Citroën C5 TOURER 2.0 HDi - How to get CV joint off the shaft?

[Schavlik]

Hello guys and girls, first post here. Long story short: Me and my dad spent hours getting everything off (due to complications along the way), and now we are stuck on getting the CV joint off to replace the torn rubber boot with a plastic one. Problem is, we cannot get it off no matter how much my dad tried hammering it off. Any suggestions/insight will be appreciated.

Thank you, and have a great day.

[Schavlik]

C5 X7 Front Pivot Lower Ball Joint Removal - Refitting

Thank you so much for this. I had a feeling that you can't hammer it off (especially after 1 hour of trying haha). Guess we have to bite the bullet and buy the extraction tool.

And yes we removed everything, only the outer CV joint ends up being our obstacle

[Stickyfinger]

Replace the joint, cut it off, I do not know if I would trust it after being split.

[Schavlik]

Replace the joint, cut it off, I do not know if I would trust it after being split.

So you recommend against using extraction tools?

[Stickyfinger]

I just think there is little to be saved not replacing what is an essentially sealed joint....these lower Frip joints have a short life anyway.

[RichardW]

Confused

The OP is talking about a driveshaft gaiter, and you are all talking about Frip joints!

Seemingly there are 3 types of shaft fitted, GKN, PSA, or NTN. There should be a label on the shaft showing which it is - but only PSA and NTN shafts have removable CV joints - if it's a GKN shaft then you have to remove the joint at the other end and fit the gaiter from the back. Given that you can't get the joint off, it seems odds on that you've got GKN shafts. Hopefully you haven't knackered the joint hammering it!!

[Schavlik]

Confused

The OP is talking about a driveshaft gaiter, and you are all talking about Frip joints!

Seemingly there are 3 types of shaft fitted, GKN, PSA, or NTN. There should be a label on the shaft showing which it is - but only PSA and NTN shafts have removable CV joints - if it's a GKN shaft then you have to remove the joint at the other end and fit the gaiter from the back. Given that you can't get the joint off, it seems odds on that you've got GKN shafts. Hopefully you haven't knackered the joint hammering it!!

Hi and thank you for the reply. I do have to say that I don't know the first thing about cars, is there a way you could provide me with easier explanations and best alternative to change the driveshaft gaiter? I'm getting a lot of different information from different sources/websites and so far it seems like a CV joint extraction tool is the best choice given the fact that my dad already bought plastic gaiters. This whole situation has been stressful seeing as we cannot afford getting this done at a certified workshop as it'll cost a whole lot of money.

Thanks again

Edit: I doubt the hammering did any damage as absolutely nothing moved even a millimeter hah

[GiveMeABreak]

Richard is right of course - if this is just about the gaiter then it's a different matter - but I was focussing on the lower ball joint.

[sparksie]

Hi
Just have a read of the first reply and see if its in any way relevant to your problem, because the way I read your question, it seemed you'd already gone way beyond all of that and have your drive shaft out, ready to take the (probably non removable!) outer joint off.
If thats the case, or even if you have the cv still stuck in the hub, it's worth doing it as Richard W suggests. Much simpler to get the inner joint off, though you'll have to replace the gaiter for that too, obviously. Once the inner joint is out of the way, it's child's play to slide the new gaiter along the shaft and onto the outer joint. Just be careful to clean the shaft beforehand, to avoid trapping road dirt in the new gaiter
Being unfamiliar with the job, most of what Marc posted in his reply will be important to you, when it comes to putting it back together.
I should also point out that he is much more familiar with the C5 than I will ever be, so he's the man, for anything unique to the model.
My advice is based on many years in the motor trade, dealing with most makes of cars and light commercials, but oddly, not many modern Cits

[Schavlik]

Hi
Just have a read of the first reply and see if its in any way relevant to your problem, because the way I read your question, it seemed you'd already gone way beyond all of that and have your drive shaft out, ready to take the (probably non removable!) outer joint off.
If thats the case, or even if you have the cv still stuck in the hub, it's worth doing it as Richard W suggests. Much simpler to get the inner joint off, though you'll have to replace the gaiter for that too, obviously. Once the inner joint is out of the way, it's child's play to slide the new gaiter along the shaft and onto the outer joint. Just be careful to clean the shaft beforehand, to avoid trapping road dirt in the new gaiter

The driveshaft is still in the hub (I assume that means that we didn't take it out). My dad used to be a mechanic (Edit: Which also means there won't be an issue putting it back together) and he thought it would be simple like any other car he repaired, aka just hit the joint, it pops out, put new gaiter in, put joint back in.

[Schavlik]

Richard is right of course - if this is just about the gaiter then it's a different matter - but I was focussing on the lower ball joint.

So basically: From the inner joint, you slide the gaiter all the way to the outer joint, and in the process also change the inner joint gaiter? Am I understanding this correctly?

Edit: But won't the inner joint also be non-removable? And since we have new plastic gaiters, we can't really stretch them on or anything

[sparksie]

The driveshaft is still in the hub (I assume that means that we didn't take it out). My dad used to be a mechanic and he thought it would be simple like any other car he repaired, aka just hit the joint, it pops out, put new gaiter in, put joint back in.

Ah! No, not many like that any more. Almost all have a securing circlip, of one kind or another, hidden in the grease deep in the outer joint.
Lots of PSA cars have outer CVs that are part of the drive shaft and cannot be removed. With those there are two ways to change the boot.
Given you have the shaft out, albeit still attached to the hub, the easiest way is to pop off the inner joint, as suggested.
The other way is to extract the CV from the hub and use a special tool to stretch the new boot enough for the narrow end to fit over the joint.
Boots intended for this method are made extra stretchy and, since you referred to yours as plastic, I doubt you have bought stretchy ones

[Schavlik]

The driveshaft is still in the hub (I assume that means that we didn't take it out). My dad used to be a mechanic and he thought it would be simple like any other car he repaired, aka just hit the joint, it pops out, put new gaiter in, put joint back in.

Ah! No, not many like that any more. Almost all have a securing circlip, of one kind or another, hidden in the grease deep in the outer joint.
Lots of PSA cars have outer CVs that are part of the drive shaft and cannot be removed. With those there are two ways to change the boot.
Given you have the shaft out, albeit still attached to the hub, the easiest way is to pop off the inner joint, as suggested.
The other way is to extract the CV from the hub and use a special tool to stretch the new boot enough for the narrow end to fit over the joint.
Boots intended for this method are made extra stretchy and, since you referred to yours as plastic, I doubt you have bought stretchy ones

And the inner joint is removable? Bonus question: Why is the outer non removable, but the inner is?

[sparksie]

There used to be shafts that simply couldn't be dismantled at all, mostly on French cars, and these were stretchy boot only jobs.
Nowadays, the inner joint is nearly always held by a clearly visible circlip.
If you pop your VIN up and ask him to, I'm sure arc could tell you which shafts you have (or had when new, at any rate), which will eliminate some of the confusion

[sparksie]

And the inner joint is removable? Bonus question: Why is the outer non removable, but the inner is?

No comment!
Probably cheaper to produce that way.
It does make outer joints expensive to buy, as they come complete with the shaft, but that aside, it's really not much more hassle than the old way