FWD Driveshaft removal

Aaron Buckley · **Posted:** Thu May 27, 2004 9:11 am

I talked to Scott about this today, but wanted to see if others had any ideas. I'm working on a '95 Mazda Protege, and I'm doing the clutch on it. I have done everything required to drop the tranny, except the driver's side half shaft refuses to come out. The Haynes manual says to use a pry bar, which I have to no avail. I tried to drop the tranny with it in, but it requires it to be turned about 90 degrees, and the half shaft impedes that.

When I look through the hole created by removing the other shaft, I see the pinion gear rod going through the center, but a screwdriver or the like could probably be used on either side of the pinion rod to 'tap' the shaft out. At this point, I'm not sure I give a rat's ass about the condition of the shaft, I just don't want to do any damage to the tranny

. Other than a slide hammer, which I'm not sure I have room for anyway, any other suggestions out there? Thanks - AB

Kevin Hoff · **Posted:** Thu May 27, 2004 10:26 am

Are there any drift pins in the flange? The ones on Subarus can be hard to see sometimes. If not, just prying should do it. Sometimes it takes a _lot_ of effort.

Good luck,
--Kevin H.

Tom Hoppe · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 10:16 am **Posts:** 387

Quote:

Are there any drift pins in the flange?

I was going to suggest that until I realized that he already had the other side out. There is no way one side has them, while the other side doesn't.

It took a LOT of effor to get those things out on my old DSMs. We always ended up replacing the seals as we screwed them up while prying.

Don't most shafts have a "dimple" or so in the center? You could probably put a screwdriver in there and seat it in the dimple so it won't slide off and give it a bang.

If that doesn't work

-Tom

Vincent Keene · **Posted:** Fri May 28, 2004 11:13 am

Aaron Buckley wrote:

The Haynes manual says to use a pry bar, which I have to no avail.

I encountered the same problem on the Cavalier. The pry bar would deflect and the leverage wasn't there. I actually used a crowbar (the straighter of the ends) if you can believe it. Worked well and the axle broke free with very little effort. If you have the room I say give it a try.

Rob Keehner · **Posted:** Sat May 29, 2004 12:53 am

I had the same problem Vincent did on my own car. The little retainer rings get stuck sometimes and can be really stubborn. On my old shaft the ring had worn to a sharp edge while the new stock part was filleted some. Try holding your mouth right.

Also, they may also leak on and off after reinstall. Mine did for about 2 months then stopped. Keep in mind when I say leak I mean about 2 or 3 oz' of fluid total.

Ron Spencer · **Posted:** Thu Jun 03, 2004 8:29 am

Indeed a solid large crow bar, not the smaller blue bars is what I used for the Talon. Also, you can take it apart at the boot nearest the trans. Rip the boot apart and the CV joint will come apart leaving just a short "stub" in the trans. Once its all out you should be able to pry it out.

Ron

Aaron Buckley · **Posted:** Thu Jun 03, 2004 10:08 am

I actually did what Ron suggested today about two nights ago. After buying multiple pry bars, I decided to try tapping it out with a screw driver and hammer from the opposite input hole. Fortunately, I had a screw driver skinny enough to get around the pinion gear rod, and was able to tap it out quite easily. I'm not sure why it didn't work when the tranny was still in the car, but regardless, it's out. It appears the 'clip' that is supposed to hold it in there was a little mishaped, and it was really holding it in good. I bought a new shaft to replace it with, just so I need not mess with this again

Thanks for all of the advice. - AB

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FWD Driveshaft removal

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