Ok, I am stuck. I am trying to replace the left front axle on my wife's 2002 s40 but I can't get the old axle out of the transmission. I have tried prying it out but it will not budge. The few threads I have found on this topic said that the axle should just pop out. No such luck here. I can see that the new one has a retaining clip on the end which goes into the transmission. Is this what is keeping the old one from coming out? If so, how in the world are you supposed to get this thing out?

What am I missing?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

"Just pops out" is a relative term. It means you have to wedge something behind the tripot and give it enough force to dislodge the retaining clip. If you are Superman then it just pops out. Normal people have to give it a bit of a kick. You have the new one. You see what holds it in. There are no secrets.