[SOLVED] Unable to remove drive shaft inner mounting from differential on Punto

It's a spring clip, and it can be a bugger.

as Duncan says they can be right sod to remove, have you tried whacking the end of the pry bar with a hammer to shock the joint ?

I find a bit of something solid & not spikey, struck by a lump hammer can help. as the clips sprung hitting it repeatedly won't help.

Sounds like it's similar to the outer CV joint, held in place with a spring circlip. I was able to knock that off with a wooden mallet without too much force. Haynes state that you should replace with a new circlip. The new one had a slightly greater diameter and I simply unable to bash the joint back on. Wonder if I'm suffering from that problem. Not only that, but if I get it off I bet it will be just as difficult to get back on again.

Looks like there is such as thing as a pry-bar. A different design to crowbars in the sense that they have a 90 degree bend at the end. This might be more suitable for the job, but that's another £10 for the job.

I've tried hitting the crowbar, but I just can't get a proper purchase on the drive shaft due to its angled edge.

Regards,

Tim

I managed to borrow a few other bars and eventually pried the damn thing off. Took a bit of effort though with a 0.5m chisel type bar with a very very blunt end (been used for smashing rocks or something, so was a couple of mil across). It was held in with a slightly larger spring circlip than the outer CV joint. This probably explains the extra effort required (that and it being difficult to get purchase on).

Extracting the seal was also fun. Probably as expected it didn't just pull out, so another prying was required. Unfortunately I didn't realise that there was a lip on the other side of the seal and caught that during the prying process. Fortunately it's only half the width of the seal, so I'm guessing a touch gasket sealant will probably fill it.

The seal itself didn't look damaged, I'm hoping it was just slightly worn and the problem isn't elsewhere. 85K miles of metal rubbing against rubber, the rubbers got to get thinner some time.

I suspect getting it back in will be just as much fun.

Thanks for the tips all,

Regards,

Tim

Back in is easy, you can hit it with a mallet. The lip just stops the seal going in too far, if you've not scratched the bore the seal sits in it'll be fine. Grease it with some gear oil before you try & tap it in & if the socket you're tapping it with is a little small use the old seal back to front to protect the new one.

The scratch goes into the bore. The seal surface that seals to the bore is 1-2mm metal and 1-2mm rubber. I'm guessing it's the rubber part that actually makes the seal and the scratch doesn't come that far out. I've got a little silicon gasket sealant left over from doing the sump. I'll put in the smallest of amounts to cover this scratch.

Thanks for the tip with the oil and socket. I was going to try and very gently and patiently tap it back in with a flat object in a 12 - 6 - 3 -

9 process. The best I could find was the hammer end of a small chisel. A socket is a genius idea, plus I can tag on an extension bar to get past the exhaust.

Regards,

Tim

replying to Tim, nicoagnelli wrote: Very helpful thread. Thanks all.