Snapped Axle, Snapped in an odd place. Options

[WannabeGT4]

I replaced my driver’s side axle today since it's been broken for the past 3 weeks... Sucks, 'cause I just replaced both axels 2 months ago. It snapped on the trany side right were the groove for the snap ring is which allowed the axle to slip out. This is the first time I've ever heard of an axle snapping in that spot and was wondering if any one else has witnessed this before.

The reason I'm even posting this is because I pulled out about a spoon full of metal shavings from the splines in the differential while I was trying to maneuver the end piece of the axel out of the dif. with a magnet. A fluid and filter change are in the very near future... Does anyone think I should do a full trany flush as well or will a new filter and fluid suffice?

[SlowCelica94]

YES

Besides, your tranny will thank you for fresh fuild

[WannabeGT4]

YES

Besides, your tranny will thank you for fresh fuild

It's multiple choice not true or false... Fluid and filter are coming soon.

[macavely]

sounds like you had an axle with and imperfection in that stop... and yes i seen axles snap in that spot before ..

[Dr_Tweak]

It sounds to me like the axle wasn't installed all the way. It's impossible for a properly installed axle to break there. (I especially think so since you said that you replaced both axles two months ago.)

-Doc

This post has been edited by Dr_Tweak: Dec 26, 2005 - 11:38 PM

[WannabeGT4]

Dr. Tweak, I'm not inept like most of the people you talk to. There is no way that it was installed improperly. It's a simple task to push the axle into the dif. until the snap ring catches... It's even easier to pull on the axle to make sure it's secure. I don't need people with an inferiority complex talking down to me.

Do you have an opinion about the tranny flush?

[Dr_Tweak]

Dr. Tweak, I'm not inept like most of the people you talk to. There is no way that it was installed improperly. It's a simple task to push the axle into the dif. until the snap ring catches... It's even easier to pull on the axle to make sure it's secure. I don't need people with an inferiority complex talking down to me.

Do you have an opinion about the tranny flush?

An inferiority complex is when a person feels inferior to other people. I think you mean superiority complex. Anyway, I don't have one, and I'm not talking down to you. (Perhaps you have an inferiority complex?)

Think about how the axle splines are installed. The splines inside the diff make contact against the entire spline length on the axles. For the axle to snap there, it had to have either not been installed all the way, or it popped out. When that happened, the splines inside the diff were making contact only with the spline on the axles in the outside of the snap ring, which is why it snapped there. We all make mistakes.

As I'm sure you know, there's a large magnet installed in the bottom of the tranny which catches about everything, so, full the tranny up, drive it around a bit to circulate it, and then drain and refill.

-Doc

This post has been edited by Dr_Tweak: Dec 27, 2005 - 1:29 AM

[WannabeGT4]

No. I meant inferiority... I was implying the need to compensate. Sorry about that, the way you worded your reply made it seem a bit rude, like you assumed I didn't know what I was doing. I assure you that this is not the first time I've worked on a car.

I guess I'll just hope that the magnets and filter do their jobs and just change the filter and fluid.

[soulshadow]

I usually have to change out the fuids anyway when I take out the axels and stuff, cause usually the fluid pours out of the axel hole on my tranny. If you don't have any puring out it means your runing pretty low on fuid.

[WannabeGT4]

Yeah, It can be a messy job if you don't know what to expect.

BTW soulshadow, I think you spelled welder wrong in your sig.?

[95ST]

If I am understanding what you are saying happened, I had the same thing happen a couple years ago on my last celica, a couple weeks after replacing the axels, I snapped one off about an inch from the end inside the tranny leaving a piece of axel inside the tranny. It was very difficult to remove we ended up pulling out the other axel and hitting it out from the other side, although this was hard because between the 2 axels there are metal rods that make an "x" not leaving alot of room around it. When I get home I will try to find the piece that broke off and take a pic, I saved it because it was such a pain to fix such a stupid thing.