I was doing a project list just now, so I have a plan of attack for tonight (I actually have some car time available!! ).

I installed the motor, tranny and axles last week. I just realised I forgot to put a bead of RTV on the drive flanges before bolting up the CV's/axles. No big deal, I will just redo it tonight.......

Then I remembered that the washers are a one time use!

Being that the car has not moved from the lift/been rolled around at all since they were installed last week, can I reuse them?

Thanks -
Scott S

scott, did you put stock gaskets in there?

If the gaskets are in there, I would skip the rtv

Hi Brant!

Nope - from what I searched and read here, the gaskets can compress over time causing the bolts to become loose.

When I pulled the motor/transmission initailly, I found they they had been RTV'd brfore, so I just cleaned them up and planned on doing the same thing again (I didn't have any leaks in the 15 years they were done this way).

Do you think I am okay to re-use the washers?

Yes, and btw, the gaskets can only compress so much on the shoulder cut for them on the cv. I don't think they can cause the bolts to back out. Improper torque can however.

In theory, they are toast. I have re-used them before in a pinch, but only on my car.
Here's what I'd suggest, make sure the threaded bosses in the transmission flanges are clean and dry, and put a very small dab of blue locktite on the CV bolts, and torque to spec. Make a reference note to be sure and check the torque of those bolts after a couple hundred miles.

side bar, where are we going to have the all 914 party and jam??? Eric said someplace in the smack dab middle of the country, like Nebraska

I've been in the same boat before, and I decided to buy some new washers. The second time around I made sure to buy about 3x the number I needed so I wouldn't ever be in that position again...they are cheap.

If you have proper type 4 CV joints and you use the proper gaskets, new washers, the proper 3-square bolts torqued to spec with a torque wrench, they won't loosen up.

What Perry said. In theory they're no good, bu tin this case I would re-use them IIWM. Skip the RTV. Check torque occasionally if you're concerned about gaskets compressing.

Thanks all!

I cleaned and cleaned, laid in a bead of RTV and blue locktighted it back together. We'll see.

Ross, you are right. I just need to buy 20 of them and keep then in one of the bins in my organizer like any other nut/bolt. We all should. It would be different if they were available at any local hardware store.

Nebraska? You are bringing back painful memories of breaking down in Omaha on the way to a 3 nighter at Peoples Bar in Ames in the middle of winter. My wife is from Council Bluffs. Nebraska haunts me.... nice folks out there though.

I would gladly go to your part of the world to take part in a jam. It's Nashville for goodness sake. Not only could we make noise, but go see more fun noise in town too (and pop over to say hi to some pals at Pearl drums too ). I would really enjoy that.

If you want to setup a jam at a place near the middle of the country, then try Hastings Kansas.

http://www.racemph.com/cms/

The raceway there is awesome! I am sure you could setup a race day.
If you get in good with George (the owner), he might even give you some laps in the Bacardi Bus (schoolbus) and let you see some of the car collections that are stored there (cobras, old mustangs, maybe even a F1 car).


As for the rtv on the CVs... I was wondering how in the hell can you get a surface clean enough with the CV grease and all the manipulating to get a nice bead down.
Just thinking through it, I cant seem to think of a way to make that work.

Stu

Hi Stu -
On my car the drive flanges were spotless. When I pulled the motor I bagged the cv's. While the motor was out, I really cleaned everything up. Here is a pic right before it went back in the car:

Click to view attachment

I made sure the CV's were packed tight with grease before re-installing, and made sure the mating surface was as clean as could be as well. The mistake I made not using the gaskets or RTV was identified before the car even come off the lift, so there was really no mess to clean up. I think I used two paper towels in the whole process - primarily to wipe off excess rtv after reinstalling everything.

I'm two hours from Nash-vegas, but I'd drive to where ever, in the "gear truck"