I'm trying to drop the transaxle, and I _think_ what's hanging it up is actually the drive-shaft coupling (the plastic thing inside the TT/transaxle bellhousing.)

The instructions for transaxle removal said to push the coupling back towards the transaxle as far as possible, which I did, but I suspect I may not have moved it back far enough (I didn't have a picture to show how far back it was supposed to move.) And now I can't move forwards or backwards (probably not surprising if it's holding the transaxle.)

The transaxle is on a transmission jack now, so the coupling is not directly taking any significant weight at the moment, but I'm puzzled as what the problem is, and how to get it to disengage.

Anyone encountered this problem before? Advice appreciated.

 

Did you completely remove the bolt from the coupler?

 

Yes, both bolts removed.

 

can you see where the drive shaft meets with the trans input shaft? If not you can use a crowbar to push the coupler back a little further. If you cant see where the two meet, your not far enough yet. IT may take a little force.

 

What I can see is the where the drive-shaft splines end, and then the shaft starts to narrow in diameter, maybe 2-3mm past the end of the splines.

But I can't see the end of the drive-shaft yet. How much further is it?

BTW, if I turn the crank to spin the drive-shaft, I can see the coupler still turns, so the driveshaft is still engaged with the coupler. I was surprised since it had cleared the splines... unless there's more that I can't yet see.

 

Keep pushing the coupler back. I used a small crow bar.

 

Bolt the transaxle back to the torque tube, and the coupler will no longer have any pressure on it.

Use a large screwdriver or prybar and move the coupler back into the transaxle bell housing, at least until you can see the very end of the torque tube driveshaft clear.

 

What you are seeing right now is channel where the bolt slides through to keep the coupler in place. Keep going I think you have 1-2" left. Bolting it back up to the housing is a great idea to remove that pressure. should help make it slide much easier.

 

That explains a lot...

I will certainly bolt the bellhousing back together again before trying to move it that far.

Thanks for your advice.

 

I should have mentioned in your other post to make sure you slide the coupler back first before doing anything with the trans.\. Anyhow, i used a prybar to get it to slide back. Just braced it up against the inspection hole for leverage.

 

Bolted it back up, coupler slid rearward without too much trouble. Transaxle now out -- thanks all.