I have a 2001 Honda Passport 4WD really a Isuzu Rodeo the right cv boot busted on it. Would you replace the shaft or just the boot?
The shaft.
But drive on the old shaft until the CV-joint starts making noise.
Tester
You don’t know how long the boot was open…Once dust and dirt gets in, cleaning it in place is almost impossible. By the time you remove the shaft and clean the joint and take it apart, it’s cheaper for you if the shop just installs a rebuilt shaft. Now if you are going to attempt to do this yourself, time no object, go for it, take it apart, clean it up and install a new boot…
I agree with Tester that you’ll eventually want to replace the whole shaft*, but there’s a slightly different way you need to think about it for a 4x4. On a 4x4 with free-wheeling hubs, the front axles only turn when you’re in 4wd. This means you might not get a warning before the thing’s ready to go-- especially if you use it on rough terrain the thing might break the next time you use 4wd.
So you sort of have to think about when and where you use the 4wd. Obviously if you never do, you can probably never fix it. But on the other hand if you do long backcountry excursions, you sure don’t want it breaking and leaving you stranded. If you just live somewhere that it snows sometimes, you’re probably somewhere between there.
*FYI: On these trucks replacing the whole halfshaft requires dropping the whole front axle-- a major pain in the butt (or wallet if you’re paying someone to do it). However, you can buy half shafts that only go to the inner CV-joint and so you undo the inner boot, remove the inner CV joint, clean out and regrease the inner housing and put the new one in it’s place. Most mechanics who see a lot of Isuzus should know about this, but it’s not in the service manuals, so if you run into someone that wants $1000 to do this job, that’s why.