Differential Output Shafts

[Elan67Coupe]

Listers:
I am in the process of disassembly of my differential assembly for
inspection, repair, and a ring (crown wheel) and pinion change. I have
removed the circlip around each output shaft and have attempted to "gently
tap out each drive shaft" per the workshop manual. After being in place for
33 years, they are in no mood to go anywhere, even when the taps are no
longer gentle..... I do have a slide hammer, but would have to fabricate an
adapter plate to pick up the 3 point bolt pattern of the output shaft. Any
tips out there on how the rest of you have accomplished this task?

Bill Kanne
67 Elan FHC
36/6556

[waggsport]

I did it some years ago. Used some bolts and nuts to press them out.
I put the bolt-heads against the differential casing and the nuts behind the ears of the output driveshafts.
Then turned the nuts, and out came the driveshafts.

regards

Lars-Olof Eriksson
68 Elan FHC
36/8312

----- Ursprungligt meddelande -----
Fr?n: Bill Kanne <[email protected]>
Till: 'Lotus Elan List' <[email protected]>
Skickat: den 23 januari 2000 06:39
?mne: [LotusElan.net] Differential Output Shafts

[paul_adamson]

-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Kanne [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: 23 January 2000 05:40
To: 'Lotus Elan List'
Subject: [LotusElan.net] Differential Output Shafts


From: "Bill Kanne" <[email protected]>

Listers:
I am in the process of disassembly of my differential assembly for
inspection, repair, and a ring (crown wheel) and pinion change. I have
removed the circlip around each output shaft and have attempted to "gently
tap out each drive shaft" per the workshop manual. After being in place for
33 years, they are in no mood to go anywhere, even when the taps are no
longer gentle..... I do have a slide hammer, but would have to fabricate an
adapter plate to pick up the 3 point bolt pattern of the output shaft. Any
tips out there on how the rest of you have accomplished this task?

Bill Kanne
67 Elan FHC
36/6556

I recall making a slide hammer to do just this job.
It was a bit of a Heath-Robinson affair but it did the job.
My father had a Piston Pin from a truck and a nice length of steel bar that
were a nice fit.
I welded plates to both ends of the rod, the bottom one we drilled to fit
the output shaft.
Bolt it on and gitve it some gently persuasion.

I think we also used the device on an Esprit gearbox as well.

I was much happier using the slide hammer than risking bending the output
shaft fingers.

Sometimes it's easier just to make the tool.

Paul Adamson
68 Elan SE DHC

PS. If anyone is interested, I uploaded a picture of my Elan to Onelist in a
folder "Adamson"
The photo was taken just after I fitted the body back on the chassis.

[richard at rhinds.fsnet.c]

Bill,
I've found the secret to be a little heat! The aluminium casting will
expand significantly from the heat of a hot-air gun (electric paint
stripper), and then relatively gentle hammer taps will drive out the output
shafts plus bearing. The expansion caused by the gentle heating also breaks
the inevitable corrosion seal that builds up over time. Similar process for
re-asembly, except you could also put the shaft/bearing assembly in a
freezer prior to warming the diff casing, in which case you can almost
insert the shafts by hand pressure alone.
The parts are meant to be an interference fit, when both at the same
temperature and extracting them brutally without warming first will remove a
small amount of aluminium from the diff casing, and could end up making it
useless.
----- Original Message -----
From: Bill Kanne <[email protected]>
To: 'Lotus Elan List' <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, January 23, 2000 5:39 AM
Subject: [LotusElan.net] Differential Output Shafts


From: "Bill Kanne" <[email protected]>

Listers:
I am in the process of disassembly of my differential assembly for
inspection, repair, and a ring (crown wheel) and pinion change. I have
removed the circlip around each output shaft and have attempted to "gently
tap out each drive shaft" per the workshop manual. After being in place for
33 years, they are in no mood to go anywhere, even when the taps are no
longer gentle..... I do have a slide hammer, but would have to fabricate an
adapter plate to pick up the 3 point bolt pattern of the output shaft. Any
tips out there on how the rest of you have accomplished this task?

Bill Kanne
67 Elan FHC
36/6556




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http://LotusElan.net

[mopho]

Heat is good advice, when I installed the new CV joints on my car, I put the
half shafts in the freezer and heated the diff and they slipped right in.
---Morgan
67'S3
-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Hinds <[email protected]>
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Date: Sunday, January 23, 2000 11:55 AM
Subject: Re: [LotusElan.net] Differential Output Shafts

[rsfehr]

I have been using this method for years, has not failed yet.

-Randall

[gobw2]

You may find dissimilar metals have corroded between outer bearing race
and housing. Soaking with WD 40 or similar helps - last resort - gentle
heat - do not reuse bearings then - seals may have been heat damaged.

MAIN REASON for responding - when I did mine, noticed very slight twist
in splines where engagement with spider gear ended- looked like wear
marks. Had them magna fluxed. Both showed early signs of failure. I later
used dye penetrant and confirmed Right rear had cracks. Not visible to
eye without dye. People who magna fluxed said parts were made from mild
steel - not treated like most car axles.
I have heard of others failing, and saw the result years later, when
picking up parts in a salvage yard. Axle flailing around destroyed
frame, caused driver to loose control.

On Sun, 23 Jan 2000 09:11:17 +0100 "Lars-Olof Eriksson"
<[email protected]> writes:

[Elan67Coupe]

Listers:

Thanks to all who gave me some tips on removal of the differential output
shafts. I completed the task this afternoon using a combination of a little
heat and the bolt/nut method pushing against the housing.

This was what I discovered inside my differential:
1. My unit has 34 teeth on the ring gear and 9 teeth on the pinion, or a
3.77 ratio. The wear pattern looked very good for a 73,000 mile car, no
chipped gear teeth or metal filings on the bottom of the housing.
2. The air vent hole in the bolt in the top of the housing was completely
plugged with crud; any venting was done past the seals.
3. The left side stub shaft was a disaster waiting to happen... The splines
on the end of the shaft looked like a hockey stick. The portion of the
splines that were engaged in the differential assembly were straight (the
handle of the hockey stick)and the entire shaft had twisted clockwise about
10 degrees. This caused the splined portion of the shaft not engaged in the
differential to twist and look like the blade of the hockey stick. These
original shafts are very soft steel... Only minimal additional effort
appears to be required shear the shaft in half...
4. The right side stub shaft appears to be normal, with no visible cracks or
twisting of the shaft.

I now understand why I have seen many recommendations to replace the
differential output shafts and hub shafts with high strength aftermarket
items...

Bill Kanne
67 Elan FHC
36/6556

[Elan45]

I made the adapter for the slide hammer and have used it many times. I've also used the adapter a bolt of about 8" long (200mm for thase corrupted by ISO) and with the slider from the hammer on it, removed stub axles in situ, while the diff is still in the car. Then I made another adapter so I could pull out the stub axles out of my Eleven's diff housing. Vey seldom does it take more than 5 or 6 hits.

Roger