integrainside

97 Civic with a B-Series swap. The passenger side axle is stuck in the tranny like nothing i have ever seen before. I have broken a lot of axles in this car and have never had an issue like this. I have gone so far as to cut the boot on the axle and now just have the hub stuck. I have beat it with a hammer and then gone at it with a three foot pry bar. I went at it with an air hammer an it still wont pop loose. I have literally been fighting this thing for the last 5 hours and I cant get it loose. I don't know what to do. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

On a separate note... When I put the new axle in, is it ok to not use the snap ring so that I don't have this issue again? If no, what problems will I have if I don't use the snap ring? If I can ever get the old hub out that is....

pliskin8

iTrader: (1)

I kinda had the same problem, I just kept twisting it little by liitle until I got it to pop out, remember that little ring is the only thing holding it in place

B_Swapped93

Had a snap ring get wedged INSIDE the tranny once on a 5th gen lude had to take it to a tranny shop but that's hopefully not your case. keep prying/wiggling however if you've been at it for more then a solid hour things may not be looking to good. how much room between the hub and tranny ?

crxsi1

Rotate it around in a few different gears then put it back in neutral and slowly kinda turn back and forth with a wiggle. Use a crowbar to pop it at the same time...

fragmare

Get under it with your feet hanging out from under the front bumper. With your left hand, support and push upward slightly on the axle, THEN stick a big flathead or a small pry bar between the inner hub and trans housing and try to *pop* it with a swift motion. Simply trying to pry it out, it might be at an odd angle and not wanting to come out because of said angle... hopefully the ring isn't too twisted and bent by now.

integrainside

I guess I just need to keep beating on it. I really don't want to have to drop the tranny and disassemble it. Actually I will beat on this thing for weeks before I do that, ha ha. This just seems like such a stupid problem to have, and its really frustrating.

gzes

I used a thick long flathead and popped mine out. Last time I used a sledge hammer when drivetrain was out and wanted to swap axles keep on tryin itl work eventually

rudebwoy

iTrader: (1)

sounds like you have a OBX LSD, the way I usually remove the passenger axle when I had this differential is using a long skinny punch from the driver side and tap it out. another way is getting some assistance, one pry bar from top, and one from the bottom both people pry on it at the same time.

integrainside

No, I have a WaveTrac LSD.

integrainside

Actually I lied, it is a Quaife LSD. It was a long time ago that I put it in. Had to go back and look at pictures.

So if I'm laying under the car with my feet pointing towards the front. I put my left hand on the drivers side axle, right hand on passenger side axle and attempt to spin them in opposite directions they will spin with some resistance. This is normal right?

Also, on the stuck axle, if i grab it and push it in and then pull it out is does move in and out slightly. Enough to make a clunk sound. But its not much at all, like 1/32 of an inch or less.

integrainside

Here is what it is looking like so far....

Im thinking about going to the tool discount place and getting a slide hammer. I could drill holes in the axle hub and put a bolt through it and try to slam it out with a slide hammer. What do you think?

rudebwoy

iTrader: (1)

please try my suggestions, they always worked for me. tap it out from the driver side with a punch.

carlos8

You have lsd so remove the driver side axle and stick a piece of round bar, beat it with a sledge hammer

gzes

Also works we sometimes do that at the shop with ones that can be done

integrainside

I went out and got a 4ft long piece of steel rebar and I am pounding the **** out of it with a 4 pound hammer, and nothing. I really feel like I am going to damage a bearing or something in the tranny if I keep pounding on it like this. I have really hit it with everything I have about 10-12 times and it doesn't seem to be doing anything at all. Should I really just hammer the **** out of it until it comes out no matter how long it takes?

Its been a couple of years since I had to change an axle, but I remember doing this on the side of the road in 30 min back in the day. I have never had problems like this. I don't get it.

jbpnoman

Have a friend slowly rotate it while you're hitting it. Ideally, though, you shouldn't hit it - just apply strong pressure. It's held in by a snap ring. Those snap rings don't like sudden torque.

integrainside

**** just went from bad to worse. I wedged a pry bar between the hub and tranny on the passenger side to keep it under pressure. I went to the drivers side and started hitting it with the steel rebar and finally it pops out. I go over and look and it appears that there was a center piece in my Quaife LSD and I just punched it out. Im not really sure, I attached pictures. Did I just ******* break a $900 LSD???

jbpnoman

I don't see any pieces missing. In the first picture, that's just the stub of your CV joint. The groove between the massive bend and the gears on it is where the C clip should be. The horribly bent part would explain why it didn't want to come out. If the C clip didn't come out with the axle, you need to find it before you put new axles on there.

integrainside

After further investigation, this is what was inside of the differential. I feel like I have tremendously fucked up....

integrainside

And the rest of the pictures... wouldn't fit in one post.

jbpnoman

This is what a Quaife should look like when you look through the middle of it. The ring there looks like the C clip that was holding your axle in. The rest of it...I don't know, but as far as I can tell, it doesn't look like any part of the differential I recognize from those pictures, unless you were hammering on the edge of the axle, and not the middle of it.

strategy400

The Helm manual lists one of the reasons for a stuck axle is a worn pinion shaft. Perhaps some transmission work was in order.

fragmare

Ouch. The two semi-circular pieces are definitely part of your axle clip. i'm not sure what that thing that looks like a stack of coins or the metal shards are. I'd drop the trans and pop it open... see if anything is broken or missing. Just to make sure. If something is fucked up... i'd replace it.

rudebwoy

iTrader: (1)

the hole through the LSD is about 1/4" about the size of a number 2 screwdriver,you said you used a piece of rebar that sound kinda thick, it looks as if the wavetrack LSD did not have the hole that. Quafe, Mfactory, and Obx has that is strange. hope wavetrack will hook you up and repair it for you.

jbpnoman

OP has a Quaife, not a Wavetrack.