92 V6 Rhd Axle Removal - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

Mechanic · 05-09-2006, 05:52 PM

I'm in the midst of an engine swap on a 1992 Toyota Camry V6 SE 5spd with the 3VZ engine. The engine is being replaced due to high milage and various other issues with leaking seals etc. I have removed everything per the factory repair manual up to the rhd axle. The repair manual is fairly vague on how to get leverage to remove it. On the driver side axle I was able to remove the 8mm allen bolts to separate the inner joint and then remove the inner joint from the transmission. On the passenger side however, the allen bolts began to strip on me due to rust. Now I am forced to pull the entire axle out including the intermediate shaft that is bolted to the rear engine mount. I removed the bolt that secures the intermediate shaft's bearing in place. The axle is loose from the spindle side. I removed the snap ring to allow the bearing to move, which is moving side to side as I pull on the axle itself. There is nowhere to put a prybar or screwdriver to pry the axle out. I attempted to put a long bar through the differential and hit it out w/ a hammer, as you can see the other axle through the differential, but this has not worked. I believe that the axle is only being held in with the snap ring, so I can't understand why it isn't letting go. I know they can be difficult sometimes but I have been trying this on and off between taking the exhaust and power steering pump off the last few days. I'm just wondering if anyone has come across an easy way to remove the right hand drive (passnger) axle as a whole part. Again, I can't remove the outer shaft because the 8mm bolts are stripped. Thanks in advance.

noodlerooney · 05-10-2006, 01:49 PM

Maybe your axle carrier bearing is rusted into the carrier (the snap ring sits in the carrier, and bolt secures carrier bearing, remove both), happens to a lot of camrys on the right hand side, myself included. There is a lot of information on this in the forum. Some people actually removed the rear engine mount with the axle intact and then seperated it on a bench or press. I myself pb blasted and pounded on it for days to get the bearing to seperate from the carrier. When you put it back together, use never-seize so it doesn't happen again. Why they didn't do this at the factory I don't know. I was even tempted to remove the snap ring and bolt and then drive the car around to try to get the bearing to spin in the carrier, breaking the rust weld. Good Luck.

88 LE · 05-10-2006, 02:04 PM

1. Quite bumping the thread.

Its not going to get you more replies.

2. Why do you have 2 accounts?

I checked the ip's, so don't try and deny it.

Mechanic · 05-10-2006, 03:23 PM

well, I honestly have no idea how/why I would have two accounts....? I don't even own a Toyota. I'm using this site purely for information about a friends car. I am working on his car and he suggested that I go to this site for info. But anyway, I only bumped the thread because it was getting buried and I have searched, I am not a forum noob, nor a moron who knows nothing about cars. I am a service technitian at a honda dealership and Im trying to make some money on the side. I was just trying to find out if there was an easier way to get at the rhd axle. I have read that the bearing somtimes seizes, however when i move the intermediate shaft, it looks as if the bearing is moving with the axle. I already removed the bearing stay bolt (which was basically loose to begin with) and I removed the snap ring in front of the bearing. I don't know where to pry at the axle where it comes out of the transmission. All that was there was a dust shield that came off and now there is just the axle seal and a straight shaft with no where to place a prybar or screwdriver. I did think about removing the entire engine mount w/ the axle, but I didn't know if I would have enough room to get it out of there and I didn't want to end up with more of a mess then I started with. Well to those that care, thanks for replying. Thanks for the warm welcome.

noodlerooney · 05-11-2006, 11:20 AM

Can you pry on the axle between the rear engine mount (carrier) and inner CV outer casing? I've also read that some people actually cut the axle bearing raceways apart to free it up. You get a new one with the new axle so it doesn't matter that you ruin the old one.

Novice_cardude · 05-11-2006, 12:12 PM

I had this same problem. Due to time restraints I had to take it to a shop to get it rolling again.

If i had the time I would have cleaned off the engine (there was a lot of oil on the back side ... well, not a lot but enough) and heated that bracket up to cherry red heat, then pounded it out.

As it is, we had a Camry in for an alignment, and it had a torn boot, the axle was starting to clunk. We ended up replacing it, and the technician who replaced the axle ... well, he's a strong guy.

We got the car in the air, and one of the OTHER techs said "man you're not going to be able to get that out without heating that bitch up" ... The guy who was working on it kinda smiled... He put a big prybar in between the bracket and that big plastic housing, secured it, reached back with a big hammer, and slammed it once. It popped right out.

Yeah, it was all rusted, but that just goes to show, hit it with enough force and it will break free.

If I was you i'd go with some pb blaster and let it sit for a while before you slam on it too much.

grangerelfers · 05-11-2006, 02:21 PM

This may not be the best way to go about getting some leverage but if you can get a good set of vise grips on the axle you can pry against them or tap on it with a hammer. Just an idea. I just changed my axle and it came right out.

Good luck

ruoknow · 05-11-2006, 05:47 PM

I am not a mechanic but I like doing something on cars. I have bad experience with camry and avalon axles. I couldn't find a good leverage point to put my pry bar against. It seems all slope to me. When I was placing axles for my friend's accord, I just insert a big screw driver between the axle and trans case and pop it open. that was easy.

Mechanic · 05-14-2006, 08:56 PM

I ended up getting the remaining bolts out of the half shaft and cut the heads off of the allen bolts that were stripped. This allowed the half shaft to be removed and then I pulled the motor and transmission together. The intermediate shaft still had to be removed to split the transmission from the engine. It seems that it was the carrier bearing that was siezed because it wouldn't let go from the rear engine mount. I removed the engine mount and used a 5lb slide hammer on the intermediate shaft and it came right out of the transmission. Now I need to figure out how to get it out of the rear engine mount. I think I might try and use a press.