Brixham Bob

I have resolved the removal of the CV joint and I had to remove the shaft to do it. I found it impossible to restrain the shaft sufficiently to enable reaction to a sharp blow to the joint to free it whilst still on the car. Initially I was going to follow the guidance of the Hayne's workshop manual in the removal of the right hand shaft; this involved draining the transmission oil, slackening and rotating through 90 degrees the two bolts that retain the intermediate bearing and then simply pull on the inner end of the shaft to free the intermediate bearing from its mounting and withdraw the shaft from the transmission. Shades of "YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!" came to mind. The intermediate bearing was well and truly "supported" and would have needed some serious effort to persuade it to part company. I was pleased that I hadn't drained the transmission oil because it became obvious that the outer section of the shaft was only retained by the large diameter gaiter clip on the inner joint housing! Remove the clip and the outer shaft springs out at you! OK so you get a mess of grease that surrounds the inner universal joint with it but hey...compared with working through the Hayne's book it's a doddle. Once off the car and held in a vice, the CV joint responded to a heavy hammer blow to the inner part and replacement was equally simple. It is now all re-assembled. I bought the CV joint on line from J&R Trading in Birmingham. The cost was £13.33 plus p&p £4.16 plus VAT which brought it to £20.99, still a good deal! So a good introduction to the Xantia that will hold me in good stead for the next project...a fuel leak from the front face of the fuel tank which is probably related to the fuel pump that I hear when I first turn the key. Wish me luck!

Thank you all for your advice. I am replacing the CV joint as it is worn having run for an unknown period with lack of lubrication due to loss of the boot retaining/sealing band. I was hoping to remove the joint without having to remove the shaft from the car. Without means to hold the shaft securely, I have so far been unsuccessful and needed confirmation that I was going about removal in the right way. I will get assistance to restrain the shaft and hopefully with precise application of the hammer force it will succumb!

Thank you paul.h for your welcome and advice. This joint is as you first described with a snap ring to locate and retain it on the shaft as there are no circlips visible. Now that I have confirmation that other similar joints are removed by striking with a heavy hammer and drift against the inner part of the joint, I shall persevere but perhaps recruit my neighbour to assist (when I nod my head, hit it!)

Hello All I am a new member and not yet familiar with all the protocol so please forgive me if I make any blunders! I have recently bought a 2000 Hdi 110 bhp which has a few problems that I am working through. I want to replace the off side CV joint and have have reached the point where I think I just need to "tap" it with heavy hammer to release it from the circlip that retains it on the shaft. Am I being optimistic? Will I have to remove the shaft to hold it firmly in a vice to get sufficient reaction to free it? There seems to be a lot of free play in the shaft that absorbs the "taps" preventing removal. Any advice would be welcome!