CV boot ripped after ~6 months. Anyone know why?

[Trouble Maker]

It's a 2000 Audi S4 for reference.

 

So I took my car in to get the FLCA recall checked and they say "They look fine, but you have two CV boots split open." So they tell me that they are both front outer. I just replaced the passengers side front outer about six months ago.

 

My question is what could cause this to happen? I would just like to possible eliminate this happening again so I don't have to do it a third time on the passengers side, or a second time on the drivers side later this summer. Especially with how much of a PITA it was to get the joint apart. It was kind of frozen, took a ton of beating to get apart. I only hope they come apart like they are supposed to this time, because other than that and it being very messy, it wasn't a hard job.

 

FYI, There are no vibrations or noises coming from the car at any speeds. There wern't last time either. I caught the boot last time within a month window and there was no joint damage as far as I could tell. I don't think there is this time, but I'll obviously have to take them apart first to check.

 

One more question. There was some heat signature marks, some bluing, on the outer part of the joint when I replaced the other boot. I was thinking that it might be damaged. But it showed no signs of being damaged before or any time after I replaced the boot. I just looked at a picture of the front outer joint kit on ECS, it looked exactly like that. Do they (cv joints) come like this?

 

http://www.ecstuning.com/stage/images/product/iadmin/2430_x600.jpg

 

TIA

[grease monkey]

every c/v boot i've done almost always has some discoloration. as long as it's not making any noise, and is not loose, i'd just replace the boot. I know that on some mopars, cough ** (biggest piles of shit ever) ** cough if the motor mounts are not lined up properly the drive shaft angle will not be correct, and it can cause some strange problems, like torn boots, and odd noises, so on and so fourth.

[Tractor]

I can't think of a good reason the boot would tear on a car unless it was installed improperly or there is some type of vibration or something. A defect in the boot could have also been the reason. Now if it was a 4x4 I'd tell ya to keep it out of the green colored mudholes.

 

Evan

[Guest Removed]

Normal!

[Guest racinbird]

Check for broken/torn engine mount, If the drivetrain is moving too much it could cause extra tension on the CV boot by pulling it away from the hub assembly, causing it to tear. Just a thought, unless it wasnt installed properly...ie streched too tight

[martindc1]

That blue color is probably heat treating colors. When I changed the boot for my truck I cut the boot with the clamp and had to re-do the job. Also maybe there was too much air in the boot, dirt in the folds, or like others have said too much stress on the boot from because of another problem.

[grease monkey]

Jesse, if you want some help when you go to repair it, again, you have my number, as long as you got some cold ones in the fridge, I'd be more than happy to help ya!

[Trouble Maker]

Jesse, if you want some help when you go to repair it, again, you have my number, as long as you got some cold ones in the fridge, I'd be more than happy to help ya!

 

Werd, I can definitely do it, but an extra set of hands wouldn't hurt.

 

Like I said, the only thing that was remotely hard about which was a PITA was getting the joint off of the axle to put the new boot on. It didn't come off like it was supposed to.

 

Thanks for all of the advice guys. I haven't noticed any excessive driveline lash, but the tranny mounts are deffinitley known to go bad, so I will check them. I'm not too adverse to the idea that it could have been a bad part, I improperly installed it, or something else wrong. I'm mainly trying to figure out why that could have happened because I don't want to have to do the right one a third time, or the left one a second time another few months down the road.