Are these tie rod ends shot?

[feedthemonkey]

93 XL I bought for $1 to learn about cars. Went to grease the tie rod ends. Grease came out. Is that normal, or is that a sign it's time to replace? When I lift up the front end, I am NOT getting play in the wheel when I try to move it side to side.

 

[ChildIdenticant]

Grease coming out of the top of the dust boot like that doesn't mean failure it most likely means over greased (which means greased properly for something like this). That tie rod end (ball joint) was probably repaced at least once as the rubber boot looks to be in very good condition.
Do you have a haynes/chilton manual?

 

[feedthemonkey]

Grease coming out of the top of the dust boot like that doesn't mean failure it most likely means over greased (which means greased properly for something like this). That tie rod end (ball joint) was probably repaced at least once as the rubber boot looks to be in very good condition.
Do you have a haynes/chilton manual?

Thanks! I have the Haynes manual (and a one month subscription to the Mitchell DIY site).

 

[Mr. Alligator]

Be careful with overgreasing ... it could burst the boot, which effectively ruins the joint. But the boot does look like it is condition.

Well done. And good maintenance.

And great idea to learn about cars.

 

[Fix4Dirt]

as long as the boot isnt ripped i think its ok.

 

[DaSovietPotato]

As far as I know it is perfectly fine, especially since the stuff like greasable ball joints are designed in a way that the excess grease will be pushed out.