The Mechanical Advice Thread
 

In this thread you can ask for/offer advice on mechanical issues, which, for example, could range from diagnosing something to working past something while DIY'ing. Because we all need occasional help to diagnose issues or to get past something in DIY's, and, for many of us, the internet is where we turn when that time arrives. I'm hoping for this thread to become a sort of extension of the "What did you do to your vehicle today?" thread.

You might even ask for someone to lend you a 12mm socket at 1am and have Lomac, MG1, CRS, and myself show up at your house to help lower your car..........

I'll start.

Vehicle: 1996-2000 model Rav4.
Issue: Drivers side CV joint is stuck in the transmission. The passenger side popped right out but this one is not budging despite significant effort. Is it a matter of exerting enough force to break the c-clip on its end free (what we've tried) or does it need to be rotated a certain way, etc?

just gotta get a pry bar between transmission and the cv joint and pop it out. they can sometimes be pretty difficult

http://www.autobodytoolmart.com/imag...dium/14139.gif
this can also be used for the very difficultn ones

Unfortunately, I tried a slide hammer but to no avail.

See if you can get two pry bars in there. When you pry with one it get crooked and sometimes binds up. Get one on top and one on the bottoms and pry together.

-For balljoints I pound them out with a hammer and stick the new one in the freezer and heat up the part where it presses into. No press required, it will drop right in.

-To remove a race on an ID, weld around the race. When the weld cools it will contract and the race will fall right out. To install new race, place in freezer and heat up the part where it presses in to. Drops right in.

-To remove an external race, cut a slot into it with a cutoff wheel. Then hit it with a chisel. It will crack the race and pop right off.

Yup, I gave that a shot too. No success.

2 people, one pry bar, 1 long punch
1 person holds tension on the pry bar, one person hits the inner joint with a punch

Usually the shock of the impact will released the clip

Or use a bigger pry bar and hammer and hammer it

you have the passenger side out? see if you can find a rod or something that will fit in the hole on the passenger side and stick it in the hole then hammer the shit out of it, should pop out the cv shaft out of the driver side

more than likely, your c-clip around the shaft is deformed or the splines are damaged if your having this much issue taking it out

^^^That. Or rotate the shaft 90* and try again, then repeat. Sometimes you have to get the clip in the right spot.

I hadn't thought to hit the inner joint, I'll definitely give this a shot tonight.

I wanted to try that yesterday but couldn't find anything that would work, but I got something today so I'll definitely give this a shot tonight too.

I was thinking damaged splines could be the issue...

I've rotated it a good hundred times... no dice.

It's doubtful the splines are messed up. The clip was probably spread too much when it was installed.

Good luck. I know it's frustrating as fuck.

edit - 1 more thought. Pry bars flex a bit, how 'bout using a crowbar to give it more of a shock when you pry it out? Just be careful if you're prying against the trans housing.

We can't hammer the CV from the passenger side because it is AWD.

We attached a gear puller to the CV joint, and to the gear puller we welded a threaded rod, and to the end of the threaded rod we mounted a 8' board. The board kept the threaded rod pulling directly out and we struck it with a sledge hammer repeatedly while we rotated the CV joint and struck the center of it with a second rod. Basically, we built a something like an oversized slide hammer. The CV hasn't budged.

Any other ideas?

Use a bigger pry bar and a bigger hammer


What are u replacing or repairing ?

You probably saw this already but in case you haven't:

We're replacing the driver side CV joint on a Rav4. The c-clip on the end is stuck it seems.

We're throwing full force blows with a 20lb sledge at it through our contraption, I don't think we could exert more raw force on it.

We have, and the contraption we have with the gear puller does not lack any grip and that's what that video helps with primarily.

Thanks though.

Is it possible the c-clip isnt whats preventing it from coming out? My guess is some rust formed in the splines to cause a bond. Try using some heat if thats the case

It's lubricated in the transaxle, wouldn't be seized.

I cant think of anything already attempted except cow bell.

Cow bell?

Copy pasta'd over from "no need to start a new thread, thread" was actually looking for this one but couldnt find it :derp:

Just a question... Recently my passenger side rear wheel well area/trunk area started having a clunk sound while going over bumps, sort of like the sound as if something was hitting the side of the trunk or the top of the trunk. I've checked my suspension and everything is fine. I'm suspecting it might be my trunk liner so i've ziptied it all tight, but the sound is still there (albeit slightly better). Anyone know what might be the culprit?
Edit: there is no sound if I move the car up and down on the suspension. However, say if I drive over a bumpy area of road, the sound is as if someone is knocking on my trunk from the inside

^ I had the same issue, turned out to be a LCA. Just FYI though, i have literally no idea how your suspension is set up, and idk if it even has rear lower control arms. Just passing along what the fix was for me.

Yep I've got LCAs, I'll check that out tomorrow to see if its hitting anything from underneath

Check all the suspension bushings

@speedstars Have you checked the swaybar links or swaybar bushing? What vehicle are you working with?