Bad CV Joint?
 

2004 Honda Civic EX Coupe
65,000 miles

Initially I heard a sqeauky noise coming form the passenger front when backing up. Now I heard a similair noise going forward.

Also, I noticed a lot of grease on the inside of the wheel and around the brake splash guard and caliper housing.

After cleaning it up I inspected the CV boot and did not find any damage. The bands also appeared to be tight on both ends.

My assumption is that the grease is getting past the bands and the CV joints are running dry?

Is it possible to refill the grease and tighten the bands? If so, how?

If not, what is the easiest way to resolve this issue?

you can cut the bands off and fill with grease then use good strong zip ties to replace the bands

the grease is coming from somewhere. turn the wheel to either extreme and inspect the rubber boot. they are high fail items on civics. there should be a crack somewhere if it is leaking.

After further inspection, I found a small nick/hole in the boot.

Does anyone have experience repairing a CV boot? If so, how did you do it and was the reapir successful long term?

I don't think they can be repaired. You can put a new boot on, but that requires removing the axle from the car and taking the inner joint/boot apart so you can slide a new boot onto the outer joint. The cost of rebuilt axles is low enough that it isn't worth the hassle trying to change boots.

just take you cv axle off and go buy a new one the will give you $$ towards exchange for old one... and it comes with a warranty :)

Yup, I've had to replace three CV joints on my mom's 98 Civic and will soon have to replace one of mine because of some road debris tearing a small hole in the boot. I heard it is a PITA to try and change the boot, just change the whole axle.

+1; I changed both my left and right ones using reman axles. they come with lifetime warranty. it's a pain but in order to replace the boot, you would still have to take the axle off which is the same amount of labor as replacing the axle.