Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hi all.

Does anyone have any tricks for removing the Output Shafts? Made a bit of a Blunder to put it mildly, put the chassis together and put the body on to find one of the box of bits still with three new Diff seals in it i thought i'd put some oil in it to see if they did leak and this morning noticed a patch of oil on the garage floor

Be really good if they could be done in situe but looking at some old Threads i get the feeling this is going to be a Diff out and plenty of heat

Removing the circlips will probably be the hardest part with the diff in the car. If you can get them out some heat on the casing and a slide hammer will get the shafts out.

On the same theme, is there any way to see, in situ, whether a Diff refurb company that I employed some time ago, fitted the strengthened versions of the diff output shafts?

billwill wrote:On the same theme, is there any way to see, in situ, whether a Diff refurb company that I employed some time ago, fitted the strengthened versions of the diff output shafts?

High strength output shafts generally do not have a reduced diameter between the splines and the finished surface that receives the inner race of the bearing. That might not satisfy your hope for "in situ" examination. Current high strength output shafts from vendors like Tony Thompson appear to be machined from large diameter round stock and do not have the appearance of a forging on the arms that attach to the Rotoflex joints. That might also help your inspection.

You should not need much heat on the differential housing to get the bearings out. The real need is to alleviate the light interference between the bearing outer race and the housing so that the housing is not deformed permanently by cycles of installing and removing bearings.

Did mine in situ
Rear of car on axle stands and wheel off
Remove outer wishbone bolts so that hub could be swung out of the way
Remove drive shaft
Remove diff circlip
Attach slide hammer
Bang it


The key bit for me was a plate to spread the slide hammer force equally across the three ears of the output shaft. I did try some rope but it absorbed the slide hammer shock loading and didn't work.

Peter

I've done this insitu a couple of times.

I made a plate, probably 1/2 " thick, w/ the center hole threaded to accept the slidehammer and three other holes to match the stub axle. Then I found that my normal slidehammer was too long, so I bought a bolt, same diam and thread as the slidehammer, but about 8 inches long. Removed the hammer part of the slidehammer and used it on the 8 in long bolt. Worked a treat and no need to remove the strut and wishbone.

Roger

Hi Guys..

I made a slide hammer from an old u/s drive shaft. Bolted it on and out came the bearings.

A little Heat is a good idea for both removing and refitting the bearings as this helps stop the bearings taking a cut from the bearing surfaces of the diff case. Repeated removal and refitting can wear your case (as stated above) Around 100 deg' is what I aim for. Boiling water poured over the area works well.

Careful.

Once the bearings are out fitting the new seals is a doddle.

Cheers guys. Happy motoring in 2015.

Al' ....

Three diff seals? You mean the input shaft needs to have its seal fitted too? Not sure about doing that with the diff in place and the body on.
Getting the diff in and out becomes easier with practice. just remember to be underneath it when it suddenly falls out- otherwise you might damage the casing on the garage floor.

Nose seal also? Struth! It can be done ok but def more tricky.

With him pulling the shafts I assumed leak diagnosed to the output shaft seals? But changing them all wont hurt one bit.

If doing the nose seal... Mark the position of the nut relative to the input shaft so it can be returned to exactly the same position when re tightning said nut. Important that. Dont crush the spacer any further or the crownwheel mesh will be out.

Also when fitting in the new seal apply a little sealant around the outside lip. They often leak from there.

Not an easy to do job but you should manage it.

I personally would remove the diff' just to make sure you get it dead right.

Have fun..

Alex.

This Is tool I made to do the job, being a bit of hoarder I had the parts lying around to make it.
The tool sits neatly on the flange of the diff housing and
Hope this helps
Graeme

''LIKE'' ...........

Al' ....

Nice, Graeme. What's the diameter of the disc with the legs welded on it?