Hi,

I have a cv joint apart (not because there was a problem, I swapping to
manual-size axles because I'm converting my AT to manual [btw automatic
transmission plus the stuff you need to convert (like shifter, etc) for
sale, contact me off list]).  I'm on my third one, and when I was wiping the
grease off of the outer part of the joint I noticed grooves running
perpendicular to the groove that is supposed to be there.

It actually looks quite a bit like this shot from Ben's cv maintenance
writeup:

http://www.benplace.com/images_westfalia/assembling2.jpg

However, you can't tell from that picture if that's just a "highly polished"
area or an actual little groove you can feel with your finger.  Mine has
grooves you can feel when you run your finger down the groove in the outer
race.

The inner race looks fine, all surfaces smooth, and the balls look ok.

Should I replace this joint, or is that normal wear and not worth worrying
about?  I have the joints from the donor van available, so I might find one
of them without any blemishes (haven't disassembled them so I don't know
yet).  In other words, I might not have to order a joint, in case you were
factoring price into the answer.  Is it worth pulling the other ones apart
to see if there's a better one?

I don't know if a picture will show any more detail than the one above--you
almost can't tell visually that it's a groove--in fact on most of them it's
more of a "ripple" than a groove.

Let me know what you think!

mike