DAlgie Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 Hello, I have a 2001 2.5 RS, 68k, and I need to remove the rear diff, how do I pull the CV joints out, I don't see the typical roll pins in there, and, can I drop the diff without spreading the suspension out after I get the CVs out? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAlgie Posted August 26, 2005 Author Share Posted August 26, 2005 Well, got to get this done, guess I'll have to ask elsewhere.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcspeer Posted August 26, 2005 Share Posted August 26, 2005 Sorry, Luckily I have not had to do this so I cant help. Did you search in the search feature here? I do not recall much talk on this subject. You also might find help in the Haynes Manuel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthLight Posted August 26, 2005 Share Posted August 26, 2005 I would have thought it would be like the fronts on my 96 obw, with the roll pin. Sorry, can't help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAlgie Posted August 26, 2005 Author Share Posted August 26, 2005 Yes, did a search before I posted this, unusual that nobody is familiar with the inner CV joints. I understand that the older ones had the roll pins, but there are defiantely none here. There is a bolt ring that probably holds the outer bearings in, if I can't get any more info I may try to remove this, but it really doesen't make any sense that it would work like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frag Posted August 26, 2005 Share Posted August 26, 2005 If that can be of any help, rear axles (without spring pins) removal procedure on a Legacy up to 96 (according to Haynes) is to just pry them off using a pry bar and using the diff bearing bolt heads as a fulcrum so not to risk damaging the bearings or bearings housing. Might be the same on your car. FWIW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganM Posted August 26, 2005 Share Posted August 26, 2005 Call up a Stealership, ask for the Tech dept. and ask how you remove rear axles from your make/model. They are DOJs, not CVs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAlgie Posted August 27, 2005 Author Share Posted August 27, 2005 I did put a prybar in there and do what you say earlier, but didn't get any movement at all, so I didn't try anymore. I'll go back and try more force then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frag Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 I did put a prybar in there and do what you say earlier, but didn't get any movement at all, so I didn't try anymore. I'll go back and try more force then. Be charitable if this ever happen to be a stupid question (I have no idea what your mechanical experience is), but how is the rest of the half axle? Is it still in one piece and is the outer end still bolted to the rear hub and knuckle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAlgie Posted August 28, 2005 Author Share Posted August 28, 2005 The rest is still there, complete. I did use more force, and, yes, they popped out as described, so thanks frag for the info. Main problem now is I can't get them apart enough to get one of the axles out of the diff, the CVs won't travel enough to let one come out of it's spline. I tried to remove the rear toe link off the upright outboard but my impact wouldn't budge the large bolt, and a three foot breaker bar didn't do it either. Damm, so close..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frag Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 The rest is still there, complete. I did use more force, and, yes, they popped out as described, so thanks frag for the info. Main problem now is I can't get them apart enough to get one of the axles out of the diff, the CVs won't travel enough to let one come out of it's spline. I tried to remove the rear toe link off the upright outboard but my impact wouldn't budge the large bolt, and a three foot breaker bar didn't do it either. Damm, so close..... It's my experience that these suspension components bolts are often almost rust welded and that it's very frustrating to try unfastening them. Penetrating oil, heat and lots of arm's oil is the only way I think. Sure thing though, you have to "spread out" the hub-knuckle-wheel assembly to remove the axle from the diff. If you wait long enough maybe someone that's already done this will chime in. Meanwhile, and again if your car's rear suspension is not too different from a 90-98 Legacy, Haynes requires to unfasten both control arms (on each side of the axle) where they connect to the rear knuckle to be able to push out the knuckle and slide the axle out of the diff. Not sure what you mean exactly by "rear toe link off the upright outboard". EDit: Off course, you could also try unfastening the control arms at the other end. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAlgie Posted August 28, 2005 Author Share Posted August 28, 2005 Well, I couldn't get the lower control arms off, like you said, the big lower bolt in the upright is probably rusted to the rubber bush liners. I did, though, remove both strut legs, the two lower strut bolts on both sides. This gave me JUST enough to pull one axle out, then pop the other. Ok, so I cleaned the diff up, removed both side bearing retainers, and no bearing problem. Darn! So, dead end there. Maybe will pull the driveshaft out and check it's bearings next. This noise is really loud, I can't believe I can't find the offending bearing there somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frag Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 Nice going DAlgie. You're now entering into grounds totaly unknown to me (rear diff insides). There's certainly some rear diff expert here that will chime in and hopefully give you a hand. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAlgie Posted August 30, 2005 Author Share Posted August 30, 2005 Well, Next, to find this bearing noise, I dropped the center driveshaft hanger bearing down and felt it for roughness. Nope. Put it all back, then removed the rear calipers and discs. Bingo! right rear wheel bearing, who would have ever thought?? Amazing thing to me is that there is no easy way to diagnose this problem (loud bearing noise under the rear of the car somewhere) without going to the trouble of 1. Removing the axles from the diff, which requires that you pull some suspension component to get the axle to clear out from the diff itself, 2. removing the calipers and discs. Then you can freely turn the rear hubs and find the offending bearing. Believe me, I went to the trouble of raising the whole car up, starting it and letting it idle in fourth gear while I crawled around UNDER it, looking for the source of the noise. Not exactly the safest thing I ever did. AWD is nice, but makes diagnosis of driveline noises very time consuming, you can't just spin a wheel and listen, and this one never had any wheel play ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rk50 Posted August 30, 2005 Share Posted August 30, 2005 I just had a friend stop by with a noise in the rear of his 2001 Forrester, 186K miles. Is this the same type of problem you originally diagnosed as a possible CV/DOJ problem? If so then to make this diagnosis go faster what would you do differently? \ Thanks RK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAlgie Posted August 30, 2005 Author Share Posted August 30, 2005 Well, chances are that the oil lubricated parts don't wear that fast. I was hesitatant to look at the diff originally, but everything pointed to that. I would, next time, look at the wheel bearings first. You need to remove some part of the suspension joints to let the inner CV clear the diff, and actually get it out of the diff totally. The upper two big strut bolts come off easily, remove these, but the best bolt to remove is the lower big long one that connects both lower arms. Soak it in some kind of penetrating oil for a day maybe, spray it inside where it comes through the lower part of the upright casting. Before removing this, take the caliper off from the two rear main bolts, not just the small slider bolts, then remove the disc as well. All this will let you rotate the hub by hand without any sort of interference, you can then easily tell if it's that bearing pair or not. Amazing how loud of a noise it will make in the car, yet the bearing not feel too bad by hand. Forget trying to feel for bad bearings from wheel play, mine had none. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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