Found grease inside my front knuckle

Dumb question here:
Is there any way that grease from the outer boot of the cv axle can get inside the knuckle? Or is there any reason why I would see clean grease in my knuckle on the outer seal?

I was changing out my wheel bearing. I got the cv axle to seperate from the wheel bearing. I removed the wheel bearing. I was inside inspecting the outer axle seal inside the knuckle. It was all looking really clean. However I noticed some clean squiggly grease on the outer axle seal inside the knuckle. This was on both the driver and passenger side.

This is my first time getting in this knuckle. Not sure if previous owner was in here already and they just put the grease when they replaced the seal. So I'm wondering is there possibility that the grease squirts into the the knuckle from the axle joint? It didn't appear to make contact with the speed sensor and it looked really clean so I didn't disturb it and just left it there.

Unfortunately I didn't take a picture so below is how it would have looked like with the red squiggly line as the grease I saw. Would be great to get your feedback

 

No, the CV axle joint is completely sealed. Even if the greased squished out, there is no way for it to come out the end. It's basically a metal cup, only way for grease to come out is at the sides where the boot is clamped. The grease in the boots isn't that thick either. It would definitely not stay as a nice squiggle over time.

My guess is someone greased the end of the axle before reinstalling it and didn't realize that that part doesn't actually contact anything so it just stayed there until now.

 

Thank you for sharing that. Yeh I think you are right. Much appreciated

 

When I did my hub assemblies (Wheel bearings), I has some grease on my CV like you.
But I had more of it, and it wasn't "clean". Pretty sure mine had come from the bearings.

In any case, just make sure the wheel speed sensor tip is clean of grease.
Very light coat of grease on the axle splines to help it come off easy in the future.
Throw it back together, and call it "Good".....

 

That seal on the inboard side of the knuckle has grease applied from the factory, because it's stationary but rubs against the rotating CV joint.



When replacing a wheel bearing, I usually coat all the surfaces inside the knuckle and on the CV shaft splines with a thin layer of grease to keep water and corrosion out.