I am trying to remove the halfshaft (driver's side axle) and it will not top out. I am following the FSM instructions. Remove spindle nut and use a punch and hammer to tap out the shaft.

All that happens when I tap fiercely is that it moves to one side or another. Do I keep tapping. I don't like tapping when nothing is moving...I do have an air hammer....should I try that?

 

Actuall I believe I need to remove the unified lower ball joint first. After that I may be able to remove the axle. BUT, I can't remove the ball joint. It won't budge.

Here is an excerpt from the the manual:

Later models use a unified lower ball joint/suspension arm assembly. The ball joint can be separated from the wheel hub by tapping a hammer on the area where the ball joint is mounted to the hub(after the bolt is remove) while applying downward force to the suspension arm.

How do I apply that much downward force. I don't own an anvil! Stepping on it does nothing.

 

no dont remove the ball joint.... just remove teh shock support and ull be fine..

 

What is the shock support. The two bolts that connect it to the wheel hub or spindle?

 

Don't remove anything except for the clip that holds the brake line to the strut and the 2 strut bolts. I had to reinspect my prior install of the axle and used a large screwdriver to pop it out of the tranny. Once it pops out, then you're home free.

Make sure you line up everything before you slam it back into place.

 

Okay...that was much easier than the FSM. But, then the manual states that I should gently pry axle out of transmission.

Gently?

I've been prying for 1 hour now...I stopped using gentle force about 5 minutes into and just took my foot to my prybar and wedged myself between a wall with my foot on the prybar.

Still nothing. Any suggestions?

 

lol gently... ha.. just sticke a pry bar betweeen teh axle and drans.. be careful not to damage the seal thats there...

 

please re-read my post. i said I STOPPED using gentle force. I have been prying between the axle and trans WITH MY FOOT. I am no weak guy either. Besides it's a leg.

Any thing else?

 

Seen your other post. Are you trying to get it out of the hub or out of the trans?

 

Everytime I pull the driver's side axle, I grab the end of it and just yank it out. It might take a few times but it always works for me.

 

the end of it. The boots will hold up. Yank it huh? I'll try anything since prying isn't working.

BTW....I am trying to yank it out of the transmission.

 

You are better off using a mallet. The FSM does tell you to try prying it out with a large screwdriver. Just prop the screwdriver between the inner joint and tranny case and start tapping that sucka until it jumps out. The clip is holding the axle in and you just need to get it past it's locking point.

 

Deexo, I didn't read your before trying the yanking method...which managed to separated whatever it is that was linked together in BOTH boots on the drive shaft axle.

I will try your method, but could you tell me how to get whatever it is in the boots to link back up.

 

I was just about to advise you AGAINST "yanking" on the driveaxle due to that fact that you can FUBAR the CV joints...then I read your most recent post. Son of a...

 

You may have to put the joint back together or get another one from Napa. I actually going to take one back to the Napa in Cary @ 500 Old Apex Rd.

The thing about pulling the axles like that is that you can feel the joints separating so I would never advise pulling on an axles that you are going to put back in the car.

You're going to have to try reassembling the joint by twisting and turning the axle.

 

ok everytime I do this I take the 2 bolts out of the strut that hold the hub on(im assuming the axle nut is off). disconnect all lines from their places on the strut that hold the hub so that there is no tension on any of them. if you have abs those can easily get messed up..previous experience on that! ok so once the hub is loose let if slide down and push the end of the axle thru the hub. once u are there push the axle in..and pull out! but have something to catch the gear oil. if the knuckle comes apart when u pull just feel it back in there. you will be fine! just dont tear any boots! Ive done that too! basically push in once you get the axle out of the hub and pull out with enough force to get it out. do that til it pops out! first time I did this I pryed and pryed til my eyeballs were sweating..gave a push and a pull...and wallah!

 

Matt, isn't that the yanking method. And...did you read that yanking broke my axle? If this is a different method i will try it but.... sounds like yanking.

I started at 1 Pm it is now 11 pm. I must really suck.

 

its not broke. pull on it twist and try and get that joint back in there together. I have done what u said u did. just pull, wiggle, twist and get it back together. I doubt u broke it. and once u get it back together yes push in then yank

 

when you say push and pull how much strength. Lets say 10 is all your might. I've tried 13. It's been 11 hours. I will pull more but...i'm losing hope fast.

 

did you try banging on your prybar with a mallet, hammer, sledge? a little shock might do better than all the prying and pulling you are doing. how big is the prybar you are using?

also I'd let the gear oil out of the trans before you try pulling the axle out anymore - otherwise you might get a face full, lap full, or driveway full of 4 quarts of gear oil.

as far as the axle that you've just messed up. don't worry about it until you get the axle out. but once you've got it out, you can do some feeling around through the boot and get a sense of what's going on in there. basically there is a splined portion with a lock ring on it EXACTLY like the one you will see on the end of the axle after you finally get it out of the transmission. this splined portion has to insert back inside a female splined portion that is sortof a flat star shape which can swivel all around, so you'll have to maniupulate the "flat star shape female portion" so that it's splines will line up with the splines of the male portion. You might be able to pull the CV boot back so you can actually see what you're doing, depending upon how tightly the boot is clamped on (i've seen some that are rebuilt cheaply and can be pulled off and popped back on, and others that I can't separate without requiring alot more effort to pull off and put back together).

 

I haven't let the gear oil out...I will try. I was thinking maybe that had something to do with why this was so difficult.

 

Well. I got the CV back into the axle. And I've drained the gear oil. But still the axle won't come out. At the juncture where the axle meets the tranny I see that after 14 hours I can see beyond the ring(I'm guessing it's beyond the ring, I saw the oil reisdue). The foot on prybar method couldn't even budge it when I pryed the area behind the edge on axle. I tried banging with a hammer as well.

All this and I ultimately am trying to change a clutch, rear main seal, driver's side axle seal and flywheel. I am in for it! Well until later on today...

 

It took me not 1 minute to pop the axle out of my tranny. I think you are being a little to easy with it. User a large screwdriver or prybar and bang it until it pops out. cover the boots with cloth so that you don't rip them when the axles falls out.

 

ok this might sound kind of stupid/insulting... but, you DID REMEMBER to pull the axle out of the steering knuckle FIRST, THEN pull it out of the transmission?

 

The yanking method has always worked for me. I push in, compressing the axle as much as possible and then just yank out. Never had a problem with the joint coming out, sorry to hear that happened.

 

Imagine the force it would take to separate both axles in the boots. I weigh 200 lbs that combined with my arm strength should have sufficed. I have abandon that. I am licking my wounds. I started to remove the passenger axle in hopes of knocking the drivers side out. But, I removed the strut tower bolts before knocking the shaft out of the knuckle fully. So, now the axle won't budge.


So...now I am just relaxing. I have no Idea what to do and no car to do it with. What a wonderful day!

 

Well, it looks by this reply that you are going about it all the wrong way. I'm sure that you will need to leave one side in while you work on the other because you don't want the diff gears to fall out of place. I don't think this happens on the Max but I wouldn't want to find out. Dont' deviate from what we and the FSM is telling you to do.

You don't even need to remove any bolts from strut bars and anything else for that matter. I gaurantee that axle will pop out if you use that prybar and just use the mallet to tap at it. If I had the time, I'd stop over to help you get it out but everything I'll told you is what I've done to get my axles out yesterday. I did everything (taking it out and popping it back in) in under an hour.

 

I guess I'd try to do exactly what you were about to try, try to remove the passenger side axle and then stick a screwdriver or other implement in there and bang the driver's side axle out from the inside. I don't know why your driver's side axle won't come out with what you've tried, I've never had a significant problem getting them out of my maximas.

 

So since you're recommending he do this means the gears won't fall out of place on a Max tranny?

 

no, I don't know what you're talking about really.

 

On some cars you have to change one axle at a time to prevent the diff gears from falling out of place, really simple.

 

Yeah... I understood that you were looking to prevent that circumstance, I've just never heard of that. What kind of car have you heard of that happening on so I know never to buy one. That is a really stupid design... have to open up the transfer case or transmission case or differential if you want to remove it from the car.

 

I don't know of a particular car exactly but I've heard people talking about it so as long as we don't have to worry about it, I won't keep telling people to do one axle at a time.

 

i wish i knew how to take it out and pop it back in under an hour... my outer cv boots on both sides are leaking and im wondering if i should replace the entire axle or try and just replacing the boot.

Dont worry MireLanski i know exactly how you feel, its so frustrating when everyone says its easy and you're stuck not knowing what else to do. Good luck

 

ok so ive been doing some research and discovered this little bit of information might help you. "To remove the left halfshaft on vehicles equipped with an automatic transaxle, the right halfshaft must be removed first. " I got this information off of the autozone website, they have free repair manuals to look thru online.

heres a link to the repair manual. http://autozone.com/servlet/UiBroker...3d801f558b.jsp

Maybe everyone else that has been commenting drives a manual tranny or i could be wrong about what automatic transaxle is.

 

Ah, yes. I was aware of that tip nybudda. And I do have a manual transmission. This morning the passenger side axle came out (literrally slid right out with no force) and then an associate tapped out the drive axle. Tapped on both sides of the bar that bisects the hole for the shafts. Drive axle came right out.

WHAT I NOTICED:
Guys, when your circular clip is broken, I don't think removing soley the drive axle is an easy job without removing passenger side first.

My circular clip was snapped in half. In fact half is all I found. And the one or two of the teeth were worn. So, I am a victim of a previous installation gone wrong.

Well hopefully it will be smooth sailing now. Just gotta drop the tranny, do the seals, take out clutch, flywheel and release bearing, slap in rear main seal and put it back together.

All this to find out that my new passenger axle has a terrible gash in the boot.

 

I kinda figured that there was going to be a problem with the clip but it's good that you got it worked out.

 

That rear main seal is a *****. I just done mine today. Took me like an hr or more to do. Now I am gonna RTV the whole outside of it to insure it doesnt leak.

Here some tips for the rear main seal. Glue the bottom black strip onto the retainer because that strip is larger then the stock one and is a pain to get in. Do some test fitting first then put RTV sealer on the back and install. I found it easiest to slide the top on and then begin pushing the oil seal in and push the left side on and insert the screw tighten slightly. Leave the top screw out till almost done. Make sure the oil seal is flush with the crank then continue to the right side get the seal flush and then insert the screw. Now the bottom if the most tricky. I had to get a rubber mallet and a flat head screwdriver. Hit the retainer all around on the bottom then find out where the black seal is stuck and stick the screwdriver in there and pry it into the block. Hit some more and just keep continuing. Slowly tighten the left and right screw. They will break if your not careful. Once I got it fully in there I still had some black strip hanging out where that strip is larger and it doesnt want to stay in the retainer that why you have to glue it. Just take the screw driver get a small one and just pry those edges in there. And in about 1-2 hrs you should be done.

 

Now...I got mine from the dealer which comes with the seal inside the metal bracket already. I don't think that applies to me.

Status: I have all the bolts (10)out of the tranny and the transmission mount disconnected from tranny. The shift rod and stablizer rod are both disconnected as well.

Dumb question, but my Chiltons doesn't specify. When I hear drop tranny, which was i was expecting to happen when there was nothing else fastening it to the engine, that is not in a literal instructive sense is it. Because mind has dropped any where. Do i have to back it away the enging first.

 

What I wrote will apply to you I bought the hole retainer with the oil seal inside but there is also a black strip that goes on the bottom of that retainer. Unless you use the old one your gonna have to go back to the dealer and purchase that strip. The old one is smaller but I wouldnt recommend reusing it as you will probably rip it or atleast stick the screwdriver into it a few times trying to remove the retainer.

Yes you have to pull the trans away from the engine. Your input shaft runs in the middle of your flywheel and stuff that what makes it spin. Have to pull the trans atleast 1+ inches from the engine. There 2 studs that hold the trans to the block so just start wiggling the trans and then get a screwdriver and pry it apart and start wiggling again. IF your using a jack I would recommend you put the jack on the side in between the driver fender well so you can wiggle the trans out onto the jack. I hope you have someone helping as this is barely a 1 person job if the trans is not secured to like a trans jack.