When i changed my brake pads and turned my rotors i realized thiers ALOT of grease stuck on the side of the caliper..and itsfrom my half shaft. im on i tight tight tight budget so changing a half shaft is a dreadful idea but what cud happen if i let it go too long?? is it one of those things you can let go?

pretty much u need a new one or need to get it re booted. if u let it go to long it will break

sounds bad

Ive been down this road before, not fun. when I bought my GSX, the boot on the front left axle was completely gone. apparently it had been like that for quite some time, because all the old grease has formed a solid crust on the joint itself. the odd thing was, it worked just fine. i noticed no ticking or scraping coming from that joint. there is a saying that the worst thing you can do after so many years of buildup is to remove the grime off of something. well, stupid me, i got in there and tried to clean the joint up. big mistake. all the excess grime went into the joint when i tried to clean it, making the joint seize. thats when i had to replace it.

you can try to replace it yourself, but when i tried replacing my axle, i couldnt get transmission end of the shaft out. i ended up cutting the inside boot and taking the joint out, then driving (3wd ftw) to a shop to have them get the rest out. not fun.

it will eventually go out or seize like he said you should try to repair the boot if possible or buy new boot they are like 20 or 30 dollars.

Yeah I tried doing that today!This is sad i pay hundreds of dollars a year to attend evit and my teacher refuses to teach me how to re-pack a boot or figure it out myself on school time. urgg if anyone pays for evit dont pay for the teacher mr.suprak! :offtopic: ..i just off topiced myself

Anyways thanks i didnt know it could like completely sieze up i picture that being a disaster so ill change it

good thinkin better off that way. and ur in school for automotive? thats cool what is ur main study? i mean u learnin a lil of every thing or just motor or body work?

Happened to me on two different 1st gens. My first one happened on the highway. Had it replaced for like 170 total.

2nd time is my project 1.8. Driver's side blew out long before I bought it. They're not too bad to replace on your own. One easy way is to remove everything on that side and pop the entire assembly out. Leave the axle connected to the assembly and remove the boot on the trans.

After all is said and done, remove the knuckle on the trans side, remove the old boots completely and clean with a lint free rag. Now take the boot for the wheel side and slide it on, pack with grease and slide into place. Put the bands on (make sure they're tight) and that is good to go.

Now slide the trans side boot on. Put the knuckle back on (Make sure it's clean man) and then reassemble everything. Once everything is back together, crawl underneth the car and pack the boot with grease, put the bands on and make sure everything is tight.

If you got the time, know-how, and tools, it shouldn't take more than a few hours. This is the same way I did my project on both sides and it was a hell of a lot easier than popping the nut and everything else off the wheel side.

Good luck.

Sorry, one more thing. If you don't have the time or money, buy some axle grease and repack it every week or so.