What's Going On In These Pictures?

[jukic.j]

Fuarkkkkk I know how to get the exhaust off but taking the driveshaft out... oh well holidays start today for me! I know what i'll be doing.

[89CAL]

Driveshaft is easy, just unbolt the centre bearing and the driveshaft flange from the diff, the driveshaft just pulls out of the back of the gearbox (need to empty oil first)

You might be able to do the seal without pulling the box, I dont remember changing the rear seal so cant remember whats involved

[Spurdo]

gearbox doesn't need to come out. nor should you need to drain the oil first. at least i didn't with mine. i've heard of other situations where people pulled the shaft out and get a nice sticky shower, probably on other vehicles.

[89CAL]

No

You need to drain the oil. Once you take the driveshaft out, the rear gearbox seal doesnt seal on anything and the oil can just pour out. The driveshaft meshes with the rear shaft on the gearbox - Female spline on the driveshaft, Male on the gearbox

So the sealing is done on the outside of the driveshaft coupler

[jukic.j]

I really don't feel like I trust myself to take the driveshaft out. I'm just going to top it up for now. Any 75w90 will do?

[GTSBoy]

Quick point. It's a tailshaft.

Don't be a pussy. It's an easy job. Just need some decent ring spanners for the diff flange and a socket set for the centre bearing. Once it's up high enough it's only a 15 minute job to get it out.

[jukic.j]

Hmm i'll need to buy some ring spanners then. Any idea what size ring spanner(s) i

ll need?

[GTSBoy]

Hmm i'll need to buy some ring spanners then. Any idea what size ring spanner(s) i

ll need?

All of them.

I can't remember what size they are, but they will definitely be about 12mm (so maybe 13mm). By "decent" I meant long enough to provide the torque you'll need to crack the nuts off and do them back up properly. The typical open ended ringy in those sorts of sizes is too short on it's own. Double ended offset or straight long ring spanners are highly desireable for this sort of task.

If you wanted to jew out on it you could jack the car up far enough to get under and test the spanners you do have on the nuts to find out what size they are and only buy what you need.

[jukic.j]

Well if I knew more about tools/cars I could buy an appropriate set that would do me for good but seeing as I don't it makes more sense to buy what you need when you need it. Could you recommend me the ring spanner size range that I would look for in a kincrome set and anything I should look out for such as length?

Also I would probably invest in ratcheting ring spanners, any drawbacks there?

[GTSBoy]

Ratcheting ring spanners are a sanity saver. They're not the first thing you should buy, as they are a luxury, but they are a very desirable luxury. One thing you should NEVER do is use them to break bolts loose or tighten them all the way up. The tiny little rachet mechanisms are only strong enough to allow you to spin loose bolts freely. They will break if you load them up.

As to brands.....Snap-On and Blue Point are lovely to own and use, not so lovely to pay for. Kingchrome is a middling brand and for an amateur probably approx the right level to be buying at. If I were you I would walk into a decent tool shop (like Tool Craft or the various equivalents) and look at the different ranges and what they cost. Then look at how thick/thin sections like the ring on ring spanners is and so on. The better the steel in the tool the thinner the ring can be, and thin rings are also a sanity saver. There's nothing worse than having to grind down spanners to fit into tight spots. I used to have an ALFA and had 6 differently modified 13mm spanners to access all the different crapply crowded fasteners on that thing. Also look at the quality of the plated finish, the shape of the jaws on the open ends (there are new designs that have lumps in the flat edges of the jaws to get a better grip on the flats of nuts/bolts with less risk of rounding. Talk to a salesman about his opinion on some of these things.

In order of essentiallness (to coin a word)......

You need a set of conventional open ended ring spanners in the normal size range 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19 (though you can afford to live without a couple of those sizes and of course there will be times when you need the 11 and the 18 as well!). You need a set of double ended offset ring spanners in the similar sizes. And ideally you get a set of double ended straight long ring spanners - these are the duck's nuts for properly tightening up tailshaft bolts, etc. Anything where you need to get good torque and have straight on access to the fastener.

You should also have a 1/2" drive socket set and a 1/4" socket set. A long extension is vital if you're going to be undoing big suspension bolts (and even then I often prefer to use a 3/4 socket set or a rattle gun if possible).

You want a couple of sets of allen keys and ideally the allen key tools that work with socket sets. I also like T-drive handle sockets (for hose clamps and so on) but they are a bit of a luxury item as well.

All of this can be repeated in Imperial sizes if you work on other stuff as well. But then you double the cost for maybe 10% extra. If you're a mechanic you can't afford to not have Imperial stuff, but these days a Jap car owner amateur can survive quite fine without.

[89CAL]

SP Tools. Good mix of price and quality. I've been using SP Tools as a Diesel fitter for 5 years now and haven't broken anything.

Realisticly if your only going to use them for this one job then a set from supercheap will do the job fine. Should be enough for the odd job on your car

[jukic.j]

Firstly, thanks for taking the time to give a huge in-depth response. Kinda overwhelmed I think i'll need to come back to that post many times in future.

I like Kincrome because they've got a lifetime warranty. So I can confidently use them as hard as my grip allows. Looks like the next thing on my wishlist is a ratcheting spanner set. Girlfriend didn't get me xmas present and bday is coming up so might be dropping some hints

[luke gtr]

Firstly, thanks for taking the time to give a huge in-depth response. Kinda overwhelmed I think i'll need to come back to that post many times in future.

I like Kincrome because they've got a lifetime warranty. So I can confidently use them as hard as my grip allows. Looks like the next thing on my wishlist is a ratcheting spanner set. Girlfriend didn't get me xmas present and bday is coming up so might be dropping some hints

sp also offer life time warranty.

kinchrome can be difficult to get warranty out of.

repco also offer lifetime warranty, and they have a lot of stores.

ive had 1 item from repco break, they handed me a new one.

have had 2sp items break.

3 weeks later, i got replacement pieces.

also, is it leaving a puddle of oil, or is it just what is on the exhaust?

if you have recently had the clutch done, that could be oil from the gearbox when the tailshft was removed and the box pulled out of the car.

clean it down with degreaser first.

see if it comes back.

could just be a lazy mechanic who doesnt clean their jobs.

hope this helps.

keep us updated.

also, there are a lot of DIY write ups in the diy section.

search, im sure someone would have written this one up.

read it a couple of times, and go in prepared.

[jukic.j]

I didn't know that about the other lifetime warranties!

Doesn't leave a puddle of oil and I have cleaned it down before and it has come back. I went to top up the gearbox oil but as soon as I put a bit of oil in it overflowed so it's not leaking a lot.

[scotty nm35]

If the box was overfilled it will have spewed out the breather, in which case don't worry about it. I would get under it and check though...

[jukic.j]

It appears to be coming out of where the shaft is connected but i'll double check that it's not leaking from wherever the breather is to where the shaft connects.