Help! How do I drop the driveshaft...

[ping65810]

How do I seperate the driveshaft from the the guibo? I can't figure out the "easy" way to do it, and I have just tried for about 2 hours trying to unbolt it from the driveshaft side. Are there any nuts on the back that I need to hold on to? If so, how do I get wrench behind there. I am pulling the engine and trannny as one, and this is really the biggest headache I've hit so far, 'cept for the exhasut, and my trusty sawzall fixd that :)


Thanks, Steve

[AdamF 88iS]

Take out the bolts, loosen the slip collar in the middle of the shaft, lose the bolts holding up the center bearing, and then pry it back.

[ping65810]

It's actually the vibration damer that is giving me trouble

That is really the biggest problem, workig around that. How do I get around it? P.S- No way in Hell that wretched thing is ever finding its way back on my car :)

[Nathan]

Make sure you have that heat shield stuff removed and also have the CB (Center Bearing) unbolted. You should be able to separate the drive shaft, taking note of the mark on each half of the shaft to ensure balance, just like AdamF 88iS said. I've pulled my drive shaft with the exhuast(sp?) still on, so you shoudn't need to much room to do this.

[bmwman91]

Here's a writeup I did a while back:
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Jack car up & properly support under wheels. PUT BLOCKS BEHIND/IN FRONT OF THE FRONT WHEELS SO THE CAR DOES NOT ROLL WHEN THE REAR WHEELS ARE IN THE AIR!

Remove the 4 nuts holding the rear of the driveshaft to the differential. You will need to do the 1 or 2 that are accessible, then lift the wheels in the air & turn them to position the remaining nuts. Make SURE the parking brake is on & the transmission is in 1st gear (that way the car does not roll on you, and there is minimal driveshaft rotation there to make things harder for you).

Remove the catalyst & muffler portions of the exhaust. There are 4 15mm (I believe) nuts up front holding the cat section to the header. Disconnect the O2 sensor up top (the connector is under the tray on the passenger side, same kind as the AFM uses). Make sure the sensor sire is unclasped from the clips on the body so it is not damaged when removing the exhaust from the car. Unbolt the hangar that is attached to the transmission from the pipe. Remove the 15mm bolt holding the muffler section before the muffler itself (the part with the rubber donut thingy on it). Remove 2 nuts holding the hangars clasped around the muffler itself. Carefully remove the whole thing. Don't worry about bending the clasps, they will bend back if not creased.

Remove the heat shield (2 10mm screws at rear, 4 13mm bolts in middle above resonator, 6 up front in small crossmember spar).

Make sure the rear wheels are on stands (preferably all 4). Put the jack under the transmission, and BARELY put it in contact with the transmission. Loosen the 13mm nuts holding the transmission bracket in place. Loosen the 13mm nuts on top of the mounts. Slide the bracket out, or just remove it, whatever is easier.

There are 6 17mm bolts/nuts holding the guibo on. The easiest approach is to remove the 3 holding the driveshaft to the guibo first. You will need a 17mm box wrench to get the nut on the transmission side, and possibly a 17mm socket to prevent the bolt from turning. I was able to hold it with my finders while I loosened it with the wrench. Now for the tedious part. To get at the unreachable ones, slide the transmission brace back in & under it to support it. Use the jack to raise a rear wheel(s) & rotate them to reposition the bolts. Remember, turn off the e-brake & put it in neutral to rotate, & vice-versa when going back under.

Behind the center support bearing there is a very large collar nut on the driveshaft holding the 2 pieces tightly together. Unless you have like a 25mm wrench (do not know the actual size, but it is BIG), you will need some channel-locks (large adjustable pliers) to get it loosened. Once it is broken free, it can be undone by hand. Unscrew it & slide it forward to be sure it is not caught on anything. Here is where it takes some elbow grease. Remove the 2 13mm bolts holding the support bearing. The whole shaft should be wiggling around now, but not off. There is a small shaft on the front end of the driveshaft (maybe 12mm diameter, a good 40-50mm" long) that sticks into the transmission's output flange. You will need to wiggle & push/pull the front portion of the driveshaft backwards. This will slide the splined end of the front half into the rear half, shortening it. Eventually you will be able to get it off of the transmission with enough pushing & finagling. Before removing it, be sure to mark the relationship of the 2 halves. There are 12 or more possible ways to put the two halves back together, and only ONE proper one. The two halves were balanced together as a unit, and if improperly aligned, will be a very noisy, expensive nightmare. Mark their relation WELL. Not all had the relationship marked from the factory, so do it yourself just in case. Then just pull it out. Be careful not to drop it or ding it. Whether it is reusable or not, such things can really mess one up.

Remove the guibo if it is being replaced. Luckily, all you have to do is pop it into neutral to rotate it since it is no longer connected to the wheels. Just be sure to put it in 1st gear. This will minimize the amount everything turns when wrenching, and believe me, those bolts take some brute force to get loose. A rubber mallet is a good tool to use with the wrench to get them loose. If you have an impact gun, use it. Look into replacing the nuts/bolts if you want, impact guns can cause damage to bolts.

Do what you want with the driveshaft, and put it (or a replacement) in. Read this backwards & that is a job well done. Wash up, crack a beer, and be glad it is over. Writing this made me tired, and I did it off the top of my head!