Stubborn axle

[fastivaca]

Hello all,

Had the outer CV joint on the passenger side come apart on me yesterday which meant an expensive tow job home.

Anyways.... here's the problem: the axle just doesn't want to come out of the transmission. I've tried several of the suggestions that I found here on the forum to no avail.

If I can get the other axle out is it possible to reach through to the end of the axle and try to pound it out? Would that even be advisable?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[ericsmith32]

I used part of a geal puller on my Aspire. Wedged it behind the axle and transmission and tightened it up.. tapped the axle and couple times.. tightened it again.. repeat as necessary. Didn't take to long but you have to be careful not to put a hole in the transmssion.

[jglutz]

be sure to hold the axle, axial (no pun), nice and perpindicular to the tranny....and give it a quick, swft, hard, yank out. If not, a properly placed pry bar behind the cup at the tranny may help.

[Icedawg]

Or a big screwdriver or thick chisel pushed rapidly up behind the axle to pop it. Going straight parallel to the wall of the tranny should prevent any damage to the tranny case. You are trying to get compression of the small retaining ring , and so a quick hard impact ends up needing less force than a slow one like a puller will require.

[gdawgs]

You just have to keep trying. I've had lots of axles out it various cars and they always come out. I've had a few where I thought I would never get it out, but you just keep working at it and eventually it will come. I think I spent an hour on one one time. Sometimes they come out on the first whack.

[Biff]

I've had some very stubborn shafts , took a big swat with a hammer hitting vise grips attached to shaft or try to get some kind of slide hammer affair on it. I think what happens is the snap ring starts to pile up because it doesn't collapse down enough to slide inside the splines. Remember to replace the snap ring with a new one, the same thing will happen again. I would avoid prying on the tranny case, like above, I too found out how easily they crack.

[fastivaca]

Here's an update... continued trying some of the suggestions already given (thanks to all who made a suggestion ) I even rented a fairly heavy slide hammer and so far the axle hasn't budged.

I've looked through the Ford service manual and have determined that even if I pull the transmission out I can't get to the end of the axle to pop the snap ring off.

Getting really frustrated :angry7: ... any other suggestions???

Thanks again for all the suggestions so far.

[jglutz]

Ian...possibly the 'cir-clip' the holds the splined shaft in place during assemby is busted or sprung out inside the gear box. Try pushing the axle in....then rapidly pulling out with some rotation as you pull out...try both CW and CCW rotations. If the cir-clip is sprung out, the rotation may help tuck it back in place....all I can come up with. Best of luck!

[Icedawg]

Ian, I agree pulling the tranny won't help. But your initial idea of pulling the other axle to get acces to the bad one might work. A heavy punch stuck all the way through should contact the troublesome axle. Then a few wacks with a heavy hammer might work. But the punch would have to be thick, so that as the axle came out the spider gears did not fall out of place. You always need something in at least one side to keep that from happening. Only thing is, I am not sure if there is a risk of peening the axle. You need to be sure the punch was not similar in size to the axle, and that you get it in the centre. I don't know of anyone using this method, but it makes sense that it could work.
The screwdriver or chisel idea is not for prying, as that will risk the cracks someone else mentions. It needs to be slightly wider than the axle to tranny gap, and driven hard into the gap to pop it out. The twisting and pulling idea above is good, as the circlip may indeed be damaged if it is giving you this much trouble.

[scitzz]

Huh, had one like that on a guys camry like that, finally got it out, BUT, it had ruined the trans. Not good. The circlip was only part of the culprit. Somehow, while flapping around, it had just wreaked havoc internally on the trans. Not to be the bearer of bad news, this may not have happened to yours.....
As far as the spider gears falling out of place, I only within the last year started keeping at least one side stationary, had not heard of that before then, and never had a problem. However, there is probably a little room for concern since you are going to be beating the heck out of the axle from the other side. Maybe have someone on the other side ready to make sure the axle doesn't come ALL the way out?

[fastivaca]

Thanks to everyone for the help. I've looked into the idea of trying to pound it out from the inside but that won't work as there is a shaft running through between the spider gears that holds the idler gears (not sure if that's the right name).

I thought the slide hammer would be the solution but the axle didn't budge!

I've spent way too much time on this and I'm beginning to think my next option is to drop the transmission and replace the whole thing with one from the wreckers.

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again,

[scitzz]

Well, apparently, the guy with the camry took his car to a different mechanic. I had given up, I told him that I was afraid to pull it out by brute force, since I might damage the trans in the process. I do not do trans repairs......
Anyhoo, he took it to a trans shop(I hate them!), where they finally told him they had one last resort, with no guarantees. He told them to go for it!
They fished a small, yet strong, steel cable into the trans by the axle, with a slipknot, and tightened it down. Did the same with another, only 180 degrees from the first, hooked both up to a car, and YANKED!
So maybe that is what ruined the trans, but they got it out! I just got off the phone with him.......

[Icedawg]

I've looked into the idea of trying to pound it out from the inside but that won't work as there is a shaft running through between the spider gears that holds the idler gears (not sure if that's the right name).

Whoops, quite right I forgot about that shaft.
I have an excellent mechanic friend who just has the right knack. He told me he was working on his car at the track when a competitor's wife came over and asked him to help her hubby. He had spent 3 hours trying to get the axle of a civic out and was about to blow some blood vessels. My friend said he popped in the screwdriver and it came right out. Totally pissed off his buddy. On another axle that no one could get apart he used the fat chisel approach and popped it right out. I have seen him work and he can do magic, it ain't self inflating bull he's talkin'. Too bad he is in Edmonton not Calgary.

I guess the point is it is always hard to know when the force you plan to use is too much force, but in this case, applying it sideways to the tranny, he could use quite a bit to good effect. If you are ready to drop it anyhow, then cracking the case may not matter, since that is the risk we are considering. I have a broken tranny, so you could always use that case on your current one. I have to come to Calgary at some point anyhow, though not during this blessed snow storm.

[festyxfi]

Pulling the trans wit the axles still in would be a pain, but it would give him better angles and more leverage to get at it. If the axle is already screwed, he can cut it down.

I feel you're pain, I had this same problem, and was soooooo frustrated about it, pulled on it for 3 days...literally...I was going to give up. Read my reply over at yahoo groups about it (assuming your the same fella over there having the problem) two people teamed up will do it.

if it's a 5-spd, and you give up, I would buy the trans from you.

Brenton

[fastivaca]

Here's the latest on this. The axle is out of the car.... but it's still attached to the transmission

I still can't get the axle to budge from the transmission. I tried two wedges, prying, hammering etc with no effect at all. I think I'm going to find a used transmission and throw that in and be done with it.

Brenton, I'll probably have to return my transmission for the core.

Thanks again to all those who offered up suggestions.

Cheers