Thanks terry s, that's good stuff.

My lock bolt won't come out all the way now because it's up too high then. It clears the pinion shaft so I can remove the shaft, but the head of the lock bolt hits the metal on the end which prevents it from clearing by about 1/8 of an inch, that's the reason I can't pull it right out at the present location.

It sure makes sense that if the lock bolt and pinion shaft are facing downwards that the c-clips would then fall out assuming they are oriented roughly the same.

My axle shafts move in and out a bit so I don't think I'll have a problem with that.

 

If you put the shaft back in you should be able to rotate the carrier so the shaft is where you can just barely pull the shaft out and miss the edge of the housing. You can then see the window we are talking about. The lock bolt does not have to come out all the way but there is a place as you rotate the carrier where it will come out and barely miss the bearing cap. The C-clips can rotate 360 degrees so if the opening of the C is up they should fall out. If the opening of the C is down they won't fall out. The gear oil sometimes will help them stick in place. Once the axle is pushed in you can rotate the C and if it does not fall out you can pull it out.
I agree with tripple black on replacing the seals.
Also before you take the axel out pull it toward you into its normal location with the C-clips in place and see if you can move the axel up and down. Sometimes the bearing will wear into the axel. This lets the axle move up & down and even new seals will leak because they are not able to flex that much. If you find this you need to replace the bearing also as it will be worn along with the axel. Of course if the place on the axel where the seal rides is grooved or damaged the seal will leak now or in the future.

 

hey quickcurrent, where in TO do you live? i'm up near Newmarket.

if you PM me, maybe i can swing by, give you a hand if needed. let me know

 

OK, here's where I am at now.

I've rotated the carrier with the shift in neutral so that the pinion bolt just misses the edge of the housing. At that point the pinion shaft points to the 7 o'clock position roughly and just falls out. I can also see the c-clips through the opening which now points slightly upward but I have to stick my head right up against the underside of the gas tank shield, and even then can just barely see them. I can rotate the c-clips so I can see the ends and I have tried pushing on them but they won't move off the shaft. I've tried grabbing them with a pair of the smallest (6") needle nose pliers I could find today (because the tips of the long nose pliers I had here were too thick and I couldn't get them to grab the c-clips). I can grab the c-clips with these, then I grab as tight as I can and pull, and they still slip! So much for these buggers "just falling out"! They appear to be about 60% around the shaft and they are in there so they won't fall out. So my problem now is how to get them out. It looks like this is a new design different from what most of you guys have seen! Has anyone out there actually worked on a similar vehicle - 2005 Jimmy? Is there some special tool to yank out these suckers?

On the subject of the oil fill plug, I think this is also a different design from what has been posted that I have seen. I cannot see anything there with a depressed square to fit a ratchet tip or an extender. The only thing that can possibly be the fill cap is a small thing that has a head for a slot screw driver surrounded by small stud-like bumps. I can't tell if the bumps are part of the plug or not. The thing with the slot head is about 1/4" in diameter and the outside circumference of the bumps is about 1/2" to 5/8". There is some rust and dirt on it, so I'm going to brush on some rust remover to see if I can see it more clearly. Have you seen anything like that for a fill plug? It appears to me that, if I just try to use a slot screwdriver on it with rust and dirt as it is now, the slot head will just strip!

Damn, I suspected good old Murphy would come calling before I started this job!

TIA,

quickcurrent

 

Pictures would help a ton. Did you push the axles from the outside in towards the center?

 

Yes, sir, that's what allows me to rotate the c-clips. When I pull out the axle shaft hubs the c-clips disappear from view, so I have to have them pushed in to see the c-clips.

I doubt that I can get my head and the camera in that tight area to take photos with the car on stands. Might be a bit easier if I had it on a hoist, but as it is I have a hard enough time just getting my head up there, lol. Sometimes I use a mirror to better see the position of the c-clips when they move on me, so I can rotate them with a wire to grab them with the needle nose pliers!

 

That's where the mechanic's magnet comes in handy my friend. Lock that sucker onto the c-clip and finagle them out! YOU CAN DO IT!

 

I have a telescopic magnet that's fairly powerful, but not nearly enough to get these suckers out. The needle nose pliers apply a lot more force to yank them out and even that isn't working! There is a lot of compression on these c-clips that has to be overcome to push them off the axle shaft.

I think I need something that has a couple of prongs and fits around the axle shaft onto the ends of the clips and that I can tap on to push the c-clips out. The only thing is I haven't seen anything like that.

 

If you haven't already, spray the entire internal area down with brake parts cleaner. Perhaps that will dislodge them and clean up the gear oil so it won't be so slippery.

Something's definitely weird here.

 

That is exactly what I was thinking. The C-clips do not fit tight. My guess it that the gear oil has kind of acted like a suction cup and in addition made them slipery and hard to get a grip on them. Spray them good with brake or carb cleaner and spin them around so the gear oil will wash out. Also if you are careful you can rotate the carrier so the window is in full view. Just watch that the 2 small gears do not rotate out of place. I stick my fingers in the holes to keep the gears in place just don't get pinched. They can move slightly off center of the holes just don't let them get more than 1/2 way off center. Also make sure the axel is in far enough so the C-clip will come out. Some axels go in far enough very easily. Some you have to tap with a hammer to get them to go in the last little bit.