CV axle - Sign of leak and likely eventual failure

[Fibrepunk]

2023 XLT Hybrid
- 6,300 miles
- Passenger side showing minor leak
- Driver side no sign of any leak

Passenger side:

- Driver Side:

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[Derwood]

I'm

2023 XLT Hybrid
- 6,300 miles
- Passenger side showing minor leak
- Driver side no sign of any leak

Passenger side:

- Driver Side:

I'm no mechanic but wondering if any preventative maintenance can be done to avoid this issue? Any thoughts here would be appreciated

 

[Fibrepunk]

I'm

I'm no mechanic but wondering if any preventative maintenance can be done to avoid this issue? Any thoughts here would be appreciated

After some look-ups, here is a useful link with some info on it: Link for ref

 

[NoVaJimmy]

This is exactly how my failure started. About two thousand miles after I first noticed I started getting the shimmy at highway speeds. Dealer replaced both half shafts and then about ten thousand miles later I started getting the shimmy again with minor seepage so I sold the Maverick. Hopefully Ford figures it out. I will say that even at stock height the CV angles are borderline extreme. I have a 2" lift on my Lexus GX and the CV angles are less than five degrees compared to about fifteen degrees that my Maverick had at stock height.

 

[Mr Pibb]

I'm

I'm no mechanic but wondering if any preventative maintenance can be done to avoid this issue? Any thoughts here would be appreciated

It looks like the boot is shifting and allowing the leak.

 

[Darnon]

It looks like the boot is shifting and allowing the leak.

Or just not enough tension from the Oetiker clamp.

 

[smoreho2]

2023 XLT Hybrid
- 6,300 miles
- Passenger side showing minor leak
- Driver side no sign of any leak

Passenger side:

- Driver Side:

What was your manufactured month and year on your mav??

 

[Ford Motor Company]

2023 XLT Hybrid
- 6,300 miles
- Passenger side showing minor leak
- Driver side no sign of any leak

Passenger side:

- Driver Side:

Hi there! If you send over a DM with your VIN and Ford dealer info, I can look into your concerns on my end.

 

[HeyBales]

This is exactly how my failure started. About two thousand miles after I first noticed I started getting the shimmy at highway speeds. Dealer replaced both half shafts and then about ten thousand miles later I started getting the shimmy again with minor seepage so I sold the Maverick. Hopefully Ford figures it out. I will say that even at stock height the CV angles are borderline extreme. I have a 2" lift on my Lexus GX and the CV angles are less than five degrees compared to about fifteen degrees that my Maverick had at stock height.

Now that's interesting info.
Wrong CV shaft for the angles probably.

Or if already at extreme of acceptable range for CVJ - does the type of driving cause too much beyond the line, causing premature failure for some?

Curious if the part number used on other Ford models?
Appears to be NZ6Z-3B436-C / 437-B.
Probably not for shaft lengths, though the internal joint may indeed be on vehicles with less angle to bear.

I sure hope not a case of an engineer told to find already existing hardware to reuse on the truck, saw these CVJ angle limits covered what was needed, but failed to notice only when sitting on the ground non-moving.

Now you got me curious what is typical angle for F150's. Or Escapes might be better compare.

Jimmy - you have any off road/gravel road/ pot-hole roads frequently traversed before you sold it?

 

[HeyBales]

It has been a long time since I've actually opened up a CVJ boot, on '90's Mercury/Mazda before 2000 I think, the grease was pretty thick where undisturbed, it wasn't a problem of it flinging out so much on it's own, but rather water/dirt getting in there thinning it out causing enough to fling out that caused an issue. Not sure if that was Ford part or Mazda part at the time.
The Ford & Mercury cars after that had no CVJ issues, over 160K miles each. Though I probably shortened life of one dealing with stupid bearing.

Is it still thick grease, or thinner now?

Those are clamps that can be retightened, right?
Though if grease is still thick normally, but has started to come out, perhaps water has already been getting inside for awhile to cause that to occur.

 

[NoVaJimmy]

It has been a long time since I've actually opened up a CVJ boot, on '90's Mercury/Mazda before 2000 I think, the grease was pretty thick where undisturbed, it wasn't a problem of it flinging out so much on it's own, but rather water/dirt getting in there thinning it out causing enough to fling out that caused an issue. Not sure if that was Ford part or Mazda part at the time.
The Ford & Mercury cars after that had no CVJ issues, over 160K miles each. Though I probably shortened life of one dealing with stupid bearing.

Is it still thick grease, or thinner now?

Those are clamps that can be retightened, right?
Though if grease is still thick normally, but has started to come out, perhaps water has already been getting inside for awhile to cause that to occur.

My take, it's not a grease issue, it's a borderline extreme CV angle issue which is pushing the grease out of the boots.

 

[NoVaJimmy]

Now that's interesting info.
Wrong CV shaft for the angles probably.

Or if already at extreme of acceptable range for CVJ - does the type of driving cause too much beyond the line, causing premature failure for some?

Curious if the part number used on other Ford models?
Appears to be NZ6Z-3B436-C / 437-B.
Probably not for shaft lengths, though the internal joint may indeed be on vehicles with less angle to bear.

I sure hope not a case of an engineer told to find already existing hardware to reuse on the truck, saw these CVJ angle limits covered what was needed, but failed to notice only when sitting on the ground non-moving.

Now you got me curious what is typical angle for F150's. Or Escapes might be better compare.

Jimmy - you have any off road/gravel road/ pot-hole roads frequently traversed before you sold it?

Did plenty of fire roads while camping and mountain biking. Did a lot of the same roads with my escape that I owned before the Mav and never had issues. Vehicle was on stock suspension.

 

[FunctionSpec]

My take, it's not a grease issue, it's a borderline extreme CV angle issue which is pushing the grease out of the boots.

I think you're right about the extreme CV angle pushing grease out of the boot. This is on jack stands with wheels off the ground. As you can see my CV boot is leaking a bit of grease and getting flinged around. This is on the passenger side. Driver side is fine for now but still got an extreme angle on the CV joint. Not good.

 

[Redline]

That seems like something we should all keep an eye on. I wonder if my Tremor is exempt from this issue since it's a different setup?

 

[Fibrepunk]

That seems like something we should all keep an eye on. I wonder if my Tremor is exempt from this issue since it's a different setup?

You can always look at the CV axles and see if there is any sign of leak? Or better yet, snap a few pictures for your record and snap a few more pictures after you put on some mileages. Hopefully there is no sign of leakage.

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