Which CV boot?  Left or right, inner or outer?  Be careful of a ripoff!  A
split/leaking CV boot or boots does not automatically mean that the CV joint
is bad and that you need axle replacement.  Read up on CV joints and boots
WBMA.

http://www.aa1car.com/library/cvjoint2.htm

http://www.stretcher.com/stories/03/03jan13j.cfm

CV constant velocity.

The CV boots are rubber parts that cover the internals of the joints in
the drive axles, those which transfer power from the transmission to the
front wheels.  There are two boots per axle (one on each end) and one
axle per wheel.  If the boots are torn, they will allow the grease to
leak and the dirt to go in the cv joints.  If unattended, a torn boot
will lead to cv joint damage.  You can tell if they are good just by
looking at them and making sure that they are not torn, i.e. they are
not leaking grease.

Good luck

bmelend,

Think more along the lines of CV Bootie - For front wheel drive
vehicles, you must not only be able to turn the axels to spin the tires
and "Pull" the car, but you must also be able to steer.  The CV Joint,
or Constant Velocity Joint allows you to do both - kind of like your
shoulder - rotator cuff. This joint must remain lubricated with a
special thick grease (You have heard of Axel Grease, of course) and the
bottie holds it in.

Start your car and turn your wheels hard to one side or the other and
shut it off, make sure it is in park and and/or has the emergency brake
(Manual Tran) applied and then look inside of your front wheels - Look
for a black rubber bootie that appears somewhat like a plunger head.
They should last for a long time, but things wear differently depending
on usage, humidity and a number of environmental and hazardous
elements.

Regardless, it should not be very expensive to change out now - the
expense comes if you ignore them and let all the fluid leak and the
joints inside locks up, or just as bad, break up.

Do a quick Google or Ask on CV Joints...plenty of info...

I have a 1999 Quest and at 105K my CV boots started to leak.
I had them replaced by my local mechanic. Price per boot was
about $115 (or so), plus labor.

Ahem... some people say you get torn CV boots by taking your vehicle to
get the oil changed...