Pot Joint Engine R and R

[tmsmini]

There is the current thread about installation questions, but this is more about removal with a pot joint style transmission.

I have always undone the top ball joint to give some extra room for the drive shaft, but some have said if you are careful the drive shafts can be shifted out of the way.

What about re-installation, how do you make sure the pot joint is seated properly and the shaft in the pot joint?

[MiniDave]

I do what you do, I remove the large boot clip on the pot joint then remove the axle and leave the pots in the transmission.

I have removed an engine and left the joints intact.....once the engine is loose, raised up some and hanging on the hoist, you can shift it right and turn it some to get the left joint out, then slide it straight left to get the right one out. I consider this more work than just removing the axles as I always need to remove the axles anyway if I'm taking the engine out and you often have to remove a lot of stuff to get enough room to shift the engine back and forth.

On the way back in I think it's too hard to get them back in again......

As for how to make sure they're locked in again, I just use a piece of wood and give them a good tap with a dead blow hammer. You can see when they're all the way in and you can feel them sorta lock into place.

[MPlayle]

On the Minis that I have pulled the engine, I have also done the same way: pop loose the ball joints, pull the hubs out of the way - separating the pot joints, leaving the shells in the differential, pull the engine.  (I cover the ends of the parts of the pot joint in plastic bags to keep them from getting debris into the grease.)

When re-installing, if I am reusing the same pot joints the installation is just the reverse.

If replacing the pot joints, I install the complete pot joints on the differential and install the engine, then slide the drive shaft into the pot joint as I re-install the hubs.

[John Gervais]

My spare engine has the pots still on the diff.  I learned the hard way once when I bought new ones that the pots didn't fit through the hole in the subframe, so they needed to come apart.

I gave my left hand potjoint a whack with a block of wood & dead-blow hammer today.  I didn't hear a click, just the sound of the hammer on the wood, so I gave the driveshaft a turn and whacked it again.  I hope it's seated; it looks good from above, but if I'm to see from underneath, I'll need to remove the sumpguard and put on my reading glasses - must be getting old and blind...

[MiniDave]

Well, I felt a distinct difference when I inserted the pot joint after I had changed the clip. With the old clip it just slid right in, with the new one it definitely took a good push to overcome the resistance....and I can't say I felt a click exactly when it went in.... but I definitely could feel that it went home.

[John Gervais]

I took a long screwdriver and dropped it down from the top into the small space between the joint and diff cover.  I gave the screwdriver a gentle twist and didn't feel any looseness, so once I'm done with this latest electrical change, I'll take her out and take another peek.  It felt solid when I whacked it, like it was all the way in.

[MiniDave]

I think you got it  4.gif