7 replies to this topic

[Omighty Mini One]

Hey All,
Recently i have installed new inner pot joints and a maniflow LCB to my 95 Spi mini. all was well until the gaitor had splitt and cracked on the drivers side(about a month after installing) and grease and oil was leaking everywhere! My uncle helped me put on a new gaitor on and used a a much thicker gaitor (better then mini sport rubbish) and packed it up with as much grease as possible and all is fine for now. Our concern is that the new lcb pipe is so close to the drivers side inner pot joint, the heat is slowly melting the grease/ gaitor and on long journeys (well 10 miles or so) you can start to here the joint cease alitlle then be fine !
i dont want to run the risk of driving a long journey with it failing again!
We were trying to think of ideas to try and shield it but havent really got any ideas so the brains of the mini forum to come to the rescue!

Many Thanks
James

[Guess-Works.com]

First, you should not 'pack' the CV full of grease, it needs room to move and expand... grease will be pushed into the pot boot and will serve no further useful purpose other than working it's way out of the boot under pressure.

When you buy a boot there should be a little pouch of grease supplied, this is plenty for a CV.

Now the LCB... this should have a strap connected to it which is connected to a bracket on the o/s diff cover.. this should allow correct positioning of the LCB and also will prevent movement of said LCB in relation to the engine.... if the bottom of the LCB is not secured then not only will there be a danger of it rubbing on rotational componanents but also splitting at the joint where no1 and 4 exhausts meet.

[Dan]

As much grease as possible? REALLY bad idea. There is a specified amount and type of grease for a CV joint, the inner pot joints need 3cc I seem to remember, but I can check. It's roughly half the sachet that usually comes with one, and that's the amount for a dry and empty joint. If you add grease to a part full joint you need to take into account ho wmuch is in there. As the grease heats, by the motion of the parts inside the joint, it expands. There must be room for the grease and the air inside the joint to expand, if you have crammed it full then it's no surprise it's locking up. Joints get plenty hot just by their own action, the heat from the LCB wouldn't normally damage the gaiter or the grease if the right type is used as long as there is some air space around it, plenty of cooling air will flow around it in use.

[Cooperman]

Re: grease, as above.
The heat from the LCB is not an established problem and there really are a lot of Min is out there with LCBs and no problams. If you are still worried you could always buy some exhaust wrap tape and apply it locally to that area, but don't apply it too far as the tape has been known to cause other issues.

[smileytony]

One thing I've noticed is that when fitting new gaiters it's very easy to think the joint is clean and ready, whereas it's still quite greasy, thus when you fit the new joint it still slips. Make sure you thinners it well before fitting.

Also I prefer the joints that don't use plastic cable ties. the metal wrap arounds are far superior in my opinion - a bugger to fit and you will end up with sliced fingers but they just don't seem to move as much!

[Omighty Mini One]

oh learn something new about a mini every day! the Lcb is fimrly in place and the bracket is attached sercurely. i will have to check with my uncle exactly how much grease as he fitted it. I know mini-sport pot joints have a bad rep atm. i think i will just go for another make (minispares) and start again!

thanks for help

[smileytony]

That reminds me I bought a MiniSport one end of last year and could I get it over the output shaft? Could I heck! I even tested with the C clip removed and it still wouldn't go on. As soon as it started it just locked up, no matter what position I tried it in.

Bought one from MiniSpares and it was on in seconds...

[glyn]

minisport are aware they have a problem with there pot joints! if you go back with your broken pot joint the y will replace it (i managed to get some replacement rubbers as well) there replacement rubbers are from a different supplier so are ok and wont split with in 3 months. ggrrrrrr minisport (rant over)