01 Taurus SES driveline problem

[ted g]

Hi all-

I am replacing the passenger side halfshaft, hub (bearings noisy) and ball joint. I have the ball joint separated, the shaft can be pushed out of the hub with a tool. So far, a little misery but moving along, sorta.

The latest challenge concerns the lower balljoint. It is separated. I need to disengage the stud from the control arm. The arm doesn't move down with any kind of reasonable force to give enought clearance to disconnect the ball joint from the arm. If I push down on the arm about a half inch of ball joint stud still sticks out of it. So, did I miss the point? It may be that the lower control arm either has to be loosened or removed in order to proceed. The Haynes manual doesn't help much on that subject. From their words it seems to indicate you remove the nut, use a separator tool and then you can move the knuckle outward. If you don't there isn't enough room to loosen the bolts on the hub or remove the halfshaft.

[inafogg]

hello ted, have you disconnected the tie rod

[ted g]

Hi-

Thanks for the reply.

I disconnected the tie rod, separated the ball joint, removed the speed sensor, loosened the nuts on the strut tower. The brake caliper is off along with its mounting. Somehow I just can't get enough clearance to free the steering knuckle from the control arm. No matter how I push there is always near 1/2 inch of stud sticking through the control arm. It is loose though. The fork broke it free ok.

I have tried to see if there is some reason for the arm not going down far enough but so far I don't see it. It may just be binding in its bushings enough to make it feel like you'll kill it if you push too hard. What concerns me is that the arm isn't impacting something in the areas that are not easily seen.

It really is starting to look like I have to loosen or remove the control arm to solve the problem. If that's what it takes I'll send Haynes a big "thanks" for the help.

Still to come, by the way, removing the ball joint from the steeering knuckle. I borrowed a press from Autozone. They tell me it will do the job. I do have to get in there first.

Thanks again,


Ted

[shorod]

Try tightening the bolts on the strut tower. If those are loose, like you mention, the entire assembly is hanging that much lower, probably the 1/2 inch you need. If you have the tie rod end loose and the anti-sway bar end link loose, you should be able to coax the ball joint out.

The new hub didn't come with a ball joint already installed? If you are going to all this work, why not install new ball joints as well!?!

-Rod

[inafogg]

hang in there ted,like rod said tighten knuckle.with the wheel straight put your pry bar in from r/side of strut down under control arm. it should not take that much force with heavy bar!! let us no & good luck

[ted g]

Hey all-

Thanks-I had loosened the strut bolts so it would allow the bottom end to move around. My concern was whether it would damage anything if I pushed the control arm down. It will take a lot of force to get that last half inch I need in order to get the ball joint stud out of its hole. I'll give it a shot in the morning. It does concern me as it seems I will have to stand on it to get it down enough.

I have a new ball joint that will have to be pressed into the knuckle. The hub assembly is bolted to the knuckle. The ball joint is a separate issue. As usual they could have made a small design change and made the work a lot easier. The hub is held to the knuckle with three bolts. two are reachable from the getgo. The third one is trapped behind the speed sensors equipment, the toothed assembly.

Can't get the hub off until the whole thing is loose. Can't get it loose until the hub is off. Pretty darn silly. I think I want to trade the whole mess for some old American Iron with rear wheel drive.

Thanks again. I'll let you know how it works out.

[shorod]

My fault, my brain interpreted "hub" as "knuckle."

-Rod

[rdh2]

Originally Posted by ted g

Hey all-

Thanks-I had loosened the strut bolts so it would allow the bottom end to move around. My concern was whether it would damage anything if I pushed the control arm down. It will take a lot of force to get that last half inch I need in order to get the ball joint stud out of its hole. I'll give it a shot in the morning. It does concern me as it seems I will have to stand on it to get it down enough.

I have a new ball joint that will have to be pressed into the knuckle. The hub assembly is bolted to the knuckle. The ball joint is a separate issue. As usual they could have made a small design change and made the work a lot easier. The hub is held to the knuckle with three bolts. two are reachable from the getgo. The third one is trapped behind the speed sensors equipment, the toothed assembly.

Can't get the hub off until the whole thing is loose. Can't get it loose until the hub is off. Pretty darn silly. I think I want to trade the whole mess for some old American Iron with rear wheel drive.

Thanks again. I'll let you know how it works out.

The Gen IV Taurus is a pain to change the ball joints. By removing the rear lower control arm bolt, the control arm is allowed to drop more than enough to clear the ball joint stud.

On my '02, I had to use a pitman arm puller to separate the ball joint from the lower control arm. Also, the halfshaft has to be removed from the steering knuckle to provide clearance for removal. Don't forget to remove the snap ring, either.

The ball joint press available from AZ does not work to well for the Gen IV's. The cups with that press do not fit up against the knucke. I had removed the entire knuckle from mine and removed the ball joint on the bench with some customized press pieces. Removing the entire knuckle and paying a shop $20 to R&R the ball joint for you would be easier.

[ted g]

Thanks much RD-

I guess I better get in there and remove that bolt. Even that doesn't look like fun. If that works I'll get the halfshaft and hub out. Then for the ball joint. That sounds like another challenge.

Thanks again

[ted g]

Ok-Now for a follow up-

I removed the rear control arm bolt. The ball joint came free. As expected the Auto Zone Ball Joint Tool does not fit. I am returning that and will take the knuckle to a shop on Monday.

It also appears they gave me the wrong halfshaft. Fully compressed the new one is substantially longer than the old.

To add to the hilarity I pulled the old halfshaft out. It came out very easily. But I don't see a carclip anywhere. Did it come out and fall on the floor? Was there no clip to start with? Is it laying inside the transmission case in two pieces?

The saga continues.

[rdh2]

Originally Posted by ted g

Ok-Now for a follow up-

I removed the rear control arm bolt. The ball joint came free. As expected the Auto Zone Ball Joint Tool does not fit. I am returning that and will take the knuckle to a shop on Monday.

It also appears they gave me the wrong halfshaft. Fully compressed the new one is substantially longer than the old.

To add to the hilarity I pulled the old halfshaft out. It came out very easily. But I don't see a carclip anywhere. Did it come out and fall on the floor? Was there no clip to start with? Is it laying inside the transmission case in two pieces?

The saga continues.

There is a difference in the right halfshafts between the AX4S and AX4N transmissions. IIRC, the AX4S shaft is about 1.5 inches longer.

If the shaft pulled out very easily, the circlip was probably not installed. I'm not sure if the circlip was broken it could go anywhere; if it did go anywhere it would have been into the differential and been chewed up---I think you would know that.

Good Luck.

Bob

[tripletdaddy]

Is it worth it to go fishing for it with a magnet? I'd at least try.

[ted g]

Thanks everybody-

First, I better either turn on the halogen lights, I do have them, or get glasses. Would you believe the clip was on the shaft? I didn't see it. I was expecting something a bit more robust and never saw the thing! I will change my logon to "over the hill."

I went to Autozone with the shaft and the original. The guys behind the counter told me the old one was ng and that was making it appear to be a different overall length. I am not comfortable with that answer. I am concerned over the difference between the two trans also. The AZ site doesn't indicate any of that but other sites do. The AZ solution of putting the shaft in and if there is a problem removing it is not reasonable.

In the end I may return the shaft and buy another one from an old line type parts store in our area that has a machine shop as part of their operation. I was taking the steering knuckle to them anyway re. the ball joint.

[ted g]

Hi all-

Update on the halfshaft:

To know which shaft to use it is necessary to know which transaxle is in the car.

Does anyone know how to ID the transaxle on this 01 Taurus. I found the tag on top of the converter housing. It indicates AEZ1, 1F1P7000AA, 173979 (assuming I saw this correctly while standing on my head holding a flashlight). I think I need to cross ref. that AEZ1 to AX4N or AX4S. The shaft AZ gave me is closest to the N but a little short at 21.5" per Haynes measurement method. For the S, forget it. It should be 23.56".

From another website I did find the pan has 17 bolts and that translates into an "S." Problem is, is this an "S" or some other alternative they installed in this car. I saw mention somewhere of a rare but possible unamed alternative.

Thanks
Ted

[rdh2]

Originally Posted by ted g

Hi all-

Update on the halfshaft:

To know which shaft to use it is necessary to know which transaxle is in the car.

Does anyone know how to ID the transaxle on this 01 Taurus. I found the tag on top of the converter housing. It indicates AEZ1, 1F1P7000AA, 173979 (assuming I saw this correctly while standing on my head holding a flashlight). I think I need to cross ref. that AEZ1 to AX4N or AX4S. The shaft AZ gave me is closest to the N but a little short at 21.5" per Haynes measurement method. For the S, forget it. It should be 23.56".

From another website I did find the pan has 17 bolts and that translates into an "S." Problem is, is this an "S" or some other alternative they installed in this car. I saw mention somewhere of a rare but possible unamed alternative.

Thanks
Ted

Visual identification:
The AX4S has 17 bottom pan bolts and the AX4N has 19.
The AX4S has a servo cover (arrowed) while the AX4N is missing the servo cover (arrowed).




Look at vehicle certification label on the drivers door. Under the block labeled TR (marked as number 9 below) there will be an X or L.

L — Four-speed automatic overdrive, AX4S
X — Four-speed automatic overdrive 4F50N (AX4N)