hello in the middle of doing the inner cv joint and reali cant remove the driveshaft.

bin followin the haynes manual but its fairly unhelpful. it says "turn to full lock and hit the driveshaft out with a soft ended mallet" does this mean hit it towards the engine or away from the engine. I'm guessin it means towards which is what i have been doing but i am having no luck.

Any suggestions or help would be appreciated.

Without wanting to ask a stupid question - what car do you drive?

aha probably would help its a 92 polo coupe gt

Hit the driveshaft towards the engine. Basically hammer the driveshaft through the hub (bit of wooden dowel could help). After the initial movement, you may well find it will just push/pull out.

is it just telling you to do that so you can swing the shaft away from the gearbox (as it's a very tight fit). You can just about get it away by turning the wheels to full lock and pushing the shaft up if I remember correctly. Try it with wheels turned either way, you should be able to see which way is moving the shaft away from the gearbox.

ang on so am i actually hitting the thread onto which the main driveshaft nut bolts on?

coz what i have been doing is hitting that weight bit on the driveshaft.

Unbolt the driveshaft bolts, and undo driveshaft nut. Both of which i assume you've done. Once thats done, tap the end of the driveshaft which goes through the suspension strut, right on the end (maybe with some wood or similar to prevent you damaging the metal) and tap it out of the splined hole. OPnce its freed it should be dead easy to pull out. Make sure you apply copper grease before refitting!

by drive shaft bolts do you mean the bolts holding the cv to the final drive?

(might be a stupid question but just checkin)

Yes!

Undo both ends of it, then tap it out from the wheel side.

wow this really isnt apenin dnno what I'm doin rong. all bolts undone, driveshaft nut off. just gonna eat and go at it with a full stomach and a clear head. and smack the f**k out of it

Erm look all along the shaft, make sure that there is nothing left which holds it to the car ie all possible nuts and bolts etc are removed. It should then droop down far enough to give you room to remove it. One other possibility, if all else fails, is to undo the botto of the suspension strut and pop it out, leave the strut attached at the top, and to the tie rod. You should be able to move the strut enough (with the bottom bit disconnected) to completely remove the driveshaft from the car.

sweet sounds like a plan. ima go try