bergstsm

I thought I had the torque tube out, but.......the shaft is stuck at the splines near the flexplate. I tried penetrating oil to loosen it up with no luck. Any suggestions as to what to try next. I ve already walked the tube about 6 inches back without the shaft getting loose.

BTW, the transmission is already out.

bigs

Dang! For a minute there I thought you needed a STAT gynecology consult!

Carry on.

slate blue

It's probably got to do with the alignment of the shaft to the splines. Is the gearbox still attached to the tube? If it is jack it up and then pull it out. I would also undo the 6 bolts on the back of the flywheel, this will make it easier to get it out.

Cheers Greg

bigs

Disclaimer #1: I am not a wrench.

Disclaimer #2: I do not see any mention if your car is AT or 5-speed - or its year. But some owners, in an attempt to prevent thrust bearing failure due to forward migration of the driveshaft into the flex plate on AT cars have used Loc-Tite to attach the shaft. If your PO has done this, I suspect you'll need to heat it to get it loose.

bergstsm

That is possible. I do have an AT....I'll get back at it tomorrow morning.

John Struthers

???ERK???........
Loctite should go on the allen threads not the splines.......
****, of course, does happen.

Garth S

It does indeed happen - frequently! The loctite 290 fix for a migrating front flexplate coupling specifically calls for the splines to be doused lightly: it is optional to further secure the pinch bolt, as it does not show signs of backing off to allow spline movement - the splines move despite the pinch bolt being correctly torqued.
Contrary to his profession where (water soluble) lubrication would be a typical recommendation for this issue, Bigs is correct in prescribing heat - should there be no alignment issues to create a bind.

John Struthers

Garth,
My understanding of the Loctite 290 is that it will not 'cure' - though I will agree it will tack- unless 'faced'. In this case, the threads of the allen bolt and clamp 'face' each other under pressure/compression when torqued.
Unless the play/run on the splines has already been into the " bearing journal machineing range" there should have been little or no spline to lightly coat and then face under pressure.
I say this because, keeping in mind, the movement range forward is not all that great before serious damage has occurred.
So if the 290 doesn't cure on 'OPEN' splines it really isn't doing much to prevent slippage and might actually act as a lubricant if it doesn't cure.
Just a thought.

Garth S

Hi John,
The good - and bad news on #290 is that it cures rock hard - as in welded! It is one of these anaerobic methacrylate types, a lot like the 'Crazy Glue' stuff.
It is specifically applied to the splines, as the clamping force accorded by the pinch bolt has proven to be inadequate. When I first 'released' the coupling on my S4, it retreated 3.15mm to a neutral position. Two years now following the 290 treatment ( thanks Cpt'n Earl), it has not moved a hundredth of a mm.
All that is the good news - the bad will be if I ever have to remove the TT: Earl and Gary removed one IIRC, and a lot of heat was req'd. I spoke to the Loctite Tech group, and confirmed that the only solvent that 'may' soften the stuff is methylene chloride - but count on using heat ...
BTW, fretting or galling of the spline/coupling interface has not been the issue in the majority of the cases - if any: Simply, the clamping force is inadequate ( the pre S4 cars used a circlip and shim stack to position and secure the flexplate - an unfortunate delete for later models ...

shaaark89

i've removed 2 that were loctited on the splines. the first i ended up removing the flex plate from the flywheel and taking it out en mass, then knocked the flexplate off with a hammer. the second i used loctite gasket chisel and tons of heat over a period of about a week before it would let loose (wasn't planning on removing the trans in that case.)
either way, it's a b*tch to get them loose. i suppose that's good for the prevention of tbf, but when i reassembled them i did not reloctite them.

bergstsm

Update:

Hoo Bingo....A sufficient helping of PB blaster and a helping hand from the neighbor, and the TT is out. Now, lets see what we can do about an engine rebuild to go with the new tranny and soon to be rebuilt torque tube.......


Thanks Big Dave for the road map!

BTW, I tried to seach the archives, but with my block (85-86), can I drop in an S4 intake, or doesn't it line up?