CV joint failure, why exactly?
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Joined: Apr 2003
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From: Temple City
So, lets say you are going to replace the entire thing with an OEM axle ($800). Easy to do than other options but expensive. It seems replacing the factory grease with something better would prolong the life of those new cups. Or, would you just trust Honda with better grease at this point?
Would the august members of this forum recommend changing the OEM grease anyway (for those who have not experienced symptoms) to prolong the life of the cups?
Would the august members of this forum recommend changing the OEM grease anyway (for those who have not experienced symptoms) to prolong the life of the cups?
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Joined: Apr 2003
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From: Temple City
So as an added note, I saw pitting on one of mine after I did a bucket swap and switched to redline and this occurred in about 10,000 miles 
. I see no more protection from redline than Valvoline or even OEM. Actually, whatever was in mine from the day I bought it, which I assume was OEM since the cups had not been pitted before, seemed to last the longest. Granted, I only see pitting when doing hard launches which I do not do a lot, but did at a practice event recently and ended up pitting one, which I had swapped to redline grease.
Furthermore, I noticed that while the grease that moved around in the joint had changed color from red to darker, all of the grease on the end of the joint was brand new looking. This means it is NOT moving around in the joint very well. This leads me to think that it holding up its thickness, which some are saying is better, is not so good as the grease tends not to move around in the joint as well.
So while mine pitted under hard use (Which likely is the only reason these will pit like that) I see no evidence the redline stuff protected mine any better and feel this is always going to be an issue, especially as the CV buckets wear and they loosen up, allowing more slack when applying a heavy load. Ensuring you preload the diff and axles a bit before launching is likely a lot more key than the grease used.
. I see no more protection from redline than Valvoline or even OEM. Actually, whatever was in mine from the day I bought it, which I assume was OEM since the cups had not been pitted before, seemed to last the longest. Granted, I only see pitting when doing hard launches which I do not do a lot, but did at a practice event recently and ended up pitting one, which I had swapped to redline grease.Furthermore, I noticed that while the grease that moved around in the joint had changed color from red to darker, all of the grease on the end of the joint was brand new looking. This means it is NOT moving around in the joint very well. This leads me to think that it holding up its thickness, which some are saying is better, is not so good as the grease tends not to move around in the joint as well.
So while mine pitted under hard use (Which likely is the only reason these will pit like that) I see no evidence the redline stuff protected mine any better and feel this is always going to be an issue, especially as the CV buckets wear and they loosen up, allowing more slack when applying a heavy load. Ensuring you preload the diff and axles a bit before launching is likely a lot more key than the grease used.
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From: Temple City
i'm not particularly loyal to redline grease. the redline grease had to come out when i was diagnosing a vibration (which ended up being a loose pinion nut on the diff), and i put in mobil 1 grease. that's how i was able to gather my evidence and compare with oem grease. both greases went 80K+ miles. huge difference visually, and physically as oem grease was vibrating and redline never did.
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What this demonstrates is that we do not have enough information to say one grease is better or if any grease will prevent this. We do not and really cannot have a controlled experiment now without someone spending a lot of money to do it.
Both of mine happened immediately after a day of hard launches. But, I cannot say that was the ROOT cause since normal wear could have already gotten them close to the edge of failure. But launching at nearly 6000 rpm with hard clutch release IS going to put more strain on them and likely did put the final nail in their coffin so to speak.
One was on very, very old grease (OE for all I know) and one was only 10,000 miles after using Redline. But, again, lots of wear on those cups, some harsh use, still not enough to know for certain. May have happened with any grease, or may not have.
I am not saying Redline is bad, I think their products are good. I am just saying there is no definitive proof here that it outperforms the others. We have what, 20 or less accounts from people on here, some having better luck with some grease and others with some other? You have had a long time on Redline, mine pitted after 10k, but with harsh use. Just not enough controlled data to make a definitive conclusion.
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From: Munich - Germany
Will it hurt anything to replace the grease from time to time and if i do, use some better grease like Redline? No?
Redline gives you the test data of the grease, the ASTM wear test. "Typical Properties" : https://www.redlineoil.com/cv-2-grease
Unfortunaly, you can´t find this data from all other grease manufacturers. Some give it to you, some dont. Some use other tests. Makes it hard to compare the greases against each other.
Redline gives you the test data of the grease, the ASTM wear test. "Typical Properties" : https://www.redlineoil.com/cv-2-grease
Unfortunaly, you can´t find this data from all other grease manufacturers. Some give it to you, some dont. Some use other tests. Makes it hard to compare the greases against each other.
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From: Temple City
It was in there and I used the proper amount of grease. I seriously doubt it was fake. I am guessing color change had to do with grease trapped in the bearings, under the splines on the shaft ,etc that did not come out when cleaning and just mixed with the red grease.
What this demonstrates is that we do not have enough information to say one grease is better or if any grease will prevent this. We do not and really cannot have a controlled experiment now without someone spending a lot of money to do it.
Both of mine happened immediately after a day of hard launches. But, I cannot say that was the ROOT cause since normal wear could have already gotten them close to the edge of failure. But launching at nearly 6000 rpm with hard clutch release IS going to put more strain on them and likely did put the final nail in their coffin so to speak.
One was on very, very old grease (OE for all I know) and one was only 10,000 miles after using Redline. But, again, lots of wear on those cups, some harsh use, still not enough to know for certain. May have happened with any grease, or may not have.
I am not saying Redline is bad, I think their products are good. I am just saying there is no definitive proof here that it outperforms the others. We have what, 20 or less accounts from people on here, some having better luck with some grease and others with some other? You have had a long time on Redline, mine pitted after 10k, but with harsh use. Just not enough controlled data to make a definitive conclusion.
What this demonstrates is that we do not have enough information to say one grease is better or if any grease will prevent this. We do not and really cannot have a controlled experiment now without someone spending a lot of money to do it.
Both of mine happened immediately after a day of hard launches. But, I cannot say that was the ROOT cause since normal wear could have already gotten them close to the edge of failure. But launching at nearly 6000 rpm with hard clutch release IS going to put more strain on them and likely did put the final nail in their coffin so to speak.
One was on very, very old grease (OE for all I know) and one was only 10,000 miles after using Redline. But, again, lots of wear on those cups, some harsh use, still not enough to know for certain. May have happened with any grease, or may not have.
I am not saying Redline is bad, I think their products are good. I am just saying there is no definitive proof here that it outperforms the others. We have what, 20 or less accounts from people on here, some having better luck with some grease and others with some other? You have had a long time on Redline, mine pitted after 10k, but with harsh use. Just not enough controlled data to make a definitive conclusion.
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Joined: Apr 2003
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From: Temple City
also, from visual observation, the oem grease that came out was very watery. the redline grease that came out after close to 100,000 miles was in the same thick viscosity as it went in.
i can't prove it, but i believe these two viscosity properties definitely contribute a role to what I observed, as far as one grease outperforming the other.
i can't prove it, but i believe these two viscosity properties definitely contribute a role to what I observed, as far as one grease outperforming the other.