speedball1969

First off I want to say great site, this is my first post so if its in the wrong area, please move it to the correct one. My friend has a 88 Civic, manual trans, that he thought that the clutch gave out. Upon futher inspection, we found that the drivers side axle was broke. I am pretty mechanical inclined, so we started the job on Friday. Pulled the wheel off, lower tie-rod, etc, etc. The shaft broke just before it goes into the wheel assem, where the brake caliper bolts up. I pulled this out, and then we pulled on the axle while prying against the transmission and the metal end of the axle.

About 3 hrs later this axle is still stuck in the transmission, we have used crowbars, screwdrivers, come-alongs, we have wedge a metal bar and hammered trying to pry it loose, we have wraped a u-bolt aroud the shaft, tied a chain to it ran to the side of the car and looped around a 40 pound steel bar and hammered it with a 20 pound sledge hammer (NOT LYING ) It moved the car on the jackstands, but not the axle.

When we first pushed the car in the garage, he started the car and it went through all gears so nothing in the trans seems to be stuck or broken.........yet! Has anyone else ever had this much trouble?? We even pulled the other side off to look through the transmission. Other side came off with minimum effort, just using a screwdriver. Looking through the trans you can see the end of the axle, but there is a pin in the way so you cannot get a good look on it. My dad is bringing a probe from work so that we can get a better look on the end of the shaft to see if the c-clip expanding ring has got bent.

Has anyone else had this bad of a nightmare of getting a axle shaft out. At this point, Im willing to try about anything. Thanks for you help in advance!!!!

Robby

DaX

iTrader: (1)

I know it may sound stupid, but check to make sure your clutch pedal is up off the floor. When doing my first motor swap, I could not for the life of me get the new axles in. I had the motor hanging in the car, everything bolted and connected except the axles. I tried for about 6 hours, but could not get the axles completely seated in the transmission [they would go in about 3/4 of the way]. I even went to the auto parts store and traded the axles 3 times! I also tried filing down the splines a little on the second set of axles, but to no avail. Finally I called it quits and the next morning went out to the shop and noticed the clutch pedal was on the floor. I pulled the clutch pedal off the floor and tried the axle and it slid in beautifully.

quik1

I have seen that problem before. I was doing an apprenticeship at Honda for a while and while I was there I do recall one that the journey men were having a huge problem with I remember all the mechanics going there and awing over it. I believe they finally just had two guys pry at different spots with huge pry bars and it came out.Good luck.

seppuku

I had a similar issue with my 96 civic...pry bars are the way to go. I used a ball joint seperator and the stock lug wrench to get it out (has a nice sharp tip). I pounded the seperator on one side and worked my way around with the lug wrench around the axle...if you seperate it enough spray some rust eliminator spray and let it soak...make sure to replace the transmission seals after you are done...they might be damaged from all the hammering and pulling.