Drive shaft stuck in tranny

[InvisibleHand]

Howdy. I'm curious if anyone else has had a similar experience and what they did to fix it.

I pulled my motor to diagnose a suspected blown head gasket. During the process I discovered that my drive shaft, the front half, was stuck in the transmission.

I disconnected it at the carrier bearing expecting it to then slide right out. But it didn't budge a millimeter. After wrestling with it for a couple hours I decided to pull the motor with the drive shaft still attached.

The only thing I can think of is that the previous owner used locktight or something to effectively glue it in place.

Either that or there was a mechanical failure that's binding the splines. The previous owner claimed it was making 550whp (I detuned it as soon as I got it) so I'm not sure if the sheer power could do that.

For context, it is an SR tranny mated to an S13 blacktop residing in an S14.

And insights would be greatly appreciated.

[AKADriver]

Splines can twist and bind, or it can just get stuck in there either due to rust or the driveshaft being too long and getting jammed into the trans (like someone wedged a non-ABS driveshaft in an ABS car)

It's supposed to be able to move and slide so it doesn't stress the u-joints if the engine or diff rocks forward/back. It's a slip yoke.

I assume you've tried hammering it out? I would next try unbolting the flex disc so there's just the yoke left sticking out of the transmission then heat it with a torch to make the metal expand, then try again with the hammer. It'll probably ruin the trans output shaft seal but that's replaceable.

[InvisibleHand]

Thanks for this info. I have tried pounding it out with a hammer but didn't want to go too hard and damage anything.

How can I tell if it's the ABS or non-ABS driveshaft?

As far as I can tell there is no flex disc near the yoke. It's just a universal joint between the yoke and the rest of the shaft.

[AKADriver]

Ah I was thinking S13. S14 and S15 driveshafts don't have flex discs, that's right. You could still try heat but might damage the front u-joint.

Only difference is length, non-ABS is 20mm longer, I don't know what the exact overall lengths are.

[InvisibleHand]

From what I remember reading the difference in length between the ABS and non-ABS shafts is on the rear section. Although, I wonder if the longer overall length (if the wrong one is installed) would be enough to jam the yoke into the transmission.

I'll continue trying to strangarm it out. But with the rubber dust cover on it I am concerned about taking a torch to it. A replacement dust cover looks to be nearly impossible to find.

[SupaDoopa]

Preserving a rubber boot seems to be less important than a driveshaft that's stuck in the transmission.

Put the transmission in a forward gear and try to turn the driveshaft something in the opposite way with something wedged into the yoke. Give it a good shock turn. Then put it in reverse and do it again in the opposite direction. Sometimes a good jostle will be enough to get them undone. Anything short of that, a trusty ol' super long prybar will be your bestfriend if you're afraid of heat.

[InvisibleHand]

It's more a matter of not creating another problem to solve the original one. But if it comes down to it, the boot will be sacrificed.

Good recommendation to jostle it loose though. I'll give it a try and report back.