DSM AWD tranny assembly, output shaft giving me trouble

[doctorstupid]

ok, i bought a 92 talon tsi awd with a busted 3-4 shift fork, otherwise running fine and mildly modded. got a new fork this afternoon, threw it in, everything works and shifts perfectly. also the tranny was internally in very good condition, and obviously i cleaned out what used to be a shift fork.

so i'm closing things back up, and come to installing the output shaft to the transfer case. it's held in with a steel ball, kinda like a big BB. i can't get the input shaft in palce with the ball there, it won't fit. i tried tapping it with a hammer and holding the ball in place but the ball just pops out almost no matter what.

see the pic below to see what i'm fighting here, i've already spent 2 hours on it and made no progress. without that ball in place, the shaft will be able to walk around wearing the seal and leaking like a motherfucker.

forgot to mention, the rear cover has a little tab that looks like it goes in the VCU when bolted on to the depth where it can hold that ball in place, but i'm not sure (since i can't see in there with the cover on ;) ). i tried installing the rear cover and then tapping the shaft in, but it still knocks the ball out. when i took the vcu out for disassembly, the ball just kinda fell out and taking the vcu out was very easy; it just pulled right out even though the ball was installed.

anyone have any tips/experience with these trannies? and please excuse my 2 minute MSPaint rendition of the issue :)

http://www.antisheep.org/hosted/dsmtranny.jpg

i would love to get this taken care of tonight if at all possible, i need to get this car running so i can have transportation while my VR-4 is sans engine.

[thimages]

Step 1: Insert output shaft so that groove in shaft lines up with the hole

Step 2: Coat the ball in some grease, place it in the hole and tap it with a hammer until it drops into the groove.

Step 3: Install the V/C which actually then locks the ball into the hole, thus locking the output shaft into place.

Hal

[doctorstupid]

ok, i think i have it figured out, the VCU is actually outside the splines with the hole. gonna go try it again in a bit, thanks :)

[thimages]

ok, i think i have it figured out, the VCU is actually outside the splines with the hole. gonna go try it again in a bit, thanks :)

Yes, the VCU slides over the hole, thus keeping the ball locked in place.

Hal

[doctorstupid]

ok, that makes so much more sense. guess i should ahve looked at it in a bit more depth before hand ;)

thanks :)

[doctorstupid]

got it all put back together, after taking the VCU off and doing it that way i don't know what i was thinking before :rofl: damn it was easy.

thanks again for the help :)