Loosen driveshaft nut {Ford}

case_sensitive

I'm dismantling my old Ford Puma, which is essentially a MkIV Fiesta, and I'm trying to lift the engine out. This is dry run for pretty much the same job on another Ford I actually want to keep and use the bits of!
Got stuck pretty much on step 1..
"Slacken the driveshaft nut"..

The driveshaft nut has a notch where a part of it is pinched into the stub axel, and the Haynes manual (Fiesta) suggests dislodging it with a suitable centre punch, and as you can possibly see from the photos, I went overboard.


When I couldn't get it loose, I tried cutting the pinched part off with a dremel angle grinder bit.


I put the air impact wrench on it and .... not a sausage.
I let the tank get to max pressure (8 bar I think), adn gave it a solid 15 seconds, again, not budging.

I replaced the impact gun with some BFI; 30cm breaker bar and the biggest hammers I've got, swung over the head and onto the handle, again, not a mm did it budge.

Having watched a few of these on Youtube since, I may not have been applying enough force; I'll try attaching a big pipe to my bar, and put the pivot point up on a scissor jack, that seems to be popular.

Is it simply a matter of get a bigger persuader? Is the notch on the nut undone enough? Have I completely buggered it up?

CJhaughey

case_sensitive wrote: »

I'm dismantling my old Ford Puma, which is essentially a MkIV Fiesta, and I'm trying to lift the engine out. This is dry run for pretty much the job on another Ford I actually want to keep and use the bits of!
Got stuck pretty much on step 1..
"Slacken the driveshaft nut"..

The driveshaft nut has a notch where a part of it is pinched into the stub axel, and the Haynes manual (Fiesta) suggests dislodging it with a suitable centre punch, and as you can possibly see from the photos, I went overboard.

That little section doesn't do that much apart from stopping the nut coming loose. Its not thick enough to stop it turning under pressure from a bar.
I loosened the nut on a landcruiser with a 3/4" sliding bar and a 5ft length of pipe with my mate standing on the brakes.

guil

not 100% but i think that one side is opposite thread

case_sensitive

guil wrote: »

not 100% but i think that one side is opposite thread

Now that'd be a thing you'd think the manual would mention. Christ. Anyone pulled the shafts out of a Fiesta before? Any chance this is true?

case_sensitive

CJhaughey wrote: »

That little section doesn't do that much apart from stopping the nut coming loose. Its not thick enough to stop it turning under pressure from a bar.
I loosened the nut on a landcruiser with a 3/4" sliding bar and a 5ft length of pipe with my mate standing on the brakes.

Ha ha, seen people jumping on the end of a breaker bar alright. Constantly surprised at how much welly you sometimes have to put into this. Going skip diving for a suitable bit of pipe I suppose!

shamwari

Breaker bar, scafolding pole, an energy drink and plenty of bad language....:D

mullingar

A quick google indicates passenger side is a LH thread, drivers is a normal RH thread

case_sensitive

mullingar wrote: »

A quick google indicates passenger side is a LH thread, drivers is a normal RH thread

Do you have a reference for that? It's the sort of thing I'd need to be pretty sure of before I go applying hundreds of nm in the wrong direction :eek:

ETIS is pretty vague on the directionality; makes sure to say to tighten it to 270nm, just not which direction..
The diagram below is the installation of the RH side halfshaft (diagram for LH is labelled 'RH shown').


Again, anyone done this on a Ford themselves or got a reputable reference?

cletus

I have a mk4 fiesta, and while I havent done anything with the driveshaft nuts, both hub nuts are RH. Not sure if this will hold true for the front as well

cletus

Double post

dgt

I used to have Fords myself, that little bit does nothing but stop the nut from loosening. Just de-stake it

32mm nut iirc, I leave the car on the ground and use a scaffolding pole on a 3/4 breaker bar. Each nut is right threaded so normal anti-clockwise to loosen.

Bear in mind Festy/Pumas use an intermediate shaft so don't expect a long one on the drivers side :pac:

Get new nuts when installing them again

case_sensitive

dgt wrote: »

I used to have Fords myself, that little bit does nothing but stop the nut from loosening. Just de-stake it

32mm nut iirc, I leave the car on the ground and use a scaffolding pole on a 3/4 breaker bar. Each nut is right threaded so normal anti-clockwise to loosen.

Bear in mind Festy/Pumas use an intermediate shaft so don't expect a long one on the drivers side :pac:

Get new nuts when installing them again

Cheers! Appreciate it, reckon that's what I'll do, nice big bar :-)

The driveshafts aren't going back on, I just want to take the engine, and gearbox up out of it, to flog and get rid.
The Focus I have to do after that on the other hand, I need the driftshafts of, but I'll treat it to new nuts.

martyc5674

case_sensitive wrote: »

Cheers! Appreciate it, reckon that's what I'll do, nice big bar :-)

The driveshafts aren't going back on, I just want to take the engine, and gearbox up out of it, to flog and get rid.
The Focus I have to do after that on the other hand, I need the driftshafts of, but I'll treat it to new nuts.

If its a mk 1 focus both sides are right hand...
An extra couple of feet of leverage will make a huge difference just make sure your socket is sitting nice on the nut

case_sensitive

Cheers to all those who posted;
Went on the scavange; found a 1.3m scaffolding pole that fits perfectly over the end of my 3/8" torque wrench, and 2 bits of old plumbing piping (one 1m, one over 2m). Halfords want €40 for a 600mm breaker bar, but these cost nothing.

Boot jack holding up an extension bar on a 32mm socket



and then one of the plumbing pipes I salvaged



Cheers! What would I do without the internet?

slimjimmc

case_sensitive wrote: »

Cheers to all those who posted;
Went on the scavange; found a 1.3m scaffolding pole that fits perfectly over the end of my 3/8" torque wrench, and 2 bits of old plumbing piping (one 1m, one over 2m). Halfords want €40 for a 600mm breaker bar, but these cost nothing.

Boot jack holding up an extension bar on a 32mm socket


and then one of the plumbing pipes I salvaged

Cheers! What would I do without the internet?

I read this and thought OMG he's using his torque wrench as a breaker :eek: , then I saw you used a T-bar and all was calm again

CJhaughey

I found that removing the wheel and propping the control arm on an axle stand allowed me to use the bar without an extension, this made it less likely to lever off the nut, just an observation.;)
Good job its off anyway.