1G Intermediate Shaft - Press Fit ???

[TheRealMRDyno]

I am trying to put my 1991 TSI AWD back together, and can not.

The driver side CV-shaft will not slide on to the intermediate shaft splines. It will not pound on there either, at reasonable pounding levels.

This car has 19,xxx miles on it, and the parts are all factory original. The factory clutch had to go, hence the dis-assembly. I don't think that clutch had enough guts to hurt the splines, and they look fine.

Both splines are shiny clean, wire wheel'd, wire brushed, brake cleaner'd, ice-picked, light sanded, you name it.

I have removed the circlip for testing, and the parts are lightly lubed with super-duper high-pressure lube.

When I took this apart, I took the CV-shaft and the intermediate shaft out as a piece, and separated them by pounding on the CV joint shell from the back as I turned the assembly. It was lightly rusted from sitting for 20 years, but not bad at all, and there is no evidence of any problem with the splines that I can see with a 2x visor.

So - what? Are these things a press fit from the factory? You can't pound on them very well when installing them, a crow bar in the ridge on the CV joint shell is all I can see that won't hurt something.

What have I missed?

Edit: See below, it is a press fit, in the 1991 TEL ECB manual, page 2-28.

 

[2g4me]

All the ones ive worked with are all one piece, comes out and goes in as one piece. Piecing it back together will be a b!tch especially if its disconnected at the bearing.

Pull it all out, put it together and put it back in, might be a pain but worth the hassle.

 

[spooln4fun]

The intermediate shaft should slide into the tranny then bolt up near the ac compressor, then you should be able to put the cv joint into the shaft then it will go in the hub. You shouldn't have to pound( more than normal) to get everything to slide together. Could always try some sort of grease or lubricant.

On a side note, a 1g with 19,xxx miles. Can we see some pics of this?

 

[9!'clipseDOHC]

It should push in pretty easy. If you are considering pressing it in then something is wrong, probably with the clip.

 

[Talondvr]

Ya, that clip should be the only thing that would give you resistance.

On a side note, a 1g with 19,xxx miles. Can we see some pics of this?

^^ x2 for pics

 

[jmartinez1228]

When i swapped mine out on my laser I did have a few issues getting it out of the intermediate shaft. i used a deadblow hammer and wacked it a few times til it came off. Same thing with the new one. Try heating up the shaft or maybe try and get some pbblaster in there if it's possible?

Def post pix up.

 

[kchaazz]

If you packed too much grease into the "socket" side of the driver side CV shaft, this may be your issue as the grease may not be able to displace to allow the splines of the intermediate shaft to fully engage over the circlip. You really should not beat on these things as it really is quite easy to mushroom the ends. Try lining up the splines and slip the cv onto the intermediate, then grabbing the outer end of the cv shaft and hold it as straight as you can and just pull a little slack and shove it forward over and over until it clicks into place, and if that doesnt work, get a plastic deadblow hammer and have someone hold the shaft straight while you hit the end of the cv but it really shouldnt take too much force to get it back on.

 

[TheRealMRDyno]

Thanks all.

I spent 4-5 hours on this idiot thing, with magnifying lenses, feeling the splines with tools - no dice.

Not air-locked with grease (thought of that), not the circlip (removed), not mushroomed (beat on the back of the CV joint case while holding the intermediate shaft in my hand to remove), no crud (shiny, shiny clean), not boogered up (first and only time it has been apart).

All I can think of is that I warped the CV joint case female spline area with my hammer, even though that area was protected by the bearing carrier and could not be hit. A new one comes tomorrow, we will see. No reason for a circlip if it's a press fit...

Re: pictures - ugh, I have been making movies of my idiot ACT 2600 clutch that won't release, I am really, really sick of this job at this point; maybe in a while. The car looks just like my 1990 did in 1993 - straight, no rust except some random parts on the bottom, and the exhaust (replaced), semi-gloss factory paint with some bug-juice spots. The interior is still like new, except for some moth(?) holes in one of the rear seats. The surprise best feature is... clear glass, not all pitted up! Even the fog light lenses. The over-door trim was ruined somehow, but I got new ones from one of the vendors, like new again. Heat shields junked too, but I got a new lower one (the dealer said ~10 left in the country). Mice ate a lot of rubber (CV boots, vacuum lines), replaced. Stock wheels also ruined from sitting in a barn for 15 years, replaced with Work Emotions. Still have the original Eagle tires, tread is like new - dry rot and flat spots included - anyone?

 

[spooln4fun]

Rare new factory tires? SOLD! Haha

 

[Geier]

It isn't press fit, so get that out of your head.

Have you tried spinning the trans by turning the engine by hand while in gear to maybe get the gears on the input shaft to move a little?

 

[knewblewkorvett]

I am trying to put my 1991 TSI AWD back together, and can not.

This car has 19,xxx miles on it, and the parts are all factory original. The factory clutch had to go, hence the dis-assembly. :

19,xxx miles! WTF How much did you pay for her? She for sale?

My stock 91 TsiAWD has 93,xxx miles and still on factory clutch.
Wish ya luck on your repair

 

[TheRealMRDyno]

UUUugggghhhh...

I got a new CV shaft and tried that - no luck, even though is was Autozone's 3rd try to get the right part in the box. It was even tighter than the original one.

Heated the CV shell female side up to 210 Deg, male shaft at about 45 Deg - somewhat better, maybe another 0.100", but no dice.

Took a diamond file to the high parts of the male spline - no noticeable improvement after knocking the machining lines off of them.

Tried a normal hammer, easy blows, on the trans end of the intermediate shaft - about another 0.200", then done.

Then, Mr Mini-Sledge, with an aluminum backer plate, with increasing vigor, up to about my limit - no noticeable movement, lots of mashed aluminum.

Finally, I pulled the boot off, and pounded on the inside end of the CV joint shell, with its shaft removed, and the intermediate shaft on the ground. With some anger-fueled smashing, I got ... nowhere.

I know how deep this was originally seated, as I can see the wear rings on the CV shaft outside diameter, where the rubber seal on the carrier bearing rubbed, and I am not there yet.

The male spline on the intermediate shaft appears to be fine, no taper (anyway, less than 0.001" inch), no boogers, nothing. But, barring a miraculous (2) bad CV shafts, it must be the intermediate shaft. How this thing ever got put together is beyond me.

So - anyone know where to get a 1G manual intermediate shaft in good shape? Without a press and some tooling, it ain't happening.

I will get pictures as soon as I get this idiot thing back together. I paid $4800 for the car, and now about $3000 into it. It came with DSMLink 2.5 and 255HP pump, did belts and idler bearing, all fluids, windows, stereo, rubbed some yellow paint streaks off of it, new over-door trim, Outlander brakes (nice), ss brake lines, now ACT 2600, clutch master, slave, ss line, FIC 650s, E316G, FP manifold, Megan O2 and downpipe, 3" cat, eBay 3" cat-back ($168, looks perfect, fit very nearly perfectly, not a lot of room for it). The clutch is going to result in some magnum opus write-up with 10 videos - I am not happy so far, but I have not driven it yet, either.

I had a 1990 from 1993 to about 2003 - typical DSM love/hate relationship - loved driving it, hated working on it for 10 years straight. I think that car may have had the only stripped and polished 1G swirly wheels "in the wuld". This one may or may not be sold - if I get a Murano, it stays, if I get a GTR, it goes. The GTR is not really in my price range, but my side business just sold the 4th batch of a custom amplifier, and the deal with my wife (3 years ago) was "if I sell 4 batches of these things, I'm getting a GTR" - she said OK...

Joe

 

[9!'clipseDOHC]

So - anyone know where to get a 1G manual intermediate shaft in good shape? Without a press and some tooling, it ain't happening.

Check the classified and part outs. That how I got mine. I don't know why yours is being so difficult, thats not normal at all.

 

[TheRealMRDyno]

RTFM... where have I heard that before?

Unfreakingbelievable - it IS a press fit - right there in the manual, where I managed to find it after taking it apart, but at least before disassembling the intermediate shaft to really get grinding on those splines.

From page 2-28 in the 1991 TEL ECB manual:
"3. INSTALLATION OF T.J. CASE AND INNER SHAFT
ASSEMBLY
(1) Apply multipurpose grease to the inner shaft spline,
then press fit it into the T.J. case.
Grease: MOPAR Multi-mileage Lubricant
Part No.2525035 or equivalent"

So, there's some news for probably most of us...

I would post the picture of the parts in the press, but I can't insert a local hard drive picture, and I don't have an online account to post pictures to - is there a way to do this?

What I want to know is, what genius put a circlip on the shaft if it is a press fit item?

And, for whoever finds this searching in the future - DO NOT TAKE THIS APART, just pull the whole shaft, and leave it alone.

Joe

 

[kchaazz]

I wonder if anyone else has had the trouble you ended up going through. Ive separated several cv shafts from the intermediate with little effort. Congrats on your success and please post up a pic or two of the car when shes put together.

 

[bryanwheat]

I wonder if anyone else has had the trouble you ended up going through. Ive separated several cv shafts from the intermediate with little effort. Congrats on your success and please post up a pic or two of the car when shes put together.

I also have separated MANY of them over the years. None were ever a press fit, it is always a circlip holding it together.