Removing drive axles Mazda 6
 

I'm trying to remove the drive axles from my daughters 2009 Mazda 6 to remove the motor. I've got the axles free from the hubs but am having trouble removing them from the gearbox. I understand there is an internal circlip on the shafts and have seen that some people have used pry bars to pry the shafts out. What happens to the circlip?

99% of the time the circlips comes out unharmed.

Any tips for actually getting the axles out? There are a few videos on Youtube but they tend to show once they're out, not the process. I've been trying for 2 days now no luck.

Big pry bar