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[Ben_nz]

So I got my new front strut replaced under warranty, but before refitting it I thought I'd replace the perished outer CV boot.
Mr Haynes, of Manual fame, only tells me how to perform this operation on a Sud with inboard disc brakes. I thought I'd have a go anyway and make it up as I go along....
Here's where I'm stuck:
I have the strut removed, obviously.
I undid the inner CV from the gearbox, but it seemed attached to the driveshaft.
So I undid its boot. Grease came out.
I couldn't find any circlip etc amongst the remaining grease which would allow me to release the inner CV from the driveshaft.
So I took off the outer CV boot, and found the same problem. If I can't release the driveshaft from a CV joint at either end, I can't get the new boot into place.

How should I have gone about this job on a series 2 car?
"Pay a mechanic" and "buy a universal split CV boot" aren't valid answers this time round because I already have a stock of regular outer CV boots and an immobile 33.
And another 33 to do the same job to afterward.
_________________
"Now, all that is left to do ... is wait that something else brokens, to fix up again!"

[rsfruitbat]

Cant help specifically. I know on the sud shafts for the outer cv joint there is an internal circlip. You release it with a sharp tap (read occasionally you have to pail the s**t out of it) and it should then be possible to remove. On the inner CV there is a circlip but right on the end of the shaft but it has no "eyes". It usually looks like a piece of the casting with a chip out of it. This can usuually be removed with a screw driver and then again tap it off.

Hope some of this helps. If not good luck

rsfruitbat

[Ben_nz]

At each end where the driveshaft joins the CV joint, I expected to see circlips but found what appear to be washers. Before starting this thread I turned the driveshaft round a few times looking for the circlip opening, incase the grease was concealing it. Didn't find anything though.

Haynes says of the Sud: "Inner and outer yokes are different, each can be removed from the driveshaft but cannot be repaired."
I can confirm that they're different on the 33 too, but the removal part is another matter. Haynes says not to use solvents to clean the CV joints of grease, although it's tempting so I can see what's going on.
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"Now, all that is left to do ... is wait that something else brokens, to fix up again!"

[paulhide]

I split one years ago and seem to remember the ends of a circlip just about visible sticking out somewhere that you hold together with pliers. Then I remember hammering repeatedly for about 15 minutes to split the thing!
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Owner's Club 33 Registrar. Now from P4 & S2 1.7 QV
http://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=5188

[gritsop]

As far as I know, the inner CV joint is somehow spherical and it won't separate from the gearbox unless you slacken the trailing links so that the CV drops.

There is a photo in Bobbber's site showing this issue in his P4.

http://www.alfa-restoration.co.uk/EngineRemoval/Part4/Part4.html

I don't think there is difference with Ben's car though.

When I had a mechanic replace the CV joints I remember there was no hassle to remove the inner CV joint along with the 6 Allen bolts but for sure he had to hammer several times the circlip of the outer CV which attaches the driveshaft to the hub.

Hope this helps,
_________________
Thanassis Gritsopoulos
1991 Alfa 33 1.4 IE
2001 Alfa 147 1.6 Distinctive

http://www.alfa-restoration.co.uk
Parts Shop: www.alfa-restoration.co.uk/shop

[Ben_nz]

[eagle3]

Why don't you take the hub nut off and remove the whole thing?
_________________
Alfa33 QO 1984
Alfa33 1.3i.e. 1994

[Ben_nz]

[paulhide]

Yep, that's it. Fun eh? I must admit, that I had the driveshaft free from the hub.
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Owner's Club 33 Registrar. Now from P4 & S2 1.7 QV
http://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=5188

[RFlower]

I don't think you can really do it easily on the car.

The shaft is pressed into the CV asemblies at both ends. The large nut on the outer end is best removed with the car on the ground, with someone pressing hard on the brake pedal, using a large spanner and cheater bar.

The inner joint is easier to remove, but not easy. Remove the plate covering the end, then the circlip buried in slimy grease on the end of the shaft. The CV assy. might slide off, but it should be a press fit. It's possible to remove it carefully with a hammer and a soft drift provided it's not too tight.

The outer joint assy. is pressed onto the shaft to butt against a circlip. There is an Alfa tool to remove it, which grips the shaft and presses it off, but it can be carefully tapped off with the shaft held in a soft jawed vice.
_________________
Dick Flower, Nr. Carcassonne. '94 Trofeo 1.4 ie (F), '93 Imola 1.3/1.4 ie (now for breaking) (F), '91 1.7 ie (GB)(spare car), '86 Sprint 1.5 QV (F). '87 VW Syncro camper (F), '73 NSU Ro80 (F), '99 Fiat Seicento (F)

[ZeNiTh-PbArM]

Hi,

before removing the inner CV joint be sure to mark its relative position to the shaft! Failing to do so might result in a noisy driveshaft.
inner CV joint can be easily hammered out. Outer joint is much more difficult to dismantle but there's no need to separate it, the boot can be installed from the inner side of the shaft after inner joint removal.
When reassembling, be sure not to overtighten the clips at the small end of the cv boots as the boots "breathe" from that side and will explode if airtight.

all the best,
zp

[RFlower]

If you hammer the inner joint off without removing the shaft completely, you must make sure that in doing so you do not also move the shaft part way out from the other joint.
_________________
Dick Flower, Nr. Carcassonne. '94 Trofeo 1.4 ie (F), '93 Imola 1.3/1.4 ie (now for breaking) (F), '91 1.7 ie (GB)(spare car), '86 Sprint 1.5 QV (F). '87 VW Syncro camper (F), '73 NSU Ro80 (F), '99 Fiat Seicento (F)

[Ben_nz]

Well, thanks to the help of everyone here, I managed to get the inner CV off the driveshaft!

Unfortunately I split the lower ball joint boot while trying to separate the hub carrier from the semi-trailing link using my Satan's Pitchfork ball joint splitter. Really it's more of a ball joint boot splitter. =\
Can these boots easily be purchased and replaced?

Worse than that though - when I'd triumphantly got the whole hub, driveshaft etc out of the car and got the inner CV off (much violence involved at several stages of this job)..... I found my new CV boots are all completely the wrong part!!

Hence the bourbon & coke here on my desk beside me.
_________________
"Now, all that is left to do ... is wait that something else brokens, to fix up again!"

[Ben_nz]

Finally managed to get a warranty replacement strut and the right replacement CV boot kit (originally the supplier had put the wrong boot in the right box) and get the suspension all reassembled.
But all this pretending to be a mechanic has left me with stuffed wheel alignment again, half-stripped bolt holes where the strut bolts to the hub (hope the bolts don't come out!) and a torn ball joint boot which I'm probably also gonna pretend I didn't see.
This ball joint (mounting the hub to the suspension arms) would probably have to be replaced to fix the torn boot and since it's riveted on....
Why does it have to be so hard?
_________________
"Now, all that is left to do ... is wait that something else brokens, to fix up again!"

[RFlower]

I found the bolt hole threads in one hub stripped out just after I bought the Sprint, and it had been professionally maintained - by Alfa Agent in Mallorca.
I repaired the threads successfully with a Helicoil kit, cheaper than new hubs and preferable to oversize bolts.

It is essential to line up the holes carefully before reassembling, and also make sure no strain is on the bolts when undoing. I did this by means of a jack (or maybe 2) to get the parts lined up.
_________________
Dick Flower, Nr. Carcassonne. '94 Trofeo 1.4 ie (F), '93 Imola 1.3/1.4 ie (now for breaking) (F), '91 1.7 ie (GB)(spare car), '86 Sprint 1.5 QV (F). '87 VW Syncro camper (F), '73 NSU Ro80 (F), '99 Fiat Seicento (F)

[Eddie_W]

Ben, I might have a spare boot on one of my spares. I just had to remove the lower arms from one of my donor cars and the best way I found to free the balljoint taper was to unwind the nut a few threads until about 1.5 mm clear of the eye on the hub and drive a big screwdriver between the top of the nut and the CV casing. This preeloads the balljoint, then a sharp smack on the end of the eye with a decent hammer springs them loose. leaving the boot untouched. As I was removing the whole arm anyway, I dropped off the inner pivots which gave a clearer strike at the eye. However even if I wasn't planning to remove the arm entirely I would still take the same approach as it is less than 10 mins work and saves much more than that in the long run.
Had a bit of a win recently, I noticed the bushes in the rear arms on my wifes old car were different so I pulled the arms out and guess what, they were urethane all round. Just what I needed as the reason for for pulling the front arms off the red car (as described above) was to make urethane bushes for them and fit them on the front of my runner . Having urethane all round should sharpen up the handling no end . Especially with the lowered springs and new shocks.Theres no boyracer like an old boyracerRegards Eddie
_________________
The pop star formerly known as Eddie W

[Ben_nz]

Thanks, I'll try that when I get my grey car back. It has been at The Italian Job while I've been driving a new automatic Corolla around the South Island. So well put together but still a car for people who don't appreciate cars!
http://www.toyota.co.nz/NewVehicles/Models/Passenger/Corolla/GX+4+Door+Sedan/1.8L/Auto/Overview/

What do you mean by hitting the 'eye', is this the area of the hub that the movable ball joint arm goes through?

I'll also ask Pete how he approaches CV boot replacements when I collect my car from him.
_________________
"Now, all that is left to do ... is wait that something else brokens, to fix up again!"

[Eddie_W]

Hi Ben, yes what I call the "eye" for want of a better term is the piece that the taper of the balljoint engages in.
Regards Eddie
_________________
The pop star formerly known as Eddie W

[Ben_nz]

Pete says he doesn't separate any ball joints - my understanding was he undoes the giant hub nut, the strut and the inner CV joint carrier and removes the driveshaft and outer joint somehow. He says that without removing the outer joint you can't regrease it properly.
The outer CV boot on my grey car has been split for ages so I probably need to do a good job of cleaning and regreasing the joint to stop it squeaking.
_________________
"Now, all that is left to do ... is wait that something else brokens, to fix up again!"

[Ben_nz]

At the last track day an inner CV boot split on my grey car. This is suspicious because I've never had an inner CV boot split in the time I've had about 5 outer ones go. But I thought I'd replace it in a very lazy way.
I undid the inner CV joint from the gearbox with the suspension otherwise intact.
I tapped off the cover on the gearbox side and removed the circlip.
With everything still on the car, I tore the inner CV boot away so I could hit the inner CV joint off the driveshaft. To do this I used a hammer and screwdriver on the inner part of the CV joint, striking from the driveshaft side.
All OK so far, except:

[Ben_nz]

An update in the neverending saga of struts and bearings and ball joints and stripped threads and all that horrible stuff.
I took the struts back out of my grey car to put in new strut pan bearings.
I noticed something I thought was strange:
Obviously the spring pans which sit ontop of the strut pan bearings are different on each side of the car. But the springs are identical. As a result one sits nicely on the spring pan and the other sits very unevenly. The stress from this stops the spring pan sitting flat on the strut pan bearing, and must stress the bearing unevenly. On this side of the car (the right hand side), there is also a creaking from the top of the strut in situations like parking or entering driveways at an angle.
Can this be right or does my car have some wrong parts fitted?

On an unrelated note, I decided to check the spark plugs on this car. Three different types and one corroded plug/lead.
Replaced them and car still runs like rubbish under light throttle.
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"Now, all that is left to do ... is wait that something else brokens, to fix up again!"

[paulhide]

Yes there are different spring pans, but there are also different rubber mountings at the top to locate the springs in a different place.
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Owner's Club 33 Registrar. Now from P4 & S2 1.7 QV
http://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=5188