CV joint keeps popping out? MK2 Ford Fiesta.

[Joemile]

Long story short, I started stripping my 1984 ford fiesta down ready for a clutch change but found out the clutch was fine and the fork arm had just split/bent half way through.

I got as far as stripping both axles and had a nightmare of both inner CV joints popping their cage/bearings while trying to remove them.

Everything has now been rebuilt and fitted back together with no issues but I now whenever the car is fully lowered back down, the drivers side inner CV joint pops out of the gearbox about 1CM allowing the oil to leak past the seal, although the car is still drivable.

I have replaced the snap ring circlip and oil seal but the drivers side inner CV joint still pops back out of the gearbox slightly as soon as any pressure is applied onto the driveshaft assembly.

Any ideas what could be causing this? I'm running out of options..

Edited by Joemile on Wednesday 7th October 12:21

[paintman]

I presume you're talking about the gearbox end of the driveshaft popping out of the gearbox , not the CV joint coming apart?

Not familiar with the specific vehicle but should these have a circular spring clip - looks like a round section semi-circle piece of metal - in a groove on the very inboard end of the driveshaft that engages in the box when it's pushed fully home?
If so & this is missing then it will keep popping out.

[GreenV8S]

Do you feel a detent holding the inner CV into the 'box? If not, the spring clip is probably broken/missing.

If you do feel a detent but it is not enough to hold the joint in, check whether you have any end float in the drive shaft. If you feel the float reducing as you lower the car and it comes up solid just before the joint pops out, that suggests you've got something assembled wrong - maybe handed shafts on the wrong side, or something like that.

[Joemile]

Yes the spring clip engages properly as the CV joint has to be hammered back out if you want to remove it manually.

I will check the bearings assembly to see if it has the correct amount of float!

[E-bmw]

Joemile said:

Yes the spring clip engages properly as the CV joint has to be hammered back out if you want to remove it manually.

In that case, I would be looking at why is it that the shaft is being pulled out.

Is the engine/box mounted correctly?

Has something else changed that means the shaft suddenly needs more travel than before?

[rustednut]

Has the spring clip been damaged on re installing and has bent/twisted? Can you try a new clip?

Can force the shaft in and feels like its locating but isn't sitting in correct place and therefore not doing its job. Especially if it needs to be hammered out, these should only need a light shock with a lever once they have been disturbed after years of being in place.

[Joemile]

E-bmw said:

Joemile said:

Yes the spring clip engages properly as the CV joint has to be hammered back out if you want to remove it manually.

In that case, I would be looking at why is it that the shaft is being pulled out.

Is the engine/box mounted correctly?

Has something else changed that means the shaft suddenly needs more travel than before?

This is what's throwing me off, nothing else has been touched other than both axles being removed!

All I can think is when I accidently pulled the bearings/cages out of the inner CV joints they might have been damaged and aren't allowing enough float when the car is lowered? Therefor the driveshaft might be yanking the CV joint out because it doesn't have enough up/down free play..

[Joemile]

rustednut said:

Especially if it needs to be hammered out, these should only need a light shock with a lever once they have been disturbed after years of being in place.

When I say hammered out I mean a hammer and lever on the back half with a firm tap!

[Piersman2]

You have refitted the driveshafts back in the correct sides, haven't you?

[Novexx]

Advised FoMoCo practice is to replace the inner joint snap ring after joint removal.

That being said, the joint shouldn't be consistently popping out even with an iffy snap ring.

[Joemile]

Just an update:

It turns out both of my CV joints were slightly seized and the lack of movement wasn't allowing the inner part to fully protrude from the CV joint housing therefor pulling the actual Joint from the gearbox instead.

Replaced both sides and all is well!