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Noticed a minor amount of grease escaping from my driver's side drive shaft. Seems like the boot itself is OK, but the grease escapes between the boot and the wheel hub. Passenger side is a bit better but also slightly 'wet'.
Any thoughts on whether this is repairable?
I was planning on driving 1000 km this month spread over each of the weekends. Would you advise against this?
I’ve put new clamps on successfully and leaking stopped. Remove the drive shaft, clean everything, remove the current loose clamp. I’m guessing the clamped end can be rotated a bit on the surface it’s supposed to be tight against to make a seal. Install a new clamp. Clamps can be bought and are included in boot kits. I’ve noticed that the grease in my 18 year old axles has become thinner over time so that likely allows it to escape more easily also. If you’re motivated you could pull the boot back, wipe out a bunch of old thin grease and put new thick grease in there before replacing the clamp.
Rear CV Axles are extremely robust because they don’t have to pivot to steer. All assuming the boot is intact.
Unless you have OCD and this really bothers you, leave it be until the boot tears. Yes, the boot is weeping a little grease/oil but there is a TON of grease still in there. Assuming you're not DIYer, the cost to reboot the axles is pretty high, labor wise. You can DIY a boot replacement for sure and the boot kits are cheap, but the job is time consuming and messy. You also run the risk of having to deal with other "old car" issues as many suspension components must be removed/loosened to get the axle out for servicing. Sometimes these parts, nuts, bolts, are seized or snap off. What was initially going to be a day in the garage and a $50 repair turns into something way more time consuming, costly, and frustrating. You could also replace just the clamp, but you run the risk of damaging the boot when trying to remove clamp. Also, the boot is likely thinned a bit where the clamp is so there's no telling if a new clamp will seal 100% and you'll have the same issue or worse.
For reference, my 2011 Cayman's CV boot seals weep a bit (way worse than yours) at the axle connection at the transmission. Mine actually have flung a little bit of grease. I noticed this when I first got the car 3.5 years ago. I cleaned it up and have monitored it closely. The boots are still relatively clean after 3.5 years and with only some very minor weeping (no grease leakage).
On my 08, no suspension parts need removal to remove the axles. Super easy. Maybe pivot the sway down but that’s just 4 not tight bolts. Big 32mm axle nut of course. Thats no longer intimidating to me.
Mine were slinging grease all the way up to the engine cover and hit the oil cooler. Grease everywhere at the knuckles. Only one of the 4 clamps we’re holding tight. Boots were great.
Last edited by jesseellington; Apr 7, 2026 at 05:27 PM.
Reason: Update thought
On an older car of mine, I noticed the boot on one axle had a small pinhole that turned into a tear about 1cm long. I cleaned it really well and used a bicycle tire tube patch kit over the tear, then black "shoe goo" over that once it cured. Never had an issue for 2+ years until I sold that car. Just an option if you need a quick repair to hold up while you decide what you want to do longer term.
On my 08, no suspension parts need removal to remove the axles. Super easy. Maybe pivot the sway down but that’s just 4 not tight bolts. Big 32mm axle nut of course. Thats no longer intimidating to me.
Mine were slinging grease all the way up to the engine cover and hit the oil cooler. Grease everywhere at the knuckles. Only one of the 4 clamps we’re holding tight. Boots were great.
The only issue here is that the axle nut requires 340 lb/ft of torque and per Porsche, that massive amount of torque is critical to wheel bearing longevity/operation. Not many folks have a 350 lb/ft torque wrenches in their garage. They're not too expensive though for an ok one that won't be used much ($200ish).
On my 08, no suspension parts need removal to remove the axles. Super easy. Maybe pivot the sway down but that’s just 4 not tight bolts. Big 32mm axle nut of course. Thats no longer intimidating to me.
Mine were slinging grease all the way up to the engine cover and hit the oil cooler. Grease everywhere at the knuckles. Only one of the 4 clamps we’re holding tight. Boots were great.
I did something similar when I nicked the boot on a rear control arm when doing the suspension replacement on my Cayman. I cleaned the boot with IPA and then applied a layer of marine grade silicone. Still holding up after almost 2 years.
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Grease leaking from drive shaft
