Clutch pilot bearing removal

[seattlejester]

This one is actually a bearing instead of a usual bushing so it would just rotate unfortunately.

[seattlejester]

I'll have to try newspaper some other time, but no dice on the tools.

 

The blind bearing puller fit easily, but seems like it maxed out just a little after grabbing the bearing so after a few pulls it would fly out, either the threads run out too fast or something I'll have to look at it again later.

 

The conventional tool had no chance of fitting at all. It is advertised for 1/2 an inch but it was like 16mm or something across. I managed to shave it down and shape it to fit the 12mm hole, but at that point the legs were thin enough that pulling hard on the hammer, the legs would bow in and pop off.

 

I didn't try the newspaper, because after about 2 hours I was kind of over it. I put in the traditional tool I had ground down to fit and welded the bearing to the legs and pulled hard until it flew out.

 

Super annoying, suggestion would be to try the newspaper or a better quality or slightly larger blind bearing puller. The two claw ones have no chance of working the way they are designed.

[Geno750]

That sucks man. Nothing more frustrating than a dumb little thing holding up progress. 

[NewZed]

A slide hammer, a long bolt, and some SteelStik would probably do it.  The insides are all greased up so you wouldn't have to worry about gluing anything to the crankshaft.  

[eec564]

I've never had any luck removing roller pilot bearings with grease.

 

The last one I removed, I ended up making a puller to do it, worked great as the bearing was rusted in and took a ton of force to remove.

The idea is to cut a nut so it catches on the back of the inner race, and you can use a bolt bottomed out on the crankshaft to pull the nut out along with the bearing.

From the misc. parts bin, I found a nut that was ever so slightly too large to fit in the center hole, then ground off the points to make it round and so it fits inside the bearing and can get behind the inner race.

I then notched the nut on the grinder so 1/4 of it was cut off, one half of the top later.  I squared off the cut and slightly rounded the cut with a hand file.  The idea is that the cut on the nut catches on the bearing and keeps the nut from rotating when you turn the bolt.

Thread the nut on to a nice long bolt, insert the entire assembly so the nut ledge catches on the inner race, jam an allen wrench or similar next to the nut and jam it in place so it doesn't simply slip back out through the hole, and use a large pair of pliers to keep the entire thing from spinning, then crank away on the bolt!

The grinding may mess the threads up, I used a tap to clean things up, but you may be able to thread the bolt in from the un-cut side to clean things up, then turn the nut around.

 

-Eric

 

[bunkhouse]

On 7/1/2018 at 12:49 AM, seattlejester said:

I'll have to try newspaper some other time, but no dice on the tools.

 

The blind bearing puller fit easily, but seems like it maxed out just a little after grabbing the bearing so after a few pulls it would fly out, either the threads run out too fast or something I'll have to look at it again later.

 

The conventional tool had no chance of fitting at all. It is advertised for 1/2 an inch but it was like 16mm or something across. I managed to shave it down and shape it to fit the 12mm hole, but at that point the legs were thin enough that pulling hard on the hammer, the legs would bow in and pop off.

 

I didn't try the newspaper, because after about 2 hours I was kind of over it. I put in the traditional tool I had ground down to fit and welded the bearing to the legs and pulled hard until it flew out.

 

Super annoying, suggestion would be to try the newspaper or a better quality or slightly larger blind bearing puller. The two claw ones have no chance of working the way they are designed.

 I had the same problem with an 81 RX7 pilot bearing. HF bearing puller just slipped off. An old friend suggested using bread. Find a bolt that is slightly smaller than the hole. Stuff the hole with bread, give the bolt a few hits and add more bread. Repeat until the bearing comes out. It worked great. Easy clean up too.

[seattlejester]

Appreciate the comments!

 

Steel stick or JB weld may have worked to secure a bolt, someone even suggested making a new seal by sealing up the balls again. I will say even after welding this required quite a bit of force to remove, not sure if JB weld in that orientation is as strong.

 

I thought of using a press type thing, but this hole is so small, less then 12mm so the hardware I could fit was quite small, the rear of the bearing is also tapered as are nuts usually so small hardware with double taper may have had some issues, definitely another option for the arsenal.

 

Just to reiterate this isn't a typical bushing, this one actually is a ball bearing with balls a roller bearing. The problem was the seals that retain the grease for the balls blew out as I was stuffing in bread, news paper as Geno suggested may have worked as it would be less likely to slip past the balls, but the hydraulic method was kind of off the table.

 

Bottom line, getting something in there and welding it was my solution. Probably not even an option for most bushings since they are bronze, but being a roller bearing this is one of the benefits.

 

 

 

[Miles]

There has seemed to be some confusion over different pilot bearing types.  There are basically two styles as indicated in the attached pictures. One is a bushing and the other is a bearing.  Both styles can be a PITA to remove.