CV joint broke on our 2003 Grand Caravan. This is an after-market one from AZ that we replaced about a year and a half ago.

In trying to remove it at night and in the rain, I managed to pull off the boot where it connects to the part that goes into the trans axle. So all that's left is the metal part that protrudes form the trans-axle by a few inches.

Are there any tricks or special tools that we can use to make the removal less painless? There are not many good places to pry on the thing.

The first time we fought with it for a long time, my wife pulling while I pried it. It eventually came. Not so much this time.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I need to get this back on the road tonight so my wife can do the kid-shuffle thing.

 

I have a pry bar that is about 2 1/2 feet long. I place the end in the groove toward the rear of the shaft and smack it with a hammer. There is a spring ring on the axle shaft you have to get out of it's groove. Then your golden.

 

OK. So we're clearly not getting this out. We pried, banged, pulled, even had a large friend of ours come over with a slide hammer, and no go.

Now we're exploring new solution, some reasonable, some questionable.

It seems like the knuckle on the trans-axle side just floats in the housing. It's completely smooth inside to hold it in place, and it's just filled with grease. And the boot is secured on to keep the grease in there. Can we take the clip off of the new boot, slide the knuckle out of the housing, slide it in to the housing that won't come out, and re-secure the boot?

I know, just doesn't sound right. But we need to get the van back on the road and just can't fork out much more green right now.

 

Which side is it? the passenger side? maybe you can try unbolt the extension housing and pry on th housing.
and with all the prying and banging, I am pretty sure you've alrdy mess up the seal, might have to change it.

Altho I've never tried, but if you remove the opposite side axle, I believe you may get a punch straight thru from the other side to knock it out, since the caravan has a over differential.

 

I go the Van back on the road. I removed the joint from the housing of the new shaft and slid it into the housing of the existing stuck shaft. Only problem I had was that the new boot was larger than the old one, so I had to find creative ways of ensuring a good seal. I have to improve it but it's fine right now.

Overall it was a major pain, but it's back on the road for the moment.

Thanks for all of your help.

 

New problem. Wife said the van has run great all day, but said that when she just got hoe the van will not go in to park. She said it drives fine but can't get past reverse. I haven't seen it yet, but from what she describes it sounds like the linkage slipped. Or the cable to the gear selector so to speak. though I'm not sure of the relationship to that and changing the half-shaft.

Somebody, please point me in the right direction to look when I get home.

Thanks

 

Cable and manual valve lever are on top of the trans. Cable is clamped and that is it's adjustment. Put the shift lever and the manual valve lever into park, connect the cable and tighten the clamp. Probably just coincidance, but we shall see.

 

Not a coincidence. We kept hitting that with the pry bar. Since we were doing it in our driveway, we'd get a better bite on the axle than from the bottom.

I still haven't seen it but my wife said that she can put that part back in position but when she moves the shift lever it pops back out of position.

Do I have any good options?

 

Well, pop the shift linkage on top of the trans off, and see if you can slide the cable in and out freely.
Now grab a plier or pry bar and try to put the trans shift lever thru all position, see if it goes smoothly. If both runs smooth, you probably just need to adjust your cable.
if one of them binds, then you know the problem.

Sometimes the shift lever in the trans gets bind up, and you will need to drop the trans pan and valve body to replace it.