Oil overspray in driver’s front wheel well

New ball joint covered with this oil? Depends on what kind of oil you meant here. Engine oil, or lubricating oil of the CV joint?

If it's engine oil, there must be leaks from the oil filter, or the drain bolt.


Dxta

 

clean the boot with brake cleaner and paper towels. Get it really clean. Then inspect it for cracks/checking.
If it's badly checked, start planning for a weekend to remove the half shaft and clean, regrease, and put on new boots. Better to do it before the boot disintegrates which will contaminate the grease with our lovely AZ dust.
I did the ones on my Porsche, during the engine swap. All in all, a fairly satisfying and pleasant task!

Oh, and I'd clean up whatever kind of oil is spewed all over the under side of the car. Previously mentioned brake cleaner (cheap at Walmart) is one of my favorites. With all my old rigs, I pretty much buy it by the case. The other degreaser which works remarkably well is orange degreaser at Dollar Tree--a buck for a half gallon, water clean up--like a pressure washer.

Since you are local, you could borrow my little pressure washer. And, if you rebuild the CV joints (grease and boots) you could clean the half shafts in my parts washer. I'll have to clear it off, it makes such a nice workbench.

 

I would think that on a Prius, the way most people drive 'em, the half shafts would respond well to good maintenance and fresh grease. Basically they should last the life of the car or longer. If the boots are in good shape, there's no hurry to do the maintenance.

I didn't watch the video, my way is to take them all the way out, discard the old boot and get the guts of the CV really clean, then regrease them and put new boots on. The Beck-Arnley kits that Rockauto sells includes new grease.

 

That's commendable. I doubt any dealership would do that; they'd just replace. On the face of it it's cheaper I guess, with the high labour charges, but there's something wrong with that picture.

If the steel components are completely serviceable, and the only problem is boot failure and grease loss, to just toss it, just to avoid the chore of replacing the grease and installing a new boot, seems absurd.

 

The difference between cleaning, grease, and new boots vs new aftermarket half shafts is about $60. I guess Mendel that from a financial point of view, it's better to just buy the two half shafts for about $100. (Rock Auto) Part of the reason I drive even an old Prius is because it has a smaller carbon footprint. For me, I'd rather rebuild the old half shafts than recycle them as scrap--smaller carbon foot print, Eh? But also, it's satisfying to see the nice clean rebuilt half shaft and know that it was me that did it. And no half shafts fit quite as well as the originals.

On my other car, it was financially wise to do the rebuild myself.