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When I was purchasing new axles at the auto parts store, the guy behind the counter warned me not to remove both axles from my transmission at the same time or else all the gears inside the tranny would drop and I would have to do a rebuild. Funny, since when I bought the transmission, both of the axles had been removed - at the same time - and it's worked fine for what, 5 years now? When I explained this, the guy proceeded to tell me how I didn't know the first thing about cars, and I should really take it to a mechanic instead of "attempting" the axle replacement myself...

So what's the deal with this? I've read this elsewhere as well...

I'd call the store manager and ask him to thank his employee for being a totally misinformed, arrogant and insultive pr*ck. Oh and by the way you can pull both axels no probs.

lol never heard of this but that is funny... people who have no idea what they are talking about crack me up

yes you can definately pull both axles... I mean think about it... engine swaps would be a pain with that thing hanging off trying to put it in (assuming you didnt' detach the boots)

Yes that would be like changing an engine that was on Viagra. lol

I agree with Daninski, I have worked at an auto parts store, and I can tell you first hand most people on either side of the counter don't have the first clue. There are so many stupid myths around cars, even (and especially) among mechanics, it's surprising most cars are working at all.

You can pull both your axles with complete confidence. The idea that your axles would hold the internals of the transmission together is ridiculous. First, because as Mooneggs said, it'd make swapping a transmission a pain in the rear, second, because it'd make ASSEMBLING THE CAR more difficult (and therefore more expensive), and third, because even if that was the case, the only thing the axles could hold is the differential, so if that got out of alignment all you'd have to do is open the tranny and put it back in place, not rebuild the tranny.
But again, that's not the case. I have an open tranny right besides my bed. The differential is held to the case with 2 roller bearings.

My boss at Mazda (old, decrepit and about 60 years old) tried to tell me the RS and GS had different rear bumpers, and when I politely said I'd been researching this car specifically for 2 years and had never heard such, but they GS did have the front skirt, he told me I was a wet-behind-the-ears grasshopper and he obviously knew better than me, having sold dozens of these cars....

It was just funny because he was so sure of himself, and then he got rude when I told him I'd done it before. I mean when I brought the tranny home from the j/y it didn't have any axles in it at all.

It'd be hilarious if you had to leave one axle in all the time. Imagine dropping in a new motor with an axle attached. I don't even think it would be possible, due to clearance issues. Plus, how are you supposed to take the tranny apart to service/change the gears if you have to leave an axle in all the time? And how would you put it back together?

LOL (for a good 5 minutes)!

Actually I think he was referring to the spider/side gears of the differential, which "float" and can be knocked out of place with no axles holding the whole thing together. That's not to say that it WILL happen, if you're careful it'll be fine but it has happened in the past to many people, just do a search on spider gears. Lol sorry to ruin your parade

That's interesting. I'd think that it doesn't happen that often, though, or else there'd be some pretty colorful posts about it...

Inodoro Pereyra wrote:...I have an open tranny right besides my bed. The differential is held to the case with 2 roller bearings.

Whatever helps you sleep at night I suppose...

Flyer wrote:

Inodoro Pereyra wrote:...I have an open tranny right besides my bed. The differential is held to the case with 2 roller bearings.

Whatever helps you sleep at night I suppose...

I was going to say the same thing

When I blew the syncros 1st-2nd gear about 5+ years ago.. I talked to the head mech at a local mazda dealership, and asked if it could just be a linkage adjustment that is causing the grinding when I shifted.. he told me he could not adjust the shifter, cuz it sits on top of the tranny.

I did not say a word and just drove away.

do you come across the guys behind the counter that say there is no such thing as an MX3 then i say you forgot to ad the dash symbol and they get pissed and say why didnt you just say that in the begining. OMG... that has happend over the phone and in person with junk yards and parts stores. Some systems need the dash and some don't.

tripleMX-3chicMS wrote:do you come across the guys behind the counter that say there is no such thing as an MX3 then i say you forgot to ad the dash symbol and they get pissed and say why didnt you just say that in the begining. OMG... that has happend over the phone and in person with junk yards and parts stores. Some systems need the dash and some don't.

What really pisses me off here in Canada is when you say "I've got an MX-3" and the person goes "oh that's the precidia right?"