Inner tie rods? CV? help!

[Leitnin]

well heres the scoop:

I have been noticing a solid clunk in the steering/suspension which i believe is comming from the front right side. (98 tsi awd). Upon inspection, there are little bits of grease on the hub etc around the CV joint, so i thought it was that. well, after pulling the wheel to explore and possibly replace the axle, i noticed some play in the wheel from 3 and 9 oclock. after removing the outer tie rod from the wheel, i noticed some in and out play in the steering rack.

Does this sound like an inner tie rod problem. It moves back and forth very little, pretty much not visable but it is an audible clunk.

obviously, if the cv joint is leaking grease, no matter how slowly that needs to be fixed. but since it looks like there is an extremely small hole in the boot, i was thinking of just replacing the boot for now (budget).

is there any way to properly test the inner tie rod? I am reluctant to start taking it apart and spending 50 bucks a side to replace with the hassles of the boots etc if im not sure thats the problem.

is a very small amount of play in the steering rack normal? could it really be the CV joint even though its leaking VERY slowly.

i was thinking of installing a new axle and driving around on that. if it still clunks, its probably the inner tie rods, if not, the axle.....


any thoughts or advise would be appreciated.

thanks for reading


also, the transmission fluid is shinny as if it is full of tiny metal particles. is this normal over time?

 

[blackGSX2g]

well heres the scoop:

I have been noticing a solid clunk in the steering/suspension which i believe is comming from the front right side. (98 tsi awd). Upon inspection, there are little bits of grease on the hub etc around the CV joint, so i thought it was that. well, after pulling the wheel to explore and possibly replace the axle, i noticed some play in the wheel from 3 and 9 oclock. after removing the outer tie rod from the wheel, i noticed some in and out play in the steering rack.

Does this sound like an inner tie rod problem. It moves back and forth very little, pretty much not visable but it is an audible clunk.

obviously, if the cv joint is leaking grease, no matter how slowly that needs to be fixed. but since it looks like there is an extremely small hole in the boot, i was thinking of just replacing the boot for now (budget).

is there any way to properly test the inner tie rod? I am reluctant to start taking it apart and spending 50 bucks a side to replace with the hassles of the boots etc if im not sure thats the problem.

is a very small amount of play in the steering rack normal? could it really be the CV joint even though its leaking VERY slowly.

i was thinking of installing a new axle and driving around on that. if it still clunks, its probably the inner tie rods, if not, the axle.....


any thoughts or advise would be appreciated.

thanks for reading

There should be no abnormal play like you describe in your steering rack. If you grab the tie rod and feel a clunk underneath the boot, the inner tie rod needs to be replaced. I went to Advance Auto/Autozone and got both sides for maybe $50-60. As long as your boot looks good, you can re-use it...just get a set of small worm clamps to replace the OEM ones. The entire job took me maybe an half an hour for both sides, not that bad at all. Worst part was waiting in line to get an alignment afterwards.

also, the transmission fluid is shinny as if it is full of tiny metal particles. is this normal over time?

I would be worried if my transmission fluid was shiny. Do you mean it looks silver-ish? When my first transmission lost its main bearing the fluid looked like silver spray paint. It should look just about the same as how it went in.