I got a 96 Civic with a B16A.

Is there a way to get the intermediate shaft separated from the driver's side driveaxle without removing it all, or do you have to remove the driveaxle and intermediate shaft and try to separate them on the ground?

Also, what's the best way to separate them? Prying one side of the inboard CV in the car doesn't seem to work well.

 

I got a B16A2... and it's a bish to separate them... as you've discovered!

LoL!

Everybody tells you to use a screwdriver to pry then apart, but that's bull!

In my experience, a pry bar (by itself) won't even do the job!

The 'problem' is - there's a circle clip inside there... and that sucker is NOT designed to come apart without a lot of effort!

What I do is use a pry bar AND a hammer - both at the same time...

I put as much pressure on the CV cup as I can with the pry bar then AT THE SAME TIME bang the end of the cup with a hammer.

Works every time!

 

Are you doing the prybar+hammer trick with everything on the car or out of the car?

 

I do it on the car!

Of course, you gotta do all the prerequisites...

Remove the upper control arm, separate the ball joint, move the spindle assembly out of the way, yada, yada, yada, but you know that...

Truthfully, I *think* it would be harder to separate the IM shaft and axle on the bench, but I never tried doing it that way. Sounds like a lot of extra work for nothing...

 

+1 on the hammer and pry bar

 

The hammer and prybar combo makes sense because there's a rubber damper inside the intermediate shaft that absorbs some of the energy from the hammer unless you push the damper over first with a prybar.

I tried hammer+prybar, double prybar, bench vise + hammer + prybar, and nothing worked. A new int shaft online runs about $250... :-(

So, what I decided to do next made me glad I didn't bust up the cup too badly trying to get things apart. I cut the boot clamp, took apart the inboard side and replaced everything except the old cup that's still attached to the int shaft. We'll see how well it works long term. I think most of the wear is on the bearings anyway, so it should work fine since the only thing not replaced was the cup.

 

Yea, put a pry bar inbetween the shaft/axle and smash it with a hammer till it starts to move.

 

easiest way is to tap it with a hammer and whatever tool you have that can reach.

pulling on it won't remove it..or never has for me.

i use a sledge hammer, that way you dont have to work too hard with a normal hammer...just a couple taps and it slides right off.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hondapwr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I tried hammer+prybar, double prybar, bench vise + hammer + prybar, and nothing worked. A new int shaft online runs about $250... :-( </TD></TR></TABLE>


Like I said, it's a bish!

I took my driver-side axle out 3 times in 2 weeks, and it doesn't get any easier...

The cool thing is - when you finally 'pop' that stupid circle clip - it's like:

"Yeah! 7-League Boots going down the road!!! Who dah man? w00t! w00t!"

Gives you a feeling of *power*!

Anyway, I found a source for *cheap* IM shafts and axles - thinking about replacing the whole enchilada next time - both axles and IM shaft.

Here's a LINK if you're interested - axles $170 (pr) IM shaft $120...

 

When I removed my first axle it was rusted in the intermediate shaft. had to remove it all and take it to a shop and let them use everything they had to try and separate them. I grease my axles thoroughly now and it doesnt take much effort at all to remove them. a little pry from a pry bar and they pop right out.

although I just changed axles on a friends DA last week and I had to wedge my pry bar btwn the axle and the intermediate shaft and hammer it upwards to separate them. It was the only thing that worked.

 

i always found it easier just to take both the axle and intermediate shaft together