I've been trying to work on my daughters 2004 Ford KA and fix a host of MOT fail problems. In doing so Ive damaged the boot on the drivers side outer cv joint. Oh hum I thought better replace it so I removed the old one and cleaned up the joint only to discover that there is no circlip - as described in Haynes manual. Ive tried inserting some circlip pliers but the joint is too small; I tried a safety pin and it only just fits. Is there a varient where there is no circlip - I don't know what to do :-( and she's coming home from holiday tomorrow. I really don't want to give in and go to ford as I might as well have paid their extortionate prices in the first place and saved myself the pain of 2 weeks lying on the garage floor! Ive attached a picture of the joint in case anyone can help

you wont see it, its an internal spring clip.

you need to remove the drive shaft, complete with outer cv, from the hub, you then need to knock the outer cv joint from the shaft...

they can be a bit stubborn sometimes, but make sure the cv joint is straight and just give it a sharp blow and it should release the clip allowing it to slide off the shaft..

its possible to damage the cv joint with a direct blow from a steel hammer, so either use a rubber mallet or a piece of wood as a drift.

To remove the drive shaft, complete with outer cv, from the hub do I just undo the hub nut?

Will I need a new hub nut?

Many thanks for your help - It seems like the Haynes manual was written for a different car sometimes!

to remove the shaft, remove hub nut, undo and release lower ball joint, this will give enough movement to pull the hub away whilst knocking the driveshaft out...then just a case of holding the shaft whilst knocking off the cv joint.

you should renew the hub nut, but will be fine to refit the old one till you get a replacement

should add its not necessary to remove inner joint from gearbox, outer boot and joint can be changed with inner joint in sittu