A have a 92 Integra, and I'm in the middle of removing my driver's side axle. I got the axle nut off (damn! that was difficult), removed the damper fork completely, and I must remove the castle nut and separate the balljoints, which I can't wait to do on a 10 year old car. Anyway, I'm playing around with the pin, and I have no idea how to get it off. My manual simply states: remove cotter pin. Well, I don't want to ruin it, because I don't have a replacement. Can I just grab it with Vice-grips, and tear it out?

I remember someone mentioning a Dykes tool or something. I have no idea what that is, but I am sure that I don't have one.

I did find some good info on here about separating the balljoint, but I have a pickle-fork style separator so I will try other methods first to avoid damaging the boot.

Thanks for you assitance.

 

chances are you won't be able to salvage that cotter pin. to get off , just unbend the ends so its straight and try to pull it out from the rounded side. i pretty much just rip them out cuz if they're used, its a hassle to try to get those bent things back in anyway. just go to an auto parts or hardware store and buy a crapload of em for cheap. they shouldn't cost that much.

Dikes are diagonal cutters, usually used to cut wire and the such. of course this would means you would definitely have to get the cotter pins replaced. just shell the the few bucks for a box of new cotter pins.

in case ur pickle fork doesnt work too well, put a hammer to the fork or arm ur trying to get loose. a big hammer. loosen the castle nut till its almost off, but leave it flush as the end so the joint doesnt pop up unexpectedly when ur trying to get it off. look carefully and u will see there are certain points that u can hit without damaging anything. stay away from the joints and nuts tho. nice hard, steady hits will eventually get it popped loose and then u can take the castle nut out all the way. watch all that dirt come loose and fall off and u bang that thing loose

 

banging is cool I to bang

 

Pengo,
I cut the pin off, and got the castle nut off. When you say it should be flush after it's been broken , are you saying it should stay in contact with the LCA?

I'm trying to separate the damn ball joint and LCA and I'm having no success. Is the pickle fork not recommended because it cuts the boot or just smashes everything?

I also can't find anywhere to get a nice downward bang, hehe. Are we talking about sideways banging?

 

get a $10 ball joint puller from kragen. DO NOT TAKE THE NUT OFF ALL THE WAY! just loosen it enough to pop the ball joint loose. if you take the nut off you WILL jack up the threads and regret it very much later.

 

A pitman arm puller ($20 rental from Autozone) might be able to work. It works really well on the steering tie rods, but I'm not sure how well it'll work on the LCA joint.

 

I used a jack to lift the rotor and hub assembly, placed a thick bar between the LCA and balljoint (not touching the boot). Lowered the jack and the car springs forced the two to separate.

Now the axle is welded on to the hub.

 

If you can't get the axles out of the hubs, don't bother pulling them. You can probably swing the suspension/hub/axle out far enough to get the tranny sides out.

 

use a rubber hammer to hamer the axle nut on outside the hub, it will come out pretty easy
i have a 93 civic, very easy to get it out

then use a BIG flathead driver to force the axle to come out from the tranny
BE CAREFUL, put the driver inbetween THEN push the driver OUTWARDS THE TRANNY, don't push it the othe way u will break something

when u use strenth to push the driver, use some sudden force, then it will come out

good luck

i just did mine 1 week ago on my civic

i would recomment you go get some new cotton pins
if not, hammer ur OLD one to straight, then put it back

when u put back the axles , be sure then it doesn't havethat much gap between the tranny, use a driver to push it back in if it's needed

 

Well, I appreciate the advice so far.

I just removed the axle from the hub, and I will take care of the inner CV joint after work. So I need to pry away from the tranny? Hopefully my crow bar does the trick.

Is there a specific way to know you've lined up the splines on the new axle properly into the tranny, or will it simply slip in: on a 10 year old car, nothing just slips-in.

Oh BTW where can one find a "box of cotter pins"? Autozone or the like?

thanks


[Modified by GSpeedR, 9:38 AM 7/1/2002]

 

Yea, just slip it in. It will go. Put make sure you push it in far enough that the circlip seats in. Try to pull it back out. If it slides easily out.. it's not in far enough. If you can feel a "snap" as it comes out.. you had in in right so put it back in again.

Cotter pins... ... they're cotter pins, goto the damn hardware store with the old one or just use bent paperclips it does not matter. I got some for free when I bought a balljoint from the Honda dealer.