I have an a series 1275 in my 68 mini. I recently spun a rod bearing so am in the process of pulling the engine so I can rebuild it. Ive gotten to the dreaded driveshaft problem. From what I understand from the haynes manual you disconnect the steering joint and the top tie rod/ball joint. Then lower the hub and pull the shaft out. Mine seems to want to come out of the tranny ball and all i can see it moving in the gaitor. This doesnt seem right it will just rip the gaitor if i pull it out and I dont think i have enough clearence anyway so i might have to cut the gaitor but I dont want to if at all possible. Can the gator and drive shaft be seperated from the gearbox all in one piece? Any help would be greatly appreciated if i could get a descriptipon or a link to one of the easisest way to get this done ,this is my first mini and I love it but this driveshaft problem is killing me thanks alot ahead of time
Do you have this style of inner joint?
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> **partsguy1 wrote:** > Do you have this style of inner joint?
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yes I do that’s it
There is a special tool that should be used to lever the joint from the diff housing it goes between the joint and side cover.
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I usually just prise them off with a couple good sized flat blades. Or for the stubborn ones two decent pry bars. Should just pop off… I did say should.
The output shaft that engages the pot joint looks like this, you can see the groove on the outer end this holds a round circlip that locks the two together.
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put a cold chisel between the gearbox and the pot and hit it, if the pot still refuses to come out, split the pot joint by removing the band which secures the boot, when it’s split put a plastic bag of latex glover over the end of the shaft to keep everything together..
If you break the metal clip/band that is holding the rubber boot onto the pot joints you can remove the complete drive shaft and leave the pot joints in place to remove the engine. Be careful when you slide the joint out from the pot joint(still fixed to the gearbox) as there are some ball-bearings in there which depending on the condition of the joint they can fall out. If they do then the joint is actually worn. If you want to remove the pot joints from the gearbox slide a tyre iron in between the joint and the gearbox and prise it of. It may take a little force but it should pop out. You should remove the complete brake assembly including hub to the side (still connected to the brake hose it will give you a lot more access to get the shaft out you will have to remove the split pin and centre nut on the drive shaft. This can be really tight also so if you have a compressor with a rattle gun this is the way to go. Hope that helps. When you put it all back togwther remember to torque the nuts up to the correct spec.
I used a bolster chisel to pop my pot joints off the shaft, nice wide blade so less chance of damaging the housings
If the joint don’tcome of with relative hand pressure then they are stuck and brute force will be required If the pot joints have been removed before and the split pin has been squint on reassemly it is almost impossible to remove the pot joints without severe force
There is a circular wire clip holding the pot joint onto the diff output shaft. This clip is slightly oversize and in when it falls into some positions, holds the joint on so as it is impossible to remove.
The answer is to turn the joint a quarter of a turn at a time and tap the joint. Then try removal. If it dosen’t move then try another quarter of a turn and do it again.
It sometimes helps to stick a gallon of paraffin in the sump and turn the diff then leave overnight. This will free up the little clip and aid removal (dont forget to drain paraffin out).
Brute force isn’t the answer, it will come off if you get it into the right position. Good luck with it
yes your right brute force isn’t the answer but I did say almost impossible and of course it’s a circlip not a split pin
I was one of the unfortunate ones this summer! Got one pot joint off no probs. The other one did prove impossible to get off. Even with the proper tool, a lump hammer, lots of force, lots of turning… all of the above!
Never got it off and needed to because the seal needs replacing (slight oil leak). The engine will be coming out next year so hopefully I’ll be in a better position to try removing the pot joint when the engine is out of the car.
Sooo very frustrating!
Ed.
thanks alot for all our help this is a great forum. I ended up cutting the band on the gaitor and pulling the gator off the cv joint, i ripped the gaitor so will be needing a new one. On the other side i was thinking of seperating the pot from the gearbox , is there a downside to doing it this way or should I just cut the other band as well. on a side note if any of ou have any advice on shipping I was looking at buying a 1380 shortblock off a fellow from the UK and have it shipped here to california US. UPS wanted almost 150 gbp I know here we can use US postal service and they are alot cheaper for international thanks.
There are some advantages to leaving the pot in… the main one being you then dont need to drain the engine oil… a good thing if the engine is coming out and being stored for a while during a restoration…
You can also remove an engine without having to remove the ball joints or steering arms or even road wheels. If I had a pit the car would not need to leave the ground.
