I put the tranny on today (dunno if I've kept you guys over here up to knowledge but I got my tranny 'freshened up' so to speak), however I never took off the passenger side axle to get it back in because (couple questions/comments):

1) Is the axle is supposed to seperate from the intermediate shaft or not?

2) I couldnt seperate it if I tried because it's a rusty mess. It looked to me like it probably was supposed to seperate and I took out those three bolts but that sucker was so rusty I couldnt pry it apart at all

3) I dont see why the axle would have had to come out anyway for the transmission removal/installation though. After my ordeal with not being able to get the passenger side axle out I decided to go ahead and put the tranny on and it went on easy as pie.

This axle thing is gonna be a problem though cuz I'm gonna need new axles pretty darn soon. So even though I got the tranny on without getting the axle out I'm gonna need to figure out how to get it off (i.e. someone verify if it needs to seperate from the intermediate shaft, which I think it probably does).

I know a couple of you guys have bought from raxles I think? How much they cost ya?

Or if not raxles what's the general rule of thumb I should expect to pay for both front axles?

Also...how do I fill the tranny with oil? Tranny shop told me to fill it with W30 motor oil (...I never knew gearbox oil was just motor oil).

I think that's all for now lol TIA

 

James! You REALLY shoulda have taken off the axles while the tranny was out. Yes is does come out in 1 pc and slides though the support shaft(3 bolt thingie) I never had a problem but I can see how rust would make it a problem. I think I lightly greased mine every time I put them back in. You going to have a big problem now that the tranny is back in. One option is to unbolt that support piece from the block and take out that way. Then you can deal with whole mess on a bench. But since the tranny is back in, I don't know how easy it is to get at the bolts on the block. Another option is to BREAK it and I can send you another from my blown block. But dunno. I would consider that a last resort.

Motor oil in tranny. I might work okay but tranny fluid usually has more cleaning detergents in it than motor oil. I would break this tranny in for a few thousand and the switch to synthetic.

 

Hmm I'm not totally quite sure what you mean...

Okay so does the axle seperate at that 3 bolt dealie, put a flathead up in there between it and it seperates at that point (leaving the intermediate shaft still connected to the engine block) OR you mean just undo those 3 bolts and the intermediate shaft comes out too. Meaning the whole thing comes out somehow.

Everything is so rusty there that it's hard to tell given lines of seperation.

I was pondering unbolting that support piece from the block but that things friggen rustier than anything.

Also...you mean I'm gonna have a problem now with the transmission back on because I didnt take the axle out first? I dont see exactly what problem would arise because it all seemed to go back together so smoothly.

 

This is what I did

 

The axle is ONE piece. You unbolt the 3 bolts and it's supposed to slide all the way out. Out of the tranny and though the support piece.



That might be the way. But since the tranny is back IN, you no longer have room down there to operate well.

Because there's much less space to fiddle around down there with the tranny back in.

Option. I can send you my spare and you get new raxles. You take off the whole assembly from you car and install the new raxle and support piece from my car.

You guys REALLY need to take a look at the stickies. There's alot of info there. http://www.cybrrpartspro.com/Chilton...961CH07_5.HTML
1/2 way down the page, it shows how it comes off.

 

Jeff..

OOOOk that link did me a world of good!

I was thinking the passenger side axle was 2 pieces, like at that point where the 3 bolts are it unbolts...outer axle comes out...intermediate shaft stays in there. That's what I was thinkin for some reason. Rust will do that to ya I guess.

But now I see that whole thing slides out leaving just the bracket with a hole through it on the block (that bracket btw looks kinda tricky to get off).

What I'm trying to ask is will there be some problem arise (I mean transmission operation/performance related, not ease of axle replacement) from my installing the transmission WITHOUT removing the passenger side axle?

I wasnt going to replace the axles immediately...I need the car for a couple weeks twice a week for class. I'll see what raxles wants then figure something out about that support bracket and let you know.