I'm trying to replace a front driver's side axle shaft on a 1997 Audi A6 Quattro. The strut/wheel assembly holds one end of the axle in place, but there is not enough room to swing the axle out, once the axle bolt and the 6 bolts holding the axle to the transmission are out. The strut assembly is held in place by a lower control arm and upper tie rod end, and the only way I see for the axle to come out is to remove the control arm, which is attached to the frame, sway bar, and ball joint housing. Any help you can provide for the easiest solution for axle removal would be appreciated. Thanks. I have attached pics to show my setup.

 

On the 1997 A6 wagon, with the 2.8L AFC engine, you may remove the cataylitic converters to get more room for removing the right front axle. The only problem will be that the exhaust manifold studs at the converters sometimes will snap, so use penetrating oil on the nuts.
The other way is to unbolt the pinch bolt at the lower ball joint and slide the ball joint from the strut assembly. However, this does not work very well as the joint may be stuck and it may require lowering the subframe. Lowering the subframe requires a transmission jack with a frame to hold the subframe. The equalizer bar is attached to the subframe and to the lower control arms, in such a way that it makes removing the ball joint from the strut housing difficult. The bolts which hold the equalizer are only accessable with the subframe dropped. The subframe is bolted to the frame with four bolts which should be replaced with new ones from Audi.
Also, you should follow the instructions in the BentleyPublishers.com Audi shop manual CD, so that you do a professional job.
The large axle bolt must be loosened and tightened with the wheels on the ground.

 

Thanks for the reply, a6hcw. It seems like the job will be quite challenging. By the looks of it, the 'subframe' route might be the best way to tackle this.
Thanks again for the valuable information.

 

hpbnnb,

You can loosen the large axle bolt as-is/where-is. If you have an automatic, put it in Park and the parking pawl will prevent rotation. If you have a manual, put a cold chisel in one of the brake rotor slots so that it rotates up against the caliper and stops the rotation.

Otherwise, that job sounds like a real pain!

Bob

 

The Bentley CD Audi shop manual states that the large axle bolt must be loosened and tightened with the wheels on the ground, for safety reasons. There may be a problem if the large bolt were badly rusted, however yours doesn't look rusty. With the wheels on the ground, the torque goes through the wheel instead of through the axle and parking mechanism. You can always jack the car up and put some boards under the tire, so that the existing supports don't have to be moved. Anyway, it takes a lot of effort to break this bolt loose when rusty, and perhaps this force might break something or result in an accident.
Removing the catalyic converters is also necesary for checking the fluid level on the center differential.
There are usually several different ways to do the same job, but on the Audi none of them are painless.

 

If you lower the subframe, then you have to support the engine with a beam from above. The 2.8L AFC engine transmision assembly has two mounts which attach to the subframe. You need to follow the Audi shop manual instructions.