BeerGarage

I had the same problem, twice. The first time I took it to a shop and paid several hundred dollars for them to finish replacing the axle for me. The second time, I tried to remove it, and once again frozen solid. I broke my puller I broke my BFH I read that even a 20 ton press does not always work, and SOA recommends replacing the hub and axle as a unit because they are not "meant to" come apart. So I left the CV in the hub, undid the inner connection to the trans, took off the bearings and races, and was able to replace both boots from that end. As long as the bearings are OK, I will do it this way from now on. I wish I had thought of this the first time before I threw all that money at it. It's so obvious now. More pics and more details here: http://BeerGarage.com/SubyAxle.aspx

Here is the image from the FSM: http://beergarage.com/imgs/Suby/OPump/11.jpg it looks to me like it shows a thin line of the sealant, not a wide smear like you would get with your finger. I am not a factory tech, just a guy looking at the pictures, so I can not say any more than that. I can say that I did this about 50k miles ago and no leaks, no oil lights, no bearing noises, knock wood. Cheers

I can understand why you would think that is too much sealant I put onto the oil pump. If I used regular RTV, it would pose a risk of clogging oil passages with the squeeze out. However, I used anaerobic sealant, applied in the proper amount as described in the FSM. Anaerobic sealant will not harden until it is torqued between the mating surfaces and deprived of oxygen. This has the added bonus of giving me all the time I want to install it, as it will not harden or even skin over until it is completely installed. Any squeeze out can never harden or clog anything. Cheers.

I used anaerobic sealant on the oil pump. Anaerobic sealant will only harden when it is deprived of oxygen, where it is pressed between the two mating surfaces. Any squeeze out will never harden and can not clog any oil passages. Plus, I have all the time I want to install it, because it will not harden until it is installed and torqued.