Right halfshaft sliding out of diff

[djsSHO]

94 SHO MTX.

Went to work today...came out 15 mins later with a 1/2 quart of tranny fluid in the parkin lot. Put it up on the lift and found the right halfshaft about 1/8in out of the hole in the tranny. The halfshaft slides around in that retaining ring that holds the bearing. Is that section not supposed to be able to move? It has been that way since I know but I replaced the axle seal last winter due to it starting to leak here and there.

My question is what can I do to prevent this from happening again?

Thanks in advance,

 

[Bizzy]

The intermediate shaft has 2 bolts that connect to the underside of the car. That section should not move. Sounds like you either didn't replace the bolts when you replaced the seal or that the bolts are stripped out.

 

[Shoaz]

Something is very wrong there. I wouldn't drive that until you figure out what's wrong and get it corrected.

As Beth pointed out the bearing carrier for the half-shaft (which holds the end of the halfshaft to where the CV axle connects), should be tightly attached to the rear motor mount bracket. That should prevent the shaft from moving out. You may also want to inspect everything there to make sure that driving with that thing loose hasn't damaged the shafts or the bearing carrier.

 

[djsSHO]

The bolts are tight on that bracket, but the rubber section does not squeeze tight enough to keep it from being able to move around.

When I did the axle seal i didn't need to loosen those bolts as the whole shaft slid out through the wheel well.

If the rubber is too small is there any way to fix this? That intermediate shaft is discontinued as I recall from other posts....

 

[Shoaz]

Sounds like you need a replacement intermediate shaft. You should not be able to pull the shaft out through the bearing carrier. It should be necessary to remove those bolts to remove the shaft.

Ask around or post a note in the "wanted to buy" section. People parting cars may have one of these around. They're not a huge wear item, so it shouldn't be too tough to find one in decent shape.