93 Camry 4cyl left hand drive shaft removal

[phil-l-fixit]

I am new to this forum so firstly. HI PEOPLE! It's nice to be here.
I am trying to remove the left hand side drive shaft for boot replacement.
The Haynes manual says to remove the inner CVJoint from the diff housing, simply pry it out with a bar.
I have almost bent a quality tyre iron and the joint is still firmly in place.
It is not seized as it slides about 4mm in & out quite freely, but at the end of that travel it comes up against something solid.
In the exploded illustration of the assembly there seems to be a circlip on the end of the shaft. Is that somehow removable prior to pulling out the cv joint?
Or, is there something else holding it in place?
Or, do I just get a BIGGER bar?
Thanks in advance for any help.
Phill.

[idmetro]

Phil;
Welcome to AF! There is a circlip holding the axle in place but you cannot and do not need to remove it. You are on the right track with possibly needing a bigger bar. There is also something of a technique to removing the axle. What you need to do is make sure the spline (outboard end of the axle) is free from the hub, then you need to move the axle out so it is up against the circlip (can't go out any further), insert your pry bar between the transaxle case and the axle put tension on it and then pop the bar; if the axle does not come out rotate it (the axle) approx 1/4 turn and try again. In my case there was a sweet spot where the axle came out as if it had been greased but only in one orientation, I discovered this after I had pried and pried on it. There was no particular orientation needed for installation. Good luck!

[phil-l-fixit]

Thanks for the reply.
I am trying to remove the shaft and the inner CV joint (with boot still on) as one unit by levering the inner CV joint housing away from the diff housing. The shaft slides out as far as the boot will let it (without tearing the boot). It is the CV joint housing that is sticking in the diff housing. Does rotating the shaft make a difference? Should I remove the inner boot and dis-assemble the inner CV joint first, then pry out the CV joint casing?

[idmetro]

Originally Posted by phil-l-fixit

Thanks for the reply.
I am trying to remove the shaft and the inner CV joint (with boot still on) as one unit by levering the inner CV joint housing away from the diff housing. The shaft slides out as far as the boot will let it (without tearing the boot). It is the CV joint housing that is sticking in the diff housing. Does rotating the shaft make a difference? Should I remove the inner boot and dis-assemble the inner CV joint first, then pry out the CV joint casing?

I too removed my half shaft as a complete assembly by levering it away from the differential housing. I had the same situation where the cv joint housing was sticking in the diff housing. In my case rotating the CV joint housing made a difference between not getting it out and having it practically fly out. I did not remove the inner boot I just placed a prybar between the diff housing and the CV joint housing applied pressure until it was tight and then abruptly poped the prybar (I used a ball joint separator - "picklefork") if the halfshaft didn't come out then I rotated it approx 1/4 turn and tried again. I had to do this several times until I hit the "right spot" and out it came. I should note that this was for the drivers side shaft, if by left hand you mean the passenger side shaft there may be more involved as on my 91 there is a carrier bearing/bracket that must come off before the shaft can be removed. Also there are manuals "stickied" to the top of the forum which you could download and search for more information.

[phil-l-fixit]

That sounds like a possible solution.
I'll give it a go in the morning.
Thanks for the help.
Phill.