cv joint wont go together

A1-2-A3 · Post by **A1-2-A3** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 2:45 pm

Hello, I am putting my driver side PITA cv joint flange bolting back onto the tranny flange. I have regrease the ball bearings and have spent all morning so far trying to put in back in to no avil. Tried longer bolts tried squeezing with water pump pliers. tried hammering it in and turning the driver wheel and it don't matter it wont go in. What is the trick? Do you put the cage bearings part in the tranny side first or slide it back to the axle side? Does the cage have to spin a bit while installing? I have no clue. Might have to wait till tuesday and ask a automotive guy how to put these messy POS things back in. He said pull the flange off, But these VWs are not like other cars I would pull it off the tranny and assemble on the bench but the dam thing has a clip on the inside of the flange on the tranny. What a stupid setup. I went through a rool of towel already and on my second shirt. My face looked like I was going to war with CV joint grease all over from the balls falling onto my head and landing on the ground.
What a waste of time..for something so simple.

A1-2-A3 · Post by **A1-2-A3** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 4:03 pm

How about if I put the cage and bearings inside the drive axle flange and hammered the axle in with a hammer? I have got the thing to go together and found I had to take it apart beause the axle slid too far in.
Do you have to replace the cv joints when the ball bearings roll out?
Maybe I will go pick up a new driveaxle and spend the rest of the afternoon tring to install it. I have NEVER seen something so stupid.

lyeinyoureye · Post by **lyeinyoureye** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 4:11 pm

Did you do anything to the cv halfshafts like rebuild them, or just pull one off to regrease it?

A1-2-A3 · Post by **A1-2-A3** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 4:13 pm

No one of the ball bearings fell out when removing the driveshaft from the tranny, So I removed all the ball bearings, greased them and tried for four or five hours tring to put it back together.

A1-2-A3 · Post by **A1-2-A3** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 4:16 pm

There is nothing wrong with the driveshaft, its the same one I took out.
I am to the point I will just have to buy new.. but what if that don't go in the tranny flange? Do new drive axles come with flanges for the tranny?
Its stupid cause I would have to take it apart from the tranny anyways and fight to put it back in, also have to make a tool to remove and install the flange. Its a bad joke.
So close to driving it, and nothing but trouble again.

lyeinyoureye · Post by **lyeinyoureye** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 4:25 pm

It sounds like you reassembled it wrong, or that there's something wrong w/ that cv. There's a good post on vwvortex about it iirc, but I can't seem to find it. Maybe after a bit more searching...

A1-2-A3 · Post by **A1-2-A3** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 4:53 pm

http://volksweb.relitech.com/cvjoints.htm
Thats a great site I am going to study it for awhile then go out and see if any of the methods work.

A1-2-A3 · Post by **A1-2-A3** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 5:00 pm

Its a great site but for a vanagon and they can put it together on the bench. I have to be doing something wrong. Its very hard to tell what is going on with the bearings under the car with all the grease. This might take a couple of days of trial and error. I was in a good mood today

CoolAirVw · Post by **CoolAirVw** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 5:07 pm

Pretty sure they are the same as my porsche. This pic is probably what you need.

From <a href="http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=31536" target="_blank">this thread</a> from <a href="http://www.914world.com" target="_blank">914world.com.
</a>

A1-2-A3 · Post by **A1-2-A3** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 5:36 pm

That almost looks like somethiing I am tring to do. Thing is the bearing part is on the axle side. Also I can not see what is going on the tranny side. i think just smash it in on every possible direction and sometime hopefully it will work.There is no line up dowels on mine, that being the case there would only be two ways to go on. There is not much grease left on the bearings and they are probably going in with gravel on them as well, not going to buy another 5 dollar tube and don't really care at this point.
As far as I can see where there is a small gap with the bearings on the driveshaft it has to go together with the large gap on the axle flange. If only I had four arms two special c-clamps and x-ray vision eyesight this would be a snap.
I got 4 more hours tonight to spend on it and 8 hours tomorrow.
I hope I get it today though. I think what I have to realize is where it looks like it would go in is the wrong way to do it. The right way is where nothing lines up. The guy said that on his Cv joint link. If its too easy its not the right way. Well, back to the garage.

A1-2-A3 · Post by **A1-2-A3** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 5:37 pm

That is a very clear pic of a cv joint assembled, thanks, I hope I can do it!
Oh yeah one more time CV joints suck!!

A1-2-A3 · Post by **A1-2-A3** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 6:23 pm

Ok one hour into it again and keeps pushing the driveshaft into the flange when pushing the cage/bearings inside the flange. I now put th bearings/cage inside the flange on the tranny and will try to install the axle that way, probably wont happen, but worth a try. If not will continue the other way for a couple more attempts, then give up and talk to the import guys in town and see if they have any tricks. From what I gather you try to put the axle into the flange with the bearing/cage assembled with the wide notches to the narrow notches and it is supposed to go it without pushing the axle in or out. This is the worst setup ever. What was VW thinking? How about a clip on the inside of the tranny like everyone else does it?

A1-2-A3 · Post by **A1-2-A3** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 7:12 pm

I give up for today, will try again tomorrow.. Installing the cage on the tranny flange and then installing the axle does not work it runs the cage sideways and the bearings fall out. I tried then installing the cage on the axle then with longer bolts installing the axle to the tranny flange evenly all the way around, it started to bent the plate and the ball bearings will not go in. I might pay a automotive guy at work 50 bucks to bolt it on. i would give anything to have that damn axle on the tranny.

CoolAirVw · Post by **CoolAirVw** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 7:28 pm

Did you read the thread I linked to?
Here it is again.http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=31536

Oh, and here is the original. Above link quoted the original.
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php? ... t&p=848269

Mike Mueller wrote:follow the red spots..pay attention to the how the "point" goes to the "wide" section of the mating part.

starting at the top picture, if both hands are on the CV at the 9 and 3 o'clock postion, your fingers on your left hand would be pushing "up" while your thumb on the right hand would be pushing down.

When the middle section is about 90Â° to it's original postion, it will slide right out (with a little help, but not much)

reassembly is reverse...

A1-2-A3 · Post by **A1-2-A3** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 7:30 pm

Ok in this thread viewtopic.php?t=6352&start=0&postdays=0 ... ight=joint
They show a guy with the flange on the tranny without the outer cage part.
Mine seems like the outer cage part is part of the transmission flange, that is my trouble. I could do it in my sleep on the bench, but under the car with the outer part of the cv joint on the tranny and tring to jam the cage on the axle into the transmission seems to be too much to ask for. do mine come apart somehow on a 93 Golf cl. If they did or would I would be happy and angry at the same time. I have hit them a couple of times with a hammer and it don't move, scared of bending or breaking something in the transmission.