I am almost done with replacing my drivers sided front axel. I have a 93 dx civic. However, I can't seem to get the inner cv joint to fully insert into the tranny housing. There is about a 0.5 cm gap before it will sit flush.

A local shop advised me to hit the outer joint with a hammer in order to get the set pin on the inner spline to get over the groove. I tried that but didn't want to hit is too hard cause I didn't know if that would possibly damage either cv joint.

I don't want to chance driving on it cause I'm sure it wouold f-something up. Do you have any suggestions on what might be wrong or how to get it past that damn groove?

Thanks.

 

use a big 12 lb sledge and hit it in...

 

Make sure the joints are straight, and pound the outer part a few times. Of course, don't hit on the threads. It should pop right in. They can be stubborn sometimes, as the retaining clips have to compress for it to slide in.

 

Try rotating the axle too, sometimes it will just pop in when you turn it in the right direction. You can also use the axle itself as kind of a slide hammer, if you know what I mean.

 

I have always used the "slide hammer " method. I hold the axel pretty straight, pull it out about 2" from the tranny then kinda push and use the momentum of the whole thing to make the little clip compress and let the axel slide in.
I try to push it in more than slam it for fear of damaging the CV joints. Sometimes it takes a pretty good hit and sometimes they just need a quick light push to go in. Never failed me and you don't need one of those fancy hammers.

 

Just dont twist the axle all over the place while trying to "snap" it in place. The knuckles can seperate not the end of the world but more work.