Hi all. I was changing the wishbone and whilst fighting to remove the ball joint I inadvertently pulled the inner driveshaft from the flange. The flange is still in the gearbox. I see there is not a drop of cv grease in it which is a concern but would this mean a total replacement or can it be rebuilt, If rebuilt can this be done with the flange in situ. I’ll try post photos for ref.

Slap a bit of CV grease in there, push it back in, reclip the boot using a large (or two small) cable ties. The inners work about 5% as hard as the outers so no real problems. Past: FL2 TD4 HSE Auto
Evoque SD4 Dynamic Lux Auto
Present: Audi A3 S Line.

If you wish to replace the complete shaft. I carefully tapped mine out with a chisel.

Also I mentioned elsewhere it should be easier to push and pull it out if the open part of the holding clip is at 12 o'clock. Of course you can't see the clip so try to get this position by trial and error, turn the shaft around a bit at each trial. You may need to jack all four wheels off the ground first.

Thanks for the replies.
Excuse the ignorance but how far do the bearings sit inside the flange, I cannot get them past the lip. I have taken the bearings off the tripod section and tried a dry fit and cannot see how the fit into the flat section of the flange. I can see the markings where they ran before so I assume the flat section is the right but. Cheers Al

Did you file off the lip

I finally got it thanks. Just had to use a bit more force. Cheers.
What a fight it was trying to get the wishbone aligned, bolts through and still have the manoeuvrability to get the hub into position for the ball joint to fit. Got there tho. Driver side tomorrow and other rear shock, wish me luck.

Good luck  Jules

Apologies for the stupid question, how far into the hub does the drive shaft sit? Should it be proud to the edge of the splines or sit a little back. It’s been a while since I worked on it and I cant recall.