Dear CamryForum:

I have a problem with my 1995 2.2L Camry Wagon. The transmission seemed OK but I was driving at 60mph and all of the sudden the car downshifted with a noticeable loss of power. It managed to go back to 60mph+ with some strain on the accelerator.

I drove the car for about another week and heard the "clicking sound' of a bad CV axle on the driver's front side. However, the day I was going to go buy the part I pulled out of my driveway and the car had no power to go into DRIVE or REVERSE. It did not move at all. Even in NEUTRAL it was stuck. I took a 10 minute break because the car was still in my driveway to check the internet for a cause, however when I came back the car started and I could drive.

Rather than drive the car at all, I removed the caliper and have the transaxle fully exposed. What I noticed is that the endpiece of the CV axle in the transmission had some movement UP/DOWN and SIDE/SIDE. I managed to take the CV axle off at the inner BOOT. There is still the base of the CV axle stuck in the transmission.

1. How do I remove the stub-end of the axle? I can't seem to get a grip around it and have tried a slidehammer and large vise-grip.

2. What is the greater problem? I thought it was my transaxle alone but since it is off of the car (except the endpiece) there is still play where it meets the differential. Is my transmission shot?

I'm sortof exhausted from trying to take the endpiece out and have no idea what to do if it is not just a CV transaxle replacement.

Thanks for any advice, Puffs

 

Given your description the trans, CV joint or both could be bad.

Were both axles still connected to the hubs that drive the wheels when the car failed to move, if so the trans could be failing. Symptoms are no forward or reverse.

Make sure the trans gear shift lever on the trans housing is moving in sync with the gear shift lever inside the car via the shift cable.

The base of the axle shown plugs into the differential gear. The end of the axle inside the differential is held in by a circlip at the end of the splined axle shaft. This shaft and circlip go into a splined hole in the differential gear. Once the end of the splined shaft goes through the hole the circlip expands out to lock the shaft in place.

To remove it requires forcing circlip back into the hole which can be difficult. You can not just pull on the CV joint base and expect to pop out.

Find a pray bar that can go behind the base and wedge against the trans. You might put a section of board between the bar and trans to prevent trans case damage.

Once installed rapidly push or hit the end of bar to transmit a jerking motion to the back of the base and pop the shaft out.

The internet and this site have posts on removing the axle.

 

THANK YOU!

OK. I didn't know getting the axle out was such a common problem. But what does the movement of that endpiece mean? Is there a simple piece to replace once I remove the axle? Is there any illustration of what behind that axle piece looks like and is it easy to fix?

I called a couple of transmission shops and was quoted around $800 if it is just a matter of replacing some parts inside the differential. Much more if the entire transmission needs to be replaced. I am currently unemployed so I am really hoping that it is not the transmission and I can fix it myself.

Thanks for any advice!

 

End piece movement? The hub will have some in and out plug but should have very little or no side to side play.

A failed differential is not that common, trans failure is much more common.

Look on the internet for photos of differential internal parts. Replacing any differential parts will require removing the trans.

You might remove the hub then install a rebuilt axle costing around $50. Make sure you refill the differential with fluid.

Once done determine if the problem is fixed.

 

Found a good link on removing the half-shaft. Reflects my experience almost exactly...

Camry Transaxle Repair « Franksnotes

 

Well, as a follow-up to my initial axle/trans problem, the problem was that the gears in the Transmission 2.2 4cyl. were ruined. A very experienced mechanic came to my house and told me that the clunking noise of the axle into the transmission is because the gears inside were damaged and therefore the axle was spinning out of sync and hitting inside the transmission. I think he said it was a spider gear problem or something like that and not uncommon.

He changed the transmission for a salvage tranny (116K miles supposedly) in about 4 hours in my backyard. He was a backyard mechanic but when he pulled up in his 1994 Camry with 440K miles I knew I was in good hands. Also he had replaced his drivers side door handle multiple times as I had.

Therefore the solution was replacing the tranny and installing a new driver's side axle was ruined and fused into the transmission due to twisting of the axle and bad gear teeth.