I have not been able to get the axel to disengage from the tranny....no way, no how...what am I missing? "Carefully prying with a large screwdriver or prybar" does not work. Thanks for any ideas:werd:

try kicking it.


There is nothing but a small retaining clip holding it in there... I suggest using the prybar if you can get a good grip with it... just be less gentle. I have always found it easier to remove them from underneath, but that depends on your ability to get the car high enough to get under there to work well.

By 'right' side, is that the curbside? I had both sides of the front of the car raised on cement blocks with a 4 by 4 on top. I had room to get underneath and use a 'tire spoon', which is a tire-iron used for changing tires on truck wheels. It is about 30" long, heavy duty, with a flattened end. I may have even banged on the thing with a 30 oz. soft faced hammer. A full sized carpenters crow bar would also be about the right size.
I was not able to get the drivers side axle out of the tranny, the lower crossmember was in the way. But since I was removing the tranny anyway, I waited till it was on my bench, and 'accessible'. Thats how I know the crow bar works.

These axles are terribly difficult to withdraw sometimes. I don't know if the retaining circlip groove is mis-machined or not.

I also had to remove a tranny on a '97 before I could get the axle out ... and even then, it was a "beast" while using a 3-foot crowbar!

This is certainly a problem waiting for an ingenious solution ... I was not up to the task.

The manual is wrong when it says "gently pry". it needs sharp, quick movements to make the spring circlip compress and slide through.


--sarge

when i did the cv shafts on my 97 i used a come along and wrapped it around the peice that goes into the trans. then connected it to the lower control arm, put some tension on it hit it with a hammer 3 times popped right out.

all after 3 days of prying with anything i could find for leverage.

I gonna try that come-along trick some day. Thanks!