driveshaft removal

[allbluedave]

Hey guys.  how do i  remove the drive shafts from the gearbox on a mk1 galaxy 1.9 tdi? I know how to split the ball joints. Remove the hub nut ect ect. Will they lever out with the likes of a crow bar? Cheers guys 

[insanitybeard]

If it's the Ford VXT75 transmission then it's likely that the driveshafts (or at least the nearside one) are retained in the diff by wire circlips, in which case you'll need a crowbar or similar (an angled end is usually more helpful than just a straight bar)- we always used to use a crowbar (carefully inserted between the inner CV joint and the transmission casing surrounding the oil seals- don't damage the seals!) and by levering against the transmission casing lower down, a good solid whack with a hammer on the bar normally would free the shaft from the gearbox. If there's an intermediate shaft on the offside you may not need to lever the offside shaft out, quite possibly once you've unbolted the intermediate shaft bearing the shaft will just pull out of the box.

[allbluedave]

insanity  tryed to get the drive shafts out before when the gearbox when bang and had no luck. thought because the shafts had been out recenty they would come out easier. not to sure of the gtype. how do i find that out? 

[insanitybeard]

Does the gearbox look like this? From what others have said the Mk1 TDI used the Ford VXT75 gearbox (which is the one in the link). If you don't want to go down the crowbar route and my memory serves correctly, unbolt the intermediate shaft bearing on the offside driveshaft and with the balljoint removed you should be able to pull the shaft out with little resistance, you can then drive the nearside shaft out of the diff by using an appropriate drift through the gearbox casing if you go in through the offside shaft opening once the offside shaft is out.

[allbluedave]

Don't think that's mine insanity. Mines got a d shaped what I'm assuming is a blanking plate on the end. Is there a hole under the plate I could fish around with a magnet?. I tried to remove the plate but it wouldn't shift with the bolts out. 

[insanitybeard]

D shaped cover like item 30 on here do you mean? If so it's a cover plate/ support shaft stub for the reverse gear idler, not sure how much access removing it will give you.

[allbluedave]

Cheers insanity. IM glad i didn't get the plate off otherwise i would of screwed the gearbox up. Thought it was just a blanking plate for a geatbox mount. How wrong was i lol.