[Campbell]

Hi, My daughter's boyfriend has a 1991 Sentra 1.6L automatic and they say the drivers side half shaft clicks loudly when ever they turn the car. He wants to change out the half shaft and I told him I would help, I have changed many 80's to mid 90's VW and Honda half shafts - is there anything different about these? any advice on steps to follow and/or things to watch out for would be appreciated. I don't have a manual and he doesn't either - I am going to try to get him to buy one for the car!!
thanks

 

[Centurion]

You need a 32 mm socket for the hub nut. Other than that if you've done Hondas, etc. it should be a walk in the park. Just be careful when you center the shaft into the trans so as not to damage it--basic stuff.

 

[Raul]

The driver's side is just a little different from the pass. side. The pass. side shaft has little indents so you can pry on it with a large screwdriver, or similar. The left shaft does not have a place to pry on. When I removed mine, I had to place a large hose clamp (or join a couple of smaller ones) around the base of the shaft and tighten it. Then you have something to pry on. Other than that, a piece of cake. As others have advised, be sure you lube the shaft with trans oil and support the shaft so you don't mess up the seal when inserting. Or for extra care, replace the seal, they pry right out.

 

[toolapcfan]

I did mine in my 5 speed XE just this past spring. I've heard of several tedious ways of getting the shaft out of the spindle but the easiest way I found was to remove the sway bar from the lower control arm and pop the lower ball joints loose and you have plenty of room to swing the spindle far enough out to get the shaft out and you don't have to remove any of the brakes or steering. Then I used a pry bar to wedge between the tranny and the shaft and popped them out. Only thing I ran into that I'd consider a problem was when I was reassembling things, the ball joint kept spinning and didn't allow the nut to tighten. So I put my jack under the joint and lifted the car with it just until I knew the weight was off the jack stand. This kept the joint tight until I got the nut on. Overall it was a piece of cake. Make sure you've got a big enough wrench for the ball joint nut, like 21mm or something, I had to go out and buy that size because my POS "adjustable" wrench only lasted long enough to get one of them off.

 

[Raul]

My trans is a 3-speed automatic, by the way. My comments may not apply to others.

 

[NismoSER]

Don't bother with the balljoints/sway bar. Leave those on. All you really need to remove are the 17mm nut and bolts that attach the hub to the strut. Pry the axle from the tranny, pop the new one in and you are done.

I can do this on my SE-R in less than 15 minutes.

 

[toolapcfan]

Don't bother with the balljoints/sway bar. Leave those on. All you really need to remove are the 17mm nut and bolts that attach the hub to the strut. Pry the axle from the tranny, pop the new one in and you are done.

I can do this on my SE-R in less than 15 minutes.

I always thought that'd be more time consuming. (Not sure why I think that, other than I'm stubborn). I'm going to try your method when I put my clutch in.

 

[Centurion]

My trans is a 3-speed automatic, by the way. My comments may not apply to others.

Mine's a four speed auto. I never heard of a 3 speed auto on the B13. Did the four auto come latter?

 

[Campbell]

I got to see the car tonight and took a quick drive, it sounds like the passenger side cv is what is making the noise, I assume it isn't any different to get off than the drivers side? The drivers side outer boot is torn and it doesn't look like there is any grease in the cv however it isn't making any noise. Is it hard to get the cv off to put a new boot on? is it as simple as removing a circ clip and tapping the joint off? Do I need to drain the transaxle when pulling the halfshafts? thanks. Tomorrow will be a big day.

 

[Raul]

Centurion, I presume both were available. My FSM has separate sections for the 3 and the 4 speed autos. I gather that the 4 was much more popular, given the effort I had to go thru to find a replacement trans a few years ago. Some wrecking yards did not have a 3; those that did wanted an arm and a leg for it. Found a reasonably priced one in Richmond.

 

[Centurion]

Well my FSM only shows the 4 auto (yes I know our years differ). This is interesting. I guess the auto 4 didn't make its debut until after the '91s or something.

 

[Campbell]

Thanks guys, the pass side half shaft is in and went just as you all said. I unbolted the strut housing instead of the ball joint (in addition to the steering arm) and that worked very easily.

I did get a little fluid out when I pulled the shaft and by the way it was a pretty good pry to get the axle to pop loose as well as getting it back in!!

thanks again.