Hi Everyone.  Well, I thought I would treat our '90 Syncro Westy to a 
Christmas present and get the rear cv-joints cleaned/repacked and 
swapped (left for right).  I was charged for 3.5 hours labour, plus 
grease, etc.  I had the front cv's done last year, and this completes 
maintenance on the joints for a while :)  There's tons of grease in 
those joints!

When I got the van home, I was starting to wash it as the roads 
had a fair amount of salt on them today.  I was flushing out the 
undercarriage, and noticed a *huge* hole in the left front rack and 
pinion boot :(  The boot had become quite distorted.  It looked like 
it had shrunk, and was all twisted.  The boot on the passenger side 
was fine.  Ok, so the van has taken on a twisted personality!  I bet 
I could easily put a quarter  in that hole!  

My dealer doesn't have the boot in stock.  Neither does Toronto, so 
it's coming from California, and should be here by Dec 20..  It costs
$47.00 CDN.  They hope to undo 
the tie-rod from the rack, and preserve the wheel alighnment.  They 
figure 1.5 hours work.  If they have to undo the tie-rod at the ball 
joint, that will be 3.5-4.5 hours including a wheel alignment!  So, 
let's hope the shorter time prevails!!  

So, I have an appointment for Dec 30 to get this work done.  Luckily 
I noticed this tear.  The van has been-retired since the end of 
September and I am confident that these  boots were OK then, as I 
always flush the undercarriage when I wash the van and would have 
noticed this.  Any ideas as to why these boots would distort like this?? 
The van is garage kept.

Harry.
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Harry Yates, Langley, BC, Canada
'90 Syncro Westfalia www:   http://www.bcit.bc.ca/~hyates
'87 Golf Diesel      email: hyates@bcit.bc.ca
'91 Miata (Millie)