Pilot Bearing removal - Big issue
 

So needing to remove the pilot bearing from the 8. Long story short i end up getting rending the removal tool from O'Rileys, and using it to remove the bearing. When removing it, it tore the bearing apart. Everything but the outside ring has been removed. Upon trying to remove the outside ring, i can not get the removal tool to work. It keeps jsut sliding out of the bearing. I tigtened it so tite trying to get the tool to spread so much that i snapped the tool. Does anyone have any suggestions on removing whats left of the bearing. Would purchasing the actual tool from Mazdatrix help at all? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks

yes, get the right tool for the job.

I went through this repeatedly with my Vette. The tools you can rent/buy are always useless. I usually end up grinding my own ends for the tool that are shaped properly to get ahold of the bearing. But sometimes its too late for that.

I have ended up having to cut them out with with a carbide bit on a dremel tool.....NOT for the faint of heart.

Good luck!

/\ what he said

Did you try to use a jaw puller?
Sure hope not... I heard horror stories with jaw pullers on our pilot bearing.

The puller Mazdatrix sells is just a blind-hole bearing puller.
I bought mine at Harbor Freight for $40... much cheaper.

Hope there isn't any damage to the inner bore.

Yup, one of the jaw style pullers.. I dont think there is any damage to the inner bore of the E shaft. The Outter bearing jacket had not moved at all yet so its hard for me to believe that the E shaft would be damaged underneith it. Will the puller from harbor freight still work even though its only the outter most ring of the bearing? I will most likely go by harbor freight tomorrow and take a look and see if i can find it.

You should be able to open the collet enough to get the outer ring.
Here are a couple pics of my blind-hole puller with a pilot bearing I have laying around:
Attachment 159872 Attachment 159873

You might be able to rent a tool like this from an auto store instead of the jaw puller.

Yeah, that does look like it will reach the outter ring. I have no problem buying it from harbor freight if it works lol. Just wish i would have known about this instead of the jaw puller first. Live and learn i guess. Hopefully this will in stock at the store and i can get this removed tonight. Its definately kickin my ass. I can not believe the amount of force this thing is in there with. Crazy

Well bought the tool from harbor freight... but no luck. i tightened it inside behind the bearing an used the slide hammer. No Matter how hard i slid the hammer i could not get that bearing to move. I dont thing its coming out with a slide hammer. This is starting to get rediculious

That sucks dude.

you need to get brutal and take a die grinder to it ....

cant really find anythign small enough to fit inside fo the bearing. What bit would i use for the dremel tool to cut the steel?

take a trip down to your local and see what they have .....

its goin to be a bitch to know how deep to go with it not to cut past the bearing. . . i will see what i can do though

I used a dremel with a flexible extension. I had a carbide porting burr with a long shaft to reach in there(about the size of a Q-tip). Just make sure you err on the side of caution. I cut a line right down the length of them slowly going deeper and deeper with the cut. Cut it just enough that you can bend it up with a light hit from a hammer and a punch.

Then once you finally get it out be absolutely sure you get ALL the shavings out of there or you'll just tear up another bearing and probably the input shaft as well(ask me how I know).

Cutting it out with a carbide bit is sometimes easier to deal with than a cheap puller. Just go in and start cutting. The bearing sleeve/race is not that thick. So just pay attention to what your doing.
A small nick or to in the e-shaft is not going to hurt anything. As long as you don't have any burrs to impede the install of the new bearing and seal. Be sure to grease the new bearing and seal.

Sometimes a few judicial smacks with a cold chisel will cut it and then you can peel it out :)

Commonly referred to as a "Cape Chisel" Just make sure it is SHARP.

http://www.bettymills.com/store/imag...70-449.eps.jpg

And you are careful of the angle of da smack ;)

That's the nice thing about that chisel design. It's convex on the bottom. Made to be used on round surfaces. It will go right underneath the bearing and lift it up.

Just out of curiosity, is our E-shaft solid behind the pilot bearing? I'd assume it is given the shape. On LS1s they arent, its just a freeze plug behind the pilot bearing and we had to be careful not to knock it into the engine.

If it is solid, has anyone attempted the old school bread trick? o.0

Well i finally got it out. I got a couple diamond dremel bits and jsut started cutting. Basically how was described here (Before i read these lol). I jsut started making a grove across the bottom and went deeper and deeper. Finally i was able to snap the bearing at the groove with a little force and whala... slid right out. Thanks for all of the help guys. It get so frusterating when the little things slow you up on a motor install.

LOL congrats! I know how that feels to see that thing pop out after countless hours fighting with it :D:

i had to do the same thing with 2 of mine.
OD

The kicker was that it did not even really need to be changed. I installed a new clutch so i figured why not. Then all this happened. Still a PITA though. Alls well that ends well i suppose.