cant get intermediate shaft back into trans...2007 speed3

Hey Gents,

I just took my intermediate shaft out to R&R the bearing while I was doing a front spring swap. My original bearing has almost 160k miles on it and Ive been getting some weird driveline noises last few thousand miles. The original unit was definitely sloppy. I'll post how to and pics this week.

Problem: I'm having a hell of hard time getting the shaft back into the transaxle. It slipped out so smoothly but now I cannot get it in. Ive tapped on it with a plastic hammer gently but I cannot get it in the right position. There isn't a c-clip on this side of the axle so I don't know why its fighting me. I rotate and keep trying, but it will not go in.

I checked the splines and smoothed the very ends to make sure they were the issue but still...

Have you guys had to smack it in with a hammer to get in slide in?

thx

 

Maybe a silly question, but are you sure it’s going in straight? Perhaps it’s at an up/down angle?

 

One of the splines got a little deformed. I used a metal file and she slid right in.

Thanks brother.

I posted DIY instructions on intermediate shaft bearing replacement in the How To section.