MPVSubaru87

Hi Pete, I never did the writeup for the timing belt replacement, I probably ought to at some point.. Miles Fox has a pretty good writeup with pictures at his website here. The replacement isn't too tough, it's usually just a matter of getting the alignment holes lined up on the cams and belt covers and keeping the flywheel from turning. Max

Ok, GD's edits are in. Thanks, Max

Yes, I read some of your posts from that adventure. I look forward to reading your timing belt writeup and it's great that you took pics along the way! Max

GD, Which way does the spring washer go on? I put my middle washer on with the wider side against the conical spacer (hope that's the right way, or I'll have to redo the castles...doh.) I'll edit in a note about using a soft-faced hammer to smack the axle out and I'll put in a change about the tie rod end, initially I tried turning the wheel for leeway, but of course, forgot to undo the pivot bolt (wasn't sure of the names of parts early on) so I didn't get far that way. But I agree, once the pivot bolt's out, the position/length of the tie rod is not an obstacle. And I'll definitely add the caveat on the bearings. Guess I got lucky on that one... or more likely, my bearings are ollld. But I'm gonna do that tomorrow (or later today, as the case may be... 1:20am, time for sleep.) Thanks, Max

Thanks, Hopefully this puts to rest any more confusion over how to do the job. Cheers, Max

CV axle replacement writeup (based on my experience following edrach's instructions and the Haynes Subaru 1600 & 1800 red book). Parts New CV axle for a 1988 EA82 2WD from cvaxles.com New cotter pins -- 3/16" x 2 1/2" for the castle nut, 3/32" x 1" for any balljoints Must Have Tools 36mm socket 3/16" punch metric socket set and wrenches (2 sets is better, as you'll need a wrench for counter-rotation) heavy hammer (3lbs or better) and brass hammers are good set of pliers Useful Tools You May Not Have 3" and 8" gear pullers 3-ft section of heavy pipe Let's Go! First. Remove the cotter pin holding the castle nut, then break the castle nut while the wheel is still on the ground. You'll need a 36mm socket (Sears item #00944248000 / Mfr. model #44248, 12-point, not sure if they make a hex version) and a 3 foot length of heavy steel pipe to use for leverage. I applied a fair amount of Liquid Wrench the night before to help. And I ended up standing on the pipe with the wrench inside it in order to break the nut. They can be very tight. Remember to use wheel chocks. Next. Break the lug nuts holding the wheel. Jack up the car and set it on a jackstand at the point next to the wheel you'll be working on. Best to play it safe. Remove the wheel. You should now see the hub, rotor, and caliper. Pretty standard. Check the rotor for signs of uneven brake pad wear and / or rust. Check the pads for thickness. If the brakes have been in need of some work, now is an ideal time to do it (though that does mean you also should do the opposite side simultaneously). It is not necessary to take the hub/rotor/caliper assembly off to remove the CV axle (it's just something I did this time out). Now the fun begins. Using the 3/16" round punch tool, tap the spring pin out of the Double Offset Joint (DOJ) starting from the unbevelled side and finishing on the bevelled side. If need be, you can rotate the axle 180 degrees with your hands (make sure the car is in neutral and parking brake off, make sure wheels are chocked). Also, if your punch tool is too short, as mine was, you can finish by using a mid-sized philips-head screwdriver, but I would recommend starting with the well-fitting punch, as the pin may be tighter at the beginning and you certainly don't want it expanding even more in the hole. With the pin removed, pull the DOJ away from the engine and you should see the engine stub axle but you won't be able to pull the DOJ completely off. For that, you'll need about one more inch of leeway. To get that leeway, you have a couple of options indicated in the following picture: The first thing to try is to detach the pivot joint bolt. Once the bolt is detached, you may be able to pry the DOJ off the engine stub axle by pulling on the strut assembly and axle simultaneously. If that doesn't work initially, try loosening (but not removing) the bolts at the top of the strut assembly and pulling again. If that doesn't give you enough leeway, try detaching the stabilizer bar (use a hydraulic or scissor jack to raise and lower the pivot arm, this helps in disassembly and reassembly). I also detached the steering tie rod joint from the steering knuckle using a 3-inch gear puller (3, 4, 6, 8" puller set is ~$20 at Harbor Freight), but this is not generally necessary, as you can always turn the steering wheel to create leeway from the steering tie-rod. More than likely you will be able to pop the whole axle off the engine stub axle after detaching the pivot joint bolt and stabilizer bar. In no likely case will you have to separate the steering knuckle from the strut tower. With any luck you'll have the DOJ off after just removing the pivot joint bolt. But some combo of the above should do the trick. Now hang the DOJ axle away from the engine with a coat hanger to give it room for when you tap through the Constant Velocity (CV) axle. At this point you want to remove the castle nut, the spring washer, and the conical spacer. Make a note of which way the spring washer was originally oriented, GeneralDisorder writes that it should have a "slight bubble to it - like the surface of a lens. The bubble goes out towards the nut". The conical spacer is the innermost ring with a small gap in it and it can be a pain to remove since it's often wedged in tightly between the hub and the axle. One way to get it started is to place the 3/16" punch up against one side of the small gap and tap hard. With any luck that will break it loose. If the conical spacer came out, skip what I'm just about to say, you can now smack the CV axle out through the hub and steering knuckle with a hammer or push it through with a gear puller (since all the brake hardware is still solidly in place). GeneralDisorder writes that "Getting the hub off is easiest if you just smack the end of the axle with a copper or brass hammer..." If the conical spacer didn't come out, you can try what I tried. Attach an 8" gear puller to the hub and crank it until the hub, rotor, and conical spacer pop off together, usually with a nice loud *BANG* to scare the bejeezus out of you (at least it did to me, just be prepared). You'll need to pull the brake calipers off and hang them aside / off the strut springs. You can tell in the photo below that my rotors are in pretty bad shape, and now is a great time to replace them (new ones ~$15/ea at NAPA). With the nut, washer, and spacer removed, you can now tap the CV axle out of the steering knuckle. If you don't have a good soft-faced hammer, try taking a block of wood and a three pound sledge (or heavier, your mileage may vary), placing the wood against the axle and smashing away. Try to make sure that the surface of the hammer and wood are all flush against the end of the axle if possible. In my case, I did without the wood and very carefully tapped the axle through by hitting it flush on the end each time, thus avoiding damage to the threads. A note about threads: Make sure that your replacement axle has threads that go all the way out to the end on the outer-joint side, otherwise pulling the axle back through the steering knuckle/hub can become a royal pain, according to other USMB posters. After you get the axle out, you'll see something like this (possibly with all the brake/hub/rotor stuff still attached to the steering knuckle). Threading the new axle back through can be easy or difficult -- in my case the new one slid in smooth as silk. Hopefully yours will too, but be aware that the process may be difficult. GeneralDisorder writes: "Axles don't always go into the bearings as easily as yours did. Especially if the bearings are new also. [emphasis added] Sometimes a LOT of force is required. A couple large flathead screwdrivers are usually my choice.... and some brute force and ignorance." Re-assembly is the reverse of disassembly and probably will be even faster. Remember that when you tap the spring pin back into the DOJ after it's pushed back onto the engine stub axle, you need to tap it in starting from the bevelled hole. And make sure to tighten down the strut mount bolts (I forgot til my brother noticed). Final words from edrach's instructions: "Put the pivot bolt back into the lower arm and tighten. Tighten the nuts at the top of the strut, replace the wheel and drop the car back on the ground and tighten the castle nut to 145 ft-lbs of torque (or more--more is better and won't hurt anything). Torque the wheel lugs to 75 ft-lbs replace the cotter pin in the castle nut and you're done. Retorque the lugnuts after 300 miles again and check the castle nut for tightness..." That's it! You've changed your gimpy, clicking CV axle! Good luck all, hope this helps, and remember, if you have any parts left over, you probably forgot something. Please feel free to let me know if you have any notes to add or find errors. © 2004 <max at vilimpoc dot org>, under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.

I think he means it's easier to replace the whole axle rather than change the boots. But if not, I agree, it would definitely be more difficult to change in a new knuckle. Max

Hi all, Glad to hear the pictures are helpful. It's what I can do to give back. Hopefully more pictures flow in as time goes on for other models and part changes. (Dig out those digital cameras, guys! ) I'm about to do the timing belts and plan on taking pictures for that also. If one of the admins can help up my picture gallery storage limit, I'd appreciate it, I chewed through the meg of storage already. Cheers, and I'll post a writeup about the CV axle replacement process, and some snags I hit, in this thread as soon as I can. Thanks, Max

Hi guys, It's my first post, might as well make something good of it. Following edrach's axle repair instructions, I replaced a worn-out CV axle on my 88 DL, additionally swapping in new rotors and pads. This was the first major mechanical repair I'd ever attempted on the Sub, and I owe of a lot of success to the folks here. Thanks! As a way to help future folk with the same operation, I took a bunch of pictures during the work, and posted them chronologically into this photo gallery. (Make sure to sort gallery by Image Name.) Out of curiosity, there doesn't seem to be a way to add Articles to the USRM right now (seems like there's a web-button missing), but it seems to be a pretty common chore that needs to be done on old Sub's. Cheers, Max keywords: CV, DOJ, axle, replace, replacement, repair, removal