drive shaft removal
Turbo Mini Forums

Started taking the engine out today only thing left is the drive shafts.

How do you remove the inner joints from the gearbox?

Thanks

Assuming they are pot joints, they should just lever out. I lever against one of the bolt heads on the diff housing when I do it.
Otherwise very occasionally they might need a sharp crack with a hammer and drift to start them moving.

Thanks I have started to lever them out and they are moving. Will I need to split the ball joints to get them off all the way?

Usually, yes.

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

cheers Ill do it in the morning

take the long shaft out first then slide the engine to it side

1293 Turbo mini

Drain the oil before u take the pot joint off the gearbox or you will have oil everywhere........been there done that......

"So wat we gonna do tonight Brain?"
"Same thing we do evernight Pinky!"
"Try to take over the world!"

If you're feeling flush it's worth getting a
proper pot joint tool as it helps.

I just used an old cold chisel to leaver them off, pivoting off a diff bolt like tom said.

How do you go about reconnecting them on the install? Just split the joints again, knock them on the output shafts and do the ball joints up?

Seems the way foward, the only time i took my engine out i took the driveshafts all the way out!

Hi,
I took mine out yesterday, left both drive shafts in!
Cheers,
Gavin :)

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It is definately possible to remove the engine without having to split the balljoints. Just start "pulling" (don't know the correct english word) the engine out and move it to one side, then pull out the driveshaft from the pot joint (remove ty wrap first) on the oher side of the diff casing. Once removed slide the enigine to the other side and remove the 2nd driveshaft.

The easiest way to remove the pot joints from the diff housing is to use the pot joint removal tool, if this tool is not available just use a chisel as mentioned above.

I was thinking that, but thought it would be a pain in the arse getting the clips back on the boot when the engines back in, i think removing the pot joints all together would be better!

Like I said before, it is "possible" by moving the engine from side to side when lifting it.

It is also possible by pulling the inner bit of the joint out of its casing and leaving the bulk of the pot joint in the gearbox.

But, as I said, why risk all the subsequent damage for the sake of a few minutes splitting the ball joints ???

And if you don't have the right tools for splitting ball joints or popping the pot joints out..........

I've lost count of how many output bearing/seal housings I've taken apart that have been butchered by the use of a chisel or screwdriver to pop the joints instead of the proper tool.

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

I use ty wraps instead of clips, works perfect, no problem to get them on with the engine in the car.

Hi,
That's the way I did it, won't take 2 seconds to stick a couple of cable ties on
Cheers,
Gavin :)

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In my opinion there is less risk of damage when splitting the pot joints compared to removing the pot joints from the diff casing.

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

I have to agree! The first thing I do if I remove the enige by splitting the joints is to wrap them in household/kitchen(?) plastic. off course there is still a risk of road dirt getting into the joint. So, if using this method, you will have to clean them and apply new grease.

btw, the balls should not fall out, if that happens it is time to replace the joints..

i just undo the ball joints
ive got a scissor type tool so that helps alot!

I dont have a pot joint tool but got a scissor type ball joint tool so I will split the ball joints.

Moving the engine side to side sounds abit too frustrating to me I would probably end up breaking something and take longer anyway knowing me.

I will put a bag over the end of the shafts to keep them clean

Thanks for the replies

remember to drain the oil first.

a big scrw driver or crow bar will do for the pot joints,

Oil is already drained one of the first things I did, would get abit messy when i start taking it apart lol

If you do use a screwdriver or small crowbar to pop the joints (rather than the proper tool), try putting a small socket on one of the flange bolts, or even a small block of wood, so you are resting the screwdriver/bar against that to lever them out, and not levering against the soft alloy at the end of the flange (where the lip seal goes) as it will get damaged otherwise.

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???