Drive shaft removal difficulties

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Rondel Fan
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Drive shaft removal difficulties

Post by Rondel Fan »

I'm doing the clutch on my 86 635csi.  Or rather I'd be doing the clutch if I could get to it!  I was offered a friends lift for the weekend and it looks like I'll be going a fair bit longer.


I started down the starter removal rabbit hole from the mythical 30 min-1 hr swap, to the factory recommended intake removal et. al..I was surprised that I could not get a quality wobble socket full seated on either bolt.  I believe I have the original starter with the "obstructed views"! 


Resigning myself to the very long way around, I started down the removal of the intake path.  Only to be stymied by lower manifold bolts 4,5,6, so I took one more pass at the starter bolts using the tool kit Heyco 17MM spanner and dreamed up a pretty nifty work around (none of the online fixes that worked for others worked for me. )


I finally and got the bolts out without removing the whole rest of the car.

(reminds me of the sculptor when asked how he carves a marble statue, "I just chip away everything that is not the statue!"


Anyway I can now not remove the drive shaft.  I have managed to fully (too fully?) back off the drive shaft spline nut and loosed the carrier bearing.  even with the deflection from the free carrier bearing, I can not move the driveshaft rearward enough to disengage it from the output shaft.  What am I missing?  Any help appreciated before I drop the front end of the exhaust to join the back end on the garage floor.

thx

Mike
Rondel Fan
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Re: Drive shaft removal difficulties

Post by Rondel Fan »

Removing the down pipe gave me the clearance I needed to remove the drive shaft. Hopefully the clutch will be in next weekend!
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Ralph in Socal
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Re: Drive shaft removal difficulties

Post by Ralph in Socal »

Sorry I didn’t see this earlier. Yes the exhaust has to be pulled down at the front to create the necessary clearance to remove the ds. I usually remove the entire exhaust but that also involves more work

Regarding the starter - unfortunately there are different ways the starter is secured. Some early cars actually had a long bolt that goes through a transmission hole. In any case it is a pain in the....

Invest in an e32/34 starter to make your future easier. I just put one in my e12 and it works great
Pic below is how I hold the flywheel while removing/torquing bolts to the crankshaft. Those are the shoulder bolts for the lower frame brace

Ralph

PS - replace the rear main seal and the pilot bearing while you’re there. Also replace the plastic clutch fork pin. You’re doing well!!

Special tip - remove the slave cylinder last. Remove all the bolts securing the transmission to the engine then depress clutch pedal to use the clutch force to separate the trans and engine
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There is a very fine line between "Hobby" and Mental Illness.

85 635csi Zinno Auto
84 528i Euro
83 635 Euro Arktik
81 528i Kastanien 5-speed
88 528e Bronzit (Granpa Car)
86 535i Auto (For Sale)
81 633 csi (retired)
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hornhospital Online
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Re: Drive shaft removal difficulties

Post by hornhospital »

Ralph in Socal wrote: Mon Mar 16, 2020 7:47 am Special tip - remove the slave cylinder last. Remove all the bolts securing the transmission to the engine then depress clutch pedal to use the clutch force to separate the trans and engine
That's a heck of a good tip, Ralph! Thanks from all of us that face removal of a transmission! =D>
Ken Kanne
'84 633CSi "Sylvia"; '85 635CSi "Katja";'85 325e "Hazel Ann"; '95 M3 "Ashlyn"
Rondel Fan
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Re: Drive shaft removal difficulties

Post by Rondel Fan »

I was lucky that the PO had the exhaust manifold jet coated not that many miles ago and the nuts came right off even though the front pipe's rear most stud was very challenging to get a socket on! I hope the tranny comes right off but easy enough to put the slave back on if I need extra leverage.
Thankfully the starter is fine so I don't need to replace it and just left it in it's housing while the clutch gets swapped.
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