How the hell does the damn pressed Pilot bearing become removed from the e-shaft? I've tried everything short of cutting it out with a die grinder, which I'm not going to do... I checked at the local autoparts store (Lordco) and they only have these messed up ones with 8 ball bearings in them, and mine has needle bearings. I have a spare pilot bearing in a spare e-shaft that's brand new, but I want to get it out without breaking it so I can use it in my good engine... Is there a special puller, or is there some other method I should try? I was thinking of putting the spare into the band saw at school and hacking off the end so I can pound out the bearing from the back, but I don't want to wreck my spare parts, just in case I need them. HELP!

Jeff

 

Take a small screwdriver, and bend the outside of the race inward and remove the SOB with a pair of needle nose pliers. And then stomp on it and grind it in the ground with your steel toe

Anytime I replace them I just destroy it

Becareful not to mar up the inside of the E shaft tho

 

I know you dont have much cash, but damn. A new pilot bearing is like 10 bucks.

 

The other problem being that my Local dealer doesn't have any.. I guess they'll have to order me one or something. I'm not that cheap, I was just thinking of time here, as the car has to be back together by this weekend, or else I'll have to take her home in pieces Oh well, I'll se if they can get a new one in for me.

Jeff

 

if all else fails

http://www.revolutionrotary.com

 

Mazdatrix sells the special tool.

 

The Mazdatrix tool is nice but pricey for me. You can purchase a pilot bearing puller from JC Whitney for about $17.00 and it works great. Also, some local auto part stores such as Schuck's Auto Supply rent the puller for a couple of bucks.

 

just did mine along with a new clutch last weekend. The AutoZone near me rents out a slide hammer with a pilot bearing removal tool. Just leave a fully refunded $80 deposit. The puller was too big to fit, so we used a bench grinder to take it down a little. The Beck Arnley clutch i bought came with a new bearing. gently tapped it in with a hammer.

 

I tried an Al's (now Schuck's) slap hammer style pilot bearing puller and it just removed the needle bearings only. It couldn't grip the race so I just dremeled it out.

 

Yah, pilot bearings are those "destroy to remove" parts, like front brake rotors on a Ford pickup, axle bearing retainers, or those little anti-tamper sleeves they put on bottles of mouthwash.

Why do you need to change it? If the old one isn't coming apart, there's no reason to change it (just dump some more grase in there), and you actually might CAUSE problems because it's not that easy to put them in just right.

Or... why not just use the other E-shaft?

 

Got a new one at the mazda dealers today (only place in town that has one) and it was $30... ouch... oh well.. now I just have to pull the broken one out with some needle nose pliers, and put in the new one.

peejay - The other one fell apart when I pulled the motor. I would use the other e-shaft, but it's so marred and scratched on the bearing surfaces that it'd cause unnecessary damage to the rotor bearings...

Thanks for the advice though, sometimes my "save money" schemes end up costing me twice as much as it should have...

Jeff

 

Another suggestion. You may want to replace the seal that sits in front of the pilot shaft bearing. The seal helps to keep grease from escaping out and onto your clutch. It also helps to keep out water so the bearing doesn't rust and prematurely fail.

 

I went and bought a valve guide puller from a parts store, and it works great. But before I had one, I used to use this trick with some sucess: (but not always)

1. Find a dowel, or an old tranny input shaft that fits SNUG inside the pilot bearing.

2. Fill the hole in the e-shaft w/ grease
3. Stuff the dowel in there and pound it w/ a hammer.
4. Make sure your not standing behind the dowel when you perform step 3


The pressurized grease will "sometimes" force the bearing out w/ absolutly no damage.

If not, go buy the tool, or hoar that bitch out w/ a grinder.