Changing spark plugs, found a torn CV boot
 

how serious is this? how could this have happened? is it an easy DIY?

If you address this quickly, it shouldn't be a hard/expensive fix. If you let it go, eventually the joint will run out of lubricant and you'll need a whole new joint.

I my experience, CV boots are genrally tough. If the other side in is good shape (give it a close look), my guess this that some road debris probably initiated the tear.

firstly this looked like it just happened when you jacked up the car. There is no cv grease anywhere, it would have sprayed everywhere at speed.
As a rule CV joints are easy , just very messy. It is definitely a possible DIY job but your car will be out of commision for a little while as you cannot drive the car.

it looks pretty straight forward from the pic but you would need advise from Boxster specialist, but in a nut shell.

1. undo the 6 hex bolts you see against the inner flange.
2. undo the same 6 bolts on the outer flange.
3. drop the half axle out, go work on a bench , take apart cv joint
4. slide on new boot, ( I would do both ) regrease joint
5. reinstall half axle.

Oh, **** you are right...I jacked up one side of the car at a time to do the sparkplugs...I bet I ripped both sides.....****. I am an idiot.

not realy , this could have happened on the road .. think yourself very lucky that you just need a boot. What I don't know on a boxster is if it i a stub axle that goes right through the hub, this could be more work. Get a Bentley and check it out or wait for a boxster guy .. but good to check the other side.

I've never seen a CV boot rip just from jacking up the car.......

Absolutely correct, they are designed to take a ton more abuse than a simple topping out of the suspension travel entails.

I agree that this must have just happened, the lack of grease spray is a dead giveaway. When you re-install the axle make absolutely sure you get the bolts through the CV into the drive flanges tight enough (you might even want to put Loctite on them). This is a notoriously frequent point of failure for DIYers (you do not want those bolts coming out).

Eric

If you do it yourself there are a few tips . when you put it back get 6 extra bolts ( you should really replace them anyway ) . After it is all back together take your bolts out again one at a time, spray brake cleaner in the bolt hole or use a test tube cleaner with brake cleaner. and put in a new bolt. This stops the bolts from backing out due to CV grease in the bolt hole, then recheck after 3,000 miles , I had one back out and another finger tight. After I retorqued everything was fine.

alright, so I did not damage it jacking it up. now I feel less like an idiot. I will replace both boots on the the drivers side. I am going to order the parts this week. I will leave the car parked until then.

jUST TAKE YOUR TIME AND YOU WILL BE FINE .. BUT i DO DISAGREE WITH THE ABOVE POSTERS AND HAVE SEEN THIS MANY TIMES .....oops caps lock ..
Yes the boot is designed for that travel but as age and heat get to the boot it can become britle and has a vastly reduced range of motion , and the action of jacking a car can and will tear a boot that is old. As I said it was actually good you caught it this way, the cost of a couple of boots and some sweat equity.

Good luck and post some pics of your progress.

will do. I remember the old service records showed a boot had been replaced before. I will check at what miles that happened.

alright, this sunday I am going to be doing the repair with some PCA friends and a lift. I was looking for an "Axle Puller" which one of these do I need? http://www.autozone.com/in_our_store...pecialized.htm

what about any special CV boot tools? http://www.autozone.com/in_our_store...wheel_axle.htm

Never done a boxster so not sure, but I sure didn't need any special tools for my 944, Audi , or 911.

Pelican may have more info if you do not get a response here.

I was just checking this out as it is a slow night and you have a couple of possibilities.

1.To take the half axle out you will need to take the axle nut off and knock out the stub axle from the wheel. Not an overly difficult take but the wheel axlle nut could be on with about 300lbs of torque ( I ended up putting the wrench on and backing up the car as i am only 165lbs. ) the car raised a litle and the wrench popped the nut off. Not wise but ya gotta do what ya gotta do .
or option B .

because it is you inner you could jack the car up , take off the inner bolts and see if the axle will drop enough to give you room to work , then you undo the clip, knock the cv joint off, take off the old boot, slide the new one on , put your cv joint back on and bolt her up .. It is more akward to work that way but if you can do it , you won't have to bugger around with the stub axle. Just your 6 hex bolts.

I have a friend that has a large breaker bar to get that nut off the end. Also I rented some kind of a slide hammer/axle puller thing from Autozone. 986 forums has a writeup I was going to use.

ice, I did my 944 too. The axles were a lot easier to remove on that car!