I am up to that point on my clutch job. I have the axle disconnected from the wheel assembly bit.

In my Hayne's guide it just says to pry the boot out of the trans. I tried but it seems like something is holding it in there. Any tips on getting it out?

 

pull harder if its the left one, unscrew the screws if its the right one

 

There is a retaining ring on the Axel that holds it in place. You have to pry the axel out of the transmission. I used the tire iron from my truck and it came out pretty easily.

 

I find the driver side extremely easy to do with a crowbar, stick it in between the axle and the trans, and either kick the bottom or hit it with a hammer. The circlip does seem to be pretty strong at times, but that's all that's holding it in.

 

All i did with mine was take the axle nut off, unbolt it from the strut assembly, and grab the end and give it a firm tug. It may take a few tries this way, but mine popped right out.

*To put it back in, slide it in there as far as you can. Once it stops, you're NOT done. Get a rubber mallet or a piece of wood to hold on the end and use a hammer to push it the rest of the way in. As you hammer, you should feel it pop into place....easy way to tell if it's in there is slightly tug on it--if it doesn't move it's in--if it does, keep hitting it till it doesn't move.

 

That's a damn good way to ruin a CV joint, or at least pop it out of place and then you've got a good half hour or so of mucking through grease to get it back in properly.

 

So how do you do it properly then?

I've found that when they don't pop out readily there isn't much else you can do.

Dave

 

I use a crowbar as above. I've done several maximas and an altima that way, no problems.

 

I see, thanks. I always looked at that seal dust cover and it didn't look sturdy enough to use as a pry point.

But when I think about it more, 1) if I'm going to damage something I'd rather damage that dust cover than the axle itself 2) it's not going to take much force since it's being applied to the right place. Next time I'll be prying it.

Dave

 

Yeah, Don't pull on it. That'll disconnect the CV and you don't want to mess with that headache.( it's really not THAT bad, but it's just one more thing you have to deal with.)

 

i used a crobar that did the trick dont be afraid to push ..... its a pain to get it off especially on the ground

 

Well, the 'trick' is you want to get a prybar that's curved to the point where your fulcrum point is the bellhousing below the axle seal and not directly on it. The chances of damaging the axle are slim when doing it like that, I've taken a spare/bad axle and beaten the hell out of it with a ballpeen hammer and it takes a fair amount of force to really mar it up or break the solid end.