Output Shaft Replacement
 

Ahhh Yes, you've buggered up your output shaft and now you want to know how to replace
the darn thing without removing the whole darn transmission. Well, this is your lucky day.
To date no one has posted this procedure, so this is a first. Only one guy I heard of in Canada
does this professionally. I don't currently, but am going to post how you can do it yourself.
This is not for the timid back yard mechanic and a little more of a serious nature,
but it can be done. Here we go.
You may note that photos will kind of show a removed transmission in some which was only because
I had to do a syncro install also. Though I have not done this process myself, I can see how it can be done.
First up is to jack up the front end about 18 inches and place it on stands.
Here is a photo of the areas you will be working in.

I am not going to go into great detail on this because I am assuming you are pretty mechanically
inclined to undertake this task, so I am going to omit great detail like removing which bolts and all that stuff.
First off, drain both the transmission and the transfer case.
#1. Remove the exhaust back to the main cat,
#2. Remove the drive shaft back to the same area at the lobro joint
#3 Remove the half shaft. (See below first)
Here they are.

 Note: Read the next section before proceeding

When you remove the half shaft just remove
#1 The two bolts from the bottom of your strut, marking the location of the top bolt with a chisel mark
#2 The bolt from your brake line bracket on the strut
#3 The bolt for your wiring for the ABS sensor bracket

Here is a photo of the marked upper bolt. This is your caster and Camber adjustment, so you want to
keep the setting for the eccentric washer. Bottom doesn't matter

Ok, below is the brake assembly and the A frame shown with the half shaft removed.
I will mention that the half shaft will pull out of the rotor housing when it it is tilted off to the side.
To remove the half shaft from the transmission, you have to pry your green sleeve away from it
right at the transmission. There is a wire stay on the end of the shaft that makes it snap in and out of place,
but it will come out, don't worry if it gives you a little problem.
A further note here is that Mitsubishi recommends replacing this wire stay when reinstalling the shaft, but that
is up to you. A lot of mechanics feel if it is not damaged go ahead and use it again. Personal choice I guess.
This process gives you the clearance to continue on and is not that difficult.

OK, now remove the black plastic plug carefully with a knife or very small screw driver
from the end cap of the transmission as shown in the very first photo and you will see the bolt below.

You will need a metric allen wrench for this bolt. I am not sure of the size because again I did not do it this way.
I also am not positive the Retainer bolt for lack of a better name will have to be removed but I would try to remove
the back cover before removing this bolt. I do not believe it has to be removed but again am not completely sure.
Ok, I do not have a photo of this, but when the back cover is off you will see a can at the end of the shaft that
looks like this with 4 drift pins in it at a plus sign configuration on opposite sides. There is enough clearance to tap
these into the housing once the back cover is off. Once tapped in far enough to clear the case,
the back cover will come out. That is the only thing holding in the output shaft.
Here is the can showing the drift pins. Note mine is out of the transmission, but yours will not be

You can then grab the shaft
and slide it all the way out even if you have not removed the transfer case yet. Here is a shot of the output shaft
removed from the assembly. Note there is nothing on it except the last end gear which locks in right
below the cap, so there is nothing holding it in.

Ok, you are ready to reverse the process. Drive your drift pins all the way through so when you reinstall you
can tap them in from the outside, then reassemble, reassemble reassemble.

On your transfer case if you are replacing the output shaft you are also of course going to have to replace
the female half of the output shaft located on the transfer case. Take out the bolts on the cap that says
Getrag and the whole thing will come right out. The center female spline must be pressed out of the assembly
at a machine shop or if you happen to have a press in your home shop. There are a couple different sizes,
so get with your supplier, Frank Martin at Kormex and he can tell you how to measure for the correct replacement.
Odds are he will not let you order the wrong one anyway, so it's best to mic the outside diameter.
Here is one last photo of the transfer case female half.

Have fun guys. I will bet my reputation that this will go off without a hitch and if it saves you pulling the transmission
like everyone else has been doing for quite a while, send me a new VR4, haha This process converts the output
shaft replacement process to a one man job from a two man job.

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