Accidentally popped out front passenger half-shaft

[pinesol]

Hi All.

 

I was replacing my LCAs today with new Subaru parts (LCA itself + bearings and ball joint). The driver side wasn't too much trouble to separate the ball joint from the knuckle. The passenger side was a nightmare. I eventually got it out, but in doing I mistakenly disconnected the half shaft from the transmission. I noticed it when I turned the wheel to get a good angle on the LCA and lost some tranny fluid on the floor. I'd say I lost about 1/4 of a quart.

 

I did some searching and found this thread http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/pulled-halfshaft-out-nowi-142194.html which indicates that I should be able to just push it back in and top off the fluid. I was planning on replacing with Motul 300 + Lightweight shock proof, so nbd.

 

I tried to push the half shaft back in and it doesn't seem to want to go in any further. It is definitely "engaged" because when I turn the brake disc on the passenger side, the wheel on the driver side does turn.

 

So, is it possible that it temporarily popped out then reseated itself? Would the amount of fluid I lost align with this? Or, if it was fully removed, would I have lost a whole lot more fluid?

 

Thanks all!

[FLlegacy]

Gear oil is pretty thick so it would take a while to flow out, and the opening isn't massive. So you most likely did unseat the whole shaft, you should just need to press it back in and make sure you feel the retaining ring pop into place. If you aren't sure just try pulling it back out, it shouldn't come out.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

[hadvw]

This vaguely reminds me of what happened to me. Had both front axles replaced due to CV boot leakage, clunking, etc.

 

500 miles later, front driver's side axle popped out while driving. Had it towed back to the shop. They tried to pop it back in, and bam.. My front diff was toast, and they couldn't pop it back in. They only found that after trying for an hour or two and finally looking at it closely with a scope as to why it wouldn't go in..

 

I had it rebuilt at a different shop. If it's not going back in, your front diff may have damage..

[FLlegacy]

^^The big difference here is you drove your car this way. The OP was working on some mods when this happened, definitely not a recipe for damaging a front diff.

 

FWIW you are much better off replacing cv boots than the whole axle, aftermarket axles are not the greatest and tend to cause problems on Subarus.

[pinesol]

Thanks for the responses, guys. I definitely don't feel like any damage could have been done to the diff. No leaking, clunking, noise, etc. prior to this mishap.

 

I still have the axle nut on the spindle side. I've got a replacement incoming so I'll unstake the current one and take it off to see if it gives me enough play to be able to determine if the axle is "in" or "out". Are you able to see if the axle is fully engaged from under the car? That is, is it possible for driver and passenger side to look virtually identical, yet one be correct and the other incorrect?

[FLlegacy]

no, they are symmetrical, so if they appear to be identically inset to the transmission chances are they are both set in place.