Accidently pulled out the driver-side output shaft on transmission.
 

So for those of you who read my previous thread, I had my driver side axle come apart on me while driving. Today I started working on the car again, and the tripod section of the cv axle was still stuck inside the transmission. I tried for several hours to get it out of the transmission, but no luck. Finally I forced the issue and pried on my pry bar as hard as I could and out popped not only the tripod, but the output shaft still attached to it.

My first question is, have I seriously damaged the transmission by doing this? I'm not very educated when it comes to automatic transmissions. Secondly, how do I seperate the tripod from the output shaft? And third, what is the correct way to re-install the output shaft?

tripod what now?

Maybe I'm calling it the wrong thing. The part of the cv halfshaft that actually hooks into the transmission.

If you don't know what you are doing, you should probably have a mech fix it for you before you really screw something up...

Quite a bland "one size fits all" response. There's no better way of learning than to actually do it yourself.

agreed. if i had that mindset, i wouldn't of changed anything on my car myself.

anyways. did you just pull the axle out of the side of the tranny? if so, i doubt you did anything bad. i've done it multiple times when i changed my seals there

I broke the cv axle so it needed to be removed. When I tried removing it, it didn't want to disengage from the transmission. When I forced the issue, the cv axle finally came out, but with the output shaft still attached to it. I wish I hadn't cracked my digital camera, but here is a cell phone picture:



On the right side is what's left of the cv axle. The long rod is what the axle connects to when you put it into the transmission. The rod is inside the transmission itself, and I believe it connects to the differential? Like I said, I'm kind of a newb when it comes to transmissions.

WOW GREAT JOB.... I HOPE YOU KNOW A GOOD PLACE TO GET A NEW TRANSMISSION... SERIOUSLY IT IS THE FIRST TIME OF MY LIFE THAT I SEE THIS HAPPENING!!!!!!!! BUT DON'T PANIC JESUS IS WITH YOU...

Yeah, thanks...

I'm not sure what else I was supposed to do. The cv axle will not, and still has not seperated from the output shaft.

I was just saying.... If you don't know what you are doing, might have a mech help or something.... Otherwise you could really screw something up... I know this from experience. lol Just trying to save you from having to fork out extra money if you f something up. :lol:

I'm a mechanic myself but.. seriously i've never seen this and i don't know very well the automatic tranny on our cars... both of mine are 5 speed... How is the shaft in the transmission holding by a clip ?? it is supposed to be mounted on a bearing pressed into the casing near the opening on the side.... maybe you'll be good if you're able to get it out of the tripod... that was the good name BTW

So once I get the tripod/cv axle seperated from the output shaft, can I just line up the splines and tap it back into the transmission?

either way the auto tranny on alero's suck
GM came out with there "maintainence free transmission" literally no such thing.
if i were you i'd head down to a junk yard or something to just get one there. only drop some money on the tranny setup if your doing a swap

not sure what your talking about...the end with teeth on it that goes in the transmission is part of your axle and is supposed to come out when your pry it...just buy a new axle they are cheap after the core charge, and pop the new one back in to the tranny and you will be fine.

So the middle separated from the end goin into the tranny? U didn't eff up the tranny. Just get underneath it and pull it out. Are u doin this at home? Its a lot easier if u have access to a lift. Just go under and use sumthing like a pry bar and it should come out. And for future reference don't tug it from behind the inner CV boot. Btw u did rip the inner boot right?

#26 is what came out of the transmission, still attached to the cv axle.

you can try to put it back in but i really doubt that it will be ok.....

you must have done something seriously wrong to do that....

Actually, both of the output shaft pieces CAN come out. This happened to my mechanic when he removed a "new" trans that was defective. The trans was a full rebuild from GM, expensive, and never did work right - low pressures. When he went to pull it after less than 200 miles of lameness, both of those shafts came right out along with the CVs. Dealer was sorta surprised to see that but they DO slide back in easily. Personally I think GM tried to sell me a used trans that was just cleaned, not rebuilt. Anyhow, you can re-install the shafts and nothing is seriously broken. Start shopping for a replacement though....

and if you do need a new cv axle be sure to bring your old one and it will drop the price big time
i got a brand new one for 68 bucks one time just for bringing the core

Dude.. wow. Not really your fault, CV axles are just supposed to pop out when you pry on them. Some can be ridiculously hard.. had a friend that couldn't get one out on a manual Tiburon trans.

Seems like a case of just extremely bad luck.

No worries, I work part time at the AutoZone that I get my parts from.

A little update:

A few whacks with a heavy hammer and the cv axle disconnected from the output/intermediate/center shaft (I've heard this thing called three different names, lol). I found the snap ring that was holding it into the transmission; it was laying on the ground, broken in a couple pieces. I can pop it in and out of the transmission ok. I just need to find a snap ring to replace the broken one so it will stayy inside the transmission. The snap ring on the other side of the shaft that holds the cv axle on is ok.

You lucky guy, it could have been more costly than that.......

hell yea, your lucky is a $2 snap ring and not a $2,000 tranny

I'd love a better pic, but I'd be shitting bricks if I pulled an axle and saw that. Nice to see that it's no big deal though.

Remove the diff cover and stub output shaft from the other side and reinstall the snap ring and shaft you'll be alright I've seen this a few times before.