull the Irs axle and take it a part and replace both boots May as well..

The split boot is fine for swings. But I. like to put the split straight up. when the car is stored its less likely to seap.

IRS ones are easy to replace - just dirty job cleaning out old black grease. Buy good quality boots - the India one dry rot in year or so. Most come with new water proof grease. Do your old ones even have the clamps on them? Many install without them or use hose clamps.

Mickey, you have IRS axles. If you remove the axle, you can replace the boot, and grease the CV at the same time. It is a messy job, but you can do it. Check www.vwresource.com for a detailed description of IRS axle repair,boot replacement, etc. One thing to check. Your car has CV joint grease in the boots. It is thick grease, not lube oil. If you are getting what looks like gear oil leaking, your trans may have a leak at the diff. housing. Usually a small pinhole will not let much CV grease out. The VWRESOURCE site discusses the leaking of trans oil into the dust boot from the trans. See the discussion on IRS dust boots at that site. If I have managed to completely confuse you, PM me and I'll try to clarify. As long as you are getting filthy with the CV joint, just do them all, then you are good for a few years!

Thanks guys.
I'll look for new boot(s). I DO have IRS. And yes, I recall what a messy job it is to do them. I'm a little ticked because these are the boots that came on the NEW axles I put on when I narrowed the rear this summer. I had to buy new axles (T3 Semi Auto Driver side). I'm not looking forward to taking them off, greasing, ect... again, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do.
I'm not going to be driving it much between now and springtime, is this something that can wait? Can I just shoot some grease in there to get me by until I have to time to do it? What is the likelyhood of doing damage to the cv joints?

As long as no dirt enters the boot, but run in the rain and have road splash, you're going to be replacing the CV joint too.
~Alan

If those were bought new this summer, I would remove the axle, return it to the vendor for a good one.