Any one out there have any experience with changing the clutch or at least pulling the drive axles?

I'm in the middle of the project right now. Have the subframe and steering out already. With that came the lower suspension arm, tie rod and sway bar.. i went to go remove the rotor and when i started cranking down on the puller tool it just started sliding the axle back through the hub (i had already removed that 32mm not from the end of the axle).. Shouldn't there be a retaining ring in there on the rotor side of the hub that holds the axle in there? or is it just that nut holding it on on this side?

other question i've got about this:

i see on the exploded views on realoem.com that there's a retaining ring behind the dust cover plate on the transmission side of the axle... how do i get to that? i don't think i've got enough space where that dust cover is to get anything in or out of there.. will the axle pull back a little to allow me access??

here's the view i'm referencing: http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...21&hg=31&fg=20

thanks!

 

I've changed the clutch on my MINI. It's just the nut that holds the axle in.

Once you remove the axles from the steering knuckles, they just pop out of the transmission. Just take a screwdriver and pop them out.

 

Here's a pic of the passenger side axle at the tranny. I have lots of pictures of the clutch job if you need any help.

 

you rock! thanks for getting back to me so fast!

so I don't need to pull the rotor off to take the axle out, then?

and... when putting the axle back in, i can just tap it in there with a mallet? on both the transmission side and the spindle side? (probably ought to cover the rotor with a 2x4 or something before i go beating on it, right?)

I'm assuming that i should mark the orientation of the axle relative to the transmission position so that the two are balanced when they go back in, right? or is that not an issue with the mini?

 

You dont need to beat the axles back into the transmission. They just pop in. You don't need to mark them. Also, you should lube the splines of the axle beofre you place it back into the steering knuckle. You shouldnt have to beat anything into place. You will need to angle the steering knuckle up and outward to clear the axle. Unbolt the outer ball joint from the knuckle at the bottom.

On my car, I just removed the steering knuckle from the bottom of the shock and the outer control arm ball joint. My brakes were disconnected as I was upgrading to Brembos.

 

You can see here that I've remvoed the subframe and steering knuckles..

 

nice. that's about where i'm at now:

pics a little, blue, but it's pretty good for coming from a cell phone..

 

i'm itching to get home now and get this project moving again! I miss my car!

Thanks for your help so far, rsvp. you've really cleared up the last of the nagging questions i think i'm going to have..

seems odd, though, that it's really just the lower suspension arm that's holding the drive axle in place in the transmission (on the driver's side anyway, since the passenger side's got that carrier bearing).. doesn't it? sounds like if you banged up that lower ball joint on the spindle good you might have to worry about the axle slipping out of the transmission..

 

I guess I'm not following you. On all FWD cars, there is a snap washer on the end of the drive shaft that prevents the axle from coming out. Also, the axle is held in place by the carrier hub/bearing.

 

snap washer... like part #8 in the pic in the link i posted above, right? so, in the pic you posted of the axle @ the pass. side trans... where you've got your screwdriver in there... there's a "snap washer" in there? on both sides, then. that i have to remove BEFORE the axle will slide out. one of those ones i can just push off with a screwdriver? or do i need one of those ring pliers with the little points on the end of it?

if i wasn't trapped at my desk right now, 90 minutes from home, i'd go out there and snap pics to go with all of this.. that'll have to wait until later, i guess..

anyone happen to have the haynes or bentley books and can scan or transcribe that one little section on taking the axle from the transmission for me?

 

just pop the axle out of the transmission. The snap ring will be on the end of the axle. It's designed to just pop out, trust me.

 

gotcha. c'mon 5 o'clock!!

 

ok.. I've gotten the axles out of the hubs.

i tried putting my pry bar between the transmission and both that dust cover and that fat three sided collar thing there.. it's like 2' long with a bent flat tip and it bent a pretty good way when i pulled on it but the axle didn't even budge.

this clip that's up in there.. there's no need to compress it or anything? i mean, i don't see any access to anything under the dust cover.. hence 'dust cover.' I can just pry on that thing just past the dust cover as hard as i can and it's not going to get effd up?

how much of a pain in the a.. do you think it would be (and is it even possible) to just leave the axles in? i've got enough "volunteers" if i need them for help..

 

here's the links to the write ups that i'm following:

subframe and steering, i followed this up to the point where he takes the sway bar off:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...t1420223?hl=en

transmission, i will be following this up to where he goes to take the flywheel off.. then i'm just changing out the pressure plate, clutch disk and release bearing. The pilot bearing and the flywheel will have to suffice, at least as long as they don't look like hell when i get there. granted, he's not real specific about the "other parts" he takes off to get access to it, but you ought to be able to figure it out from here:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...iew.html?hl=en

 

The drive axles just pull out of the transmission. Seriously. Yank on them. Thats how they go in on every FWD car.

 

^nervous nellie.

i will. don't worry..

any suggestions on where to connect my chain to the motor to support it when i disconnect the transmission from the mount? in that link up there to the flywheel walk through he's got some nifty yellow bracket.. i've got a chain on a hoist and no yellow bracket.. there's two holes in the back side of the motor that the bolts from the lower suspension arm ball joint fit into, i figure that's one good mounting point. what about on the front side of the motor? think i can get away with looping it under the intake manifold? or is there another good bolt location?

 

Support from underneath by the oil pan, just be sure to put a big block of wood over the to of the jack so you dont damage the pan.

 

good looking out. thanks.

it'll have to wait till tomorrow, though.

 

ok. yo. passenger side. as the axle is sliding out it starts to leak some oil out of it. nice clean oil. not like motor oil.. i take it i should have drained this thing first? wtf? and where from? and then, once i drain it.. where do i fill it from again.. and, i suppose, how much oil will i need for it?

 

i drained the diff. found teh magnetic plugs. both of them. passenger side axle slid right out. driver's side not so much. i bent the hell out of the dust cover on that side. i'm just gonna try to drop the trans w/ the shorter axle still connected.

any advice on putting the oil back in the diff. is greatly appreciated.

 

easier said than done. have to figure out how to disconnect shifter @ the transmission. i saw the "nifty" tool in the link i'm following, above. but, i don't have that, can't find it online, and can't figure out how to do it with out the tool.

any suggestions?

 

nice. i busted the socket joint @ the connection where the shifter cable meets that arm on the transmission (that doesn't seem to have a part number on any diagrams). I didn't even attempt the one that connects to the deflection lever (#11 on the diagrams). I followed the suggestion of someone who's been able to get them off with a couple of screwdrivers, but apparently the rubber part that holds the cap of the socket into the ring on the cable was pretty dried out and brittle.. unfortunately it doesn't seem to be separable from the cable. I also happen to be the more expensive of the two assembly options, go figure.

btw.. dealership said they could get the tool, it's $60 and would have to be sent from their "warehouse in PA." would have been here in 4 days, he said. new shifter cables no matter where i found them: $240 for the pair, and they won't ship for 4 days. I figure that if the other one's as dry-rotted as the first then i might as well change them both out while i'm in here. Either way it looks like this isn't getting done this weekend, either.

 

link to a good walk through with the torque specs for all of the bolts:

http://www.justanswer.com/questions/...i-cooper?hl=en

 

i ended up getting the other socket joint apart today. i used one of those needle nose like pliers that are bent 90 degrees. the one that i broke, though, i wasn't even able to pop the socket off the ball even after i had the whole transmission out. go figure. it doesn't appear to have too much force on it, so i'm going to try to fix it up with a little epoxy, maybe.. i'll have to look and see what i can come up with.. would be nice if i could find some sort of repair kit for the end of that cable.

dropping the transmission down was a complete pain in the _$$. the counter weight for the shifter lever on the transmission sort of moves over the a/c line when you move it away from the engine and you've got to be careful that you don't grab it when you lower it. getting it back up in place wasn't TOO hard, once we figured out what we were doing. you've got to take the driver's side strut off to make sure you've got enough room and then raise the outside end of the transmission first, and sort of hook that shifter lever over the a/c line and then lower it down a little and slide it into position.

anticipating having to replace the shifter cable that i messed up i bought an alta short shifter. they've got it on clearance there right now for like $50 +ship. (was $9 to ship from oregon to tampa)
http://www.altaperformance.com/produ...stem-R50-53-52

and some new front rotors.. but i can pretty much have this back together and driving tomorrow, i think... depending on that shifter cable.

 

These are pictures I took before I removed anything. The chain wasn't positioned correctly before but when I was putting it back together with new stuff, i made it all line up but I was spinning things to make it work