Replacing Clutch: Need to remove pilot bearing
06-03-04, 04:01 PM
#26
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LongDuck, you have no concept of just how happy that post has made me. If you've had a pilot bearing that wouldn't just come out with a couple swift whacks on a slide hammer, that says to me that I'm not completely inept. 
I'm armed with a few new Dremel bits and a better chisel now, and I'm on my way out to the garage for my last, make-or-break attempt to get this car running for my vacation. I'm hoping that the finer-tipped chisel will allow me to pull the outer race away from the e-shaft so that I have something I can grab with pliers.
One thing this has taught me though: I will never never never never never never never never never ever again sit at a traffic light with my foot on the clutch. That was never a huge habit of mine, but I won't even do it occasionally any more. Getting that bugger out sucks.
I'm armed with a few new Dremel bits and a better chisel now, and I'm on my way out to the garage for my last, make-or-break attempt to get this car running for my vacation. I'm hoping that the finer-tipped chisel will allow me to pull the outer race away from the e-shaft so that I have something I can grab with pliers.
One thing this has taught me though: I will never never never never never never never never never ever again sit at a traffic light with my foot on the clutch. That was never a huge habit of mine, but I won't even do it occasionally any more. Getting that bugger out sucks.
06-03-04, 04:04 PM
#27
Rotary Enthusiast
Originally posted by LongDuck
use 2 jacks, or a dedicated tranny jack to slide it into position
use 2 jacks, or a dedicated tranny jack to slide it into position
06-03-04, 04:13 PM
#28
84SE-EGI helpy-helperton
Sorry for the repost - stepped away and the forum stopped responding.
In reply to CosmicBang - using the 'bearhug' technique of tranny installation was attempted and almost got me pinned under the car. If it weren't for my dad stopping by at an opportune moment and getting a jack under the tailshaft, I may still be there to this day...
...wishing I had food, and water.
Using the two jacks, one under the bell housing, and the other under the drain plug, was the only way that I could get the tranny angled correctly to slide into position.
The problem was the interference fit between the rear shifter location and the transmission tunnel - the shifter housing wouldn't let the transmission slide back far enough to get it aligned with the clutch pressure plate and disk splines.
Once it was lined up, it 'clunked' right into place and I was done 2 hours later. (had to hook up the O2 sensor, tranny wiring, reinstall starter, etc.).
Glad to have helped, or at least given hope!
In reply to CosmicBang - using the 'bearhug' technique of tranny installation was attempted and almost got me pinned under the car. If it weren't for my dad stopping by at an opportune moment and getting a jack under the tailshaft, I may still be there to this day...
...wishing I had food, and water.
Using the two jacks, one under the bell housing, and the other under the drain plug, was the only way that I could get the tranny angled correctly to slide into position.
The problem was the interference fit between the rear shifter location and the transmission tunnel - the shifter housing wouldn't let the transmission slide back far enough to get it aligned with the clutch pressure plate and disk splines.
Once it was lined up, it 'clunked' right into place and I was done 2 hours later. (had to hook up the O2 sensor, tranny wiring, reinstall starter, etc.).
Glad to have helped, or at least given hope!
Last edited by LongDuck; 06-03-04 at 04:20 PM.
06-03-04, 08:14 PM
#29
Originally posted by wae
One thing this has taught me though: I will never never never never never never never never never ever again sit at a traffic light with my foot on the clutch. That was never a huge habit of mine, but I won't even do it occasionally any more. Getting that bugger out sucks.
One thing this has taught me though: I will never never never never never never never never never ever again sit at a traffic light with my foot on the clutch. That was never a huge habit of mine, but I won't even do it occasionally any more. Getting that bugger out sucks.
06-03-04, 11:55 PM
#30
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Originally posted by LongDuck
Using the two jacks, one under the bell housing, and the other under the drain plug, was the only way that I could get the tranny angled correctly to slide into position.
The problem was the interference fit between the rear shifter location and the transmission tunnel - the shifter housing wouldn't let the transmission slide back far enough to get it aligned with the clutch pressure plate and disk splines.
Once it was lined up, it 'clunked' right into place and I was done 2 hours later. (had to hook up the O2 sensor, tranny wiring, reinstall starter, etc.).
Glad to have helped, or at least given hope! BTW
Using the two jacks, one under the bell housing, and the other under the drain plug, was the only way that I could get the tranny angled correctly to slide into position.
The problem was the interference fit between the rear shifter location and the transmission tunnel - the shifter housing wouldn't let the transmission slide back far enough to get it aligned with the clutch pressure plate and disk splines.
Once it was lined up, it 'clunked' right into place and I was done 2 hours later. (had to hook up the O2 sensor, tranny wiring, reinstall starter, etc.).
Glad to have helped, or at least given hope! BTW
BTW Should I expect any changes in power after the new clutch? My car wasn't very quick before but it certainly felt quick.
06-04-04, 12:11 AM
#31
84SE-EGI helpy-helperton
Here's how you start the tranny reinstall;
1) grab some useless metal parts - throw these down your driveway as hard as you can so that they make as much noise bouncing as possible. Do this late at night when your neighbors are sleeping.
2) hurl obscenities and invectives at the car, your jack, your dog, the transmission (obviously), and anything else that gets in your way while you're out in the garage.
No, seriously - this worked for me...
3) Get your jack out of the back of the RX-7 (the scissor type) along with your hydraulic jack that you keep around in the corner of the garage for jobs just like this, and put the scissor jack at the front, wide-end (bell-housing end) of the tranny. The scissor jack head may need to be 'padded' with some old 2x4's you have laying around to get enough height.
Put the hydraulic jack head under the tranny oil drain plug (plug is IN), and then slowly lift both jacks until the tranny is in about the right position - angle and height are critical. If you're close - that won't do; it has to be dead-center on the disk splines for the input shaft on the tranny to slide into position and allow you to bolt it all back together. This is where you cuss out the clutch alignment tool that you should have purchased for $4 before you started this job...
Anyway; from here, it's just a matter of moving slowly and jiggling the transmission into position that will allow it to slide forward to mate up to the rear housing of the engine. Keep your 'long' bolts under the car so that if it 'clunks' into place, you can quickly get a bolt in to hold it. If it doesn't slide in smoothly, try rocking the jacks back and forth a bit to get some momentum going in the forward stroke. When mine went it, it took about 2 hours of playing with the angle and height and trying to keep the shifter housing from hitting against the hole for the shift lever to get it straight to the drivetrain. You should also try moving the engine angle to help meet up with the tranny - loosen your header nuts to allow the engine rear to drop a bit and you can wiggle both tranny and engine to mate it up.
Basically, it just takes time and patience. See also #'s 1 and 2, above.
Hope this helps - take your time. If I managed to get it done by myself, you should have no problems at all.
1) grab some useless metal parts - throw these down your driveway as hard as you can so that they make as much noise bouncing as possible. Do this late at night when your neighbors are sleeping.
2) hurl obscenities and invectives at the car, your jack, your dog, the transmission (obviously), and anything else that gets in your way while you're out in the garage.
No, seriously - this worked for me...
3) Get your jack out of the back of the RX-7 (the scissor type) along with your hydraulic jack that you keep around in the corner of the garage for jobs just like this, and put the scissor jack at the front, wide-end (bell-housing end) of the tranny. The scissor jack head may need to be 'padded' with some old 2x4's you have laying around to get enough height.
Put the hydraulic jack head under the tranny oil drain plug (plug is IN), and then slowly lift both jacks until the tranny is in about the right position - angle and height are critical. If you're close - that won't do; it has to be dead-center on the disk splines for the input shaft on the tranny to slide into position and allow you to bolt it all back together. This is where you cuss out the clutch alignment tool that you should have purchased for $4 before you started this job...
Anyway; from here, it's just a matter of moving slowly and jiggling the transmission into position that will allow it to slide forward to mate up to the rear housing of the engine. Keep your 'long' bolts under the car so that if it 'clunks' into place, you can quickly get a bolt in to hold it. If it doesn't slide in smoothly, try rocking the jacks back and forth a bit to get some momentum going in the forward stroke. When mine went it, it took about 2 hours of playing with the angle and height and trying to keep the shifter housing from hitting against the hole for the shift lever to get it straight to the drivetrain. You should also try moving the engine angle to help meet up with the tranny - loosen your header nuts to allow the engine rear to drop a bit and you can wiggle both tranny and engine to mate it up.
Basically, it just takes time and patience. See also #'s 1 and 2, above.
Hope this helps - take your time. If I managed to get it done by myself, you should have no problems at all.
Last edited by LongDuck; 06-04-04 at 12:16 AM.
06-04-04, 02:06 AM
#33
Yeah, reinstalling the tranny is one of the worst parts of working on the car. I can prolly pull my engine out in less than 1 hour now since I have so much experience swapping my busted engines. But the tranny is a whole different case. The last time I had to play with it was Labor Day'03, (yeah how ironic). I had to put in a non howling tranny from my spare SE to replace the POS busted tranny that embarassed me during first and second gear coasting,
Anyways, to make a long story short, I spent about 30 mins cussing under the car when trying to mate the tranny to engine, benchpress style. Needless to say, to add insult to injury I also sprained my lower back and was hurting for 2 weeks after. Tomorrow will be my "once a week" drive with my SE, she's pretty worth it on Fridays. =) Hope you get it back together soon RX-187!
Anyways, to make a long story short, I spent about 30 mins cussing under the car when trying to mate the tranny to engine, benchpress style. Needless to say, to add insult to injury I also sprained my lower back and was hurting for 2 weeks after. Tomorrow will be my "once a week" drive with my SE, she's pretty worth it on Fridays. =) Hope you get it back together soon RX-187!
06-04-04, 08:07 AM
#34
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I am all over the first two steps.
After grinding out the ould bearing race and cleaning the e-shaft throughly, to remove the little bearing-eating metal bits, I tapped the new bearing and oil seal in, and they went pretty easily. I already had the exhaust disconnected from the manifold, and after an hour or so of finagling, I tilted the tranny on it's side and got the back side up, resting on the main cat. I got a jackstand under that to support it, and then brought the front of the tranny up, while slowly turning it upright.
I went to Sears Hardware and bought four extra long (11cm) M10x1.25 bolts, cut the hex heads off of them, and ground in a slot for a screwdriver. Once the tranny bolt holes started to line up with the holds in the block, I insterted the long bolts and got the transmisson resting on those four bolts, plus the stud at the top of the bell housing. I was able to slide it forward, but it's still got a little ways to go yet. I can tell that it's not 100% angle-correct with the motor, so my next step is to go out into the garage and try adjusting the jack that's got the back of the motor and the jack that's got the transmission to see if I can't perfect the angle. What a pain in the neck... Hopefully I'll be able to get it in time to leave for my vacation tonight. This road trip just wouldn't be the same in a Saturn =)
After grinding out the ould bearing race and cleaning the e-shaft throughly, to remove the little bearing-eating metal bits, I tapped the new bearing and oil seal in, and they went pretty easily. I already had the exhaust disconnected from the manifold, and after an hour or so of finagling, I tilted the tranny on it's side and got the back side up, resting on the main cat. I got a jackstand under that to support it, and then brought the front of the tranny up, while slowly turning it upright.
I went to Sears Hardware and bought four extra long (11cm) M10x1.25 bolts, cut the hex heads off of them, and ground in a slot for a screwdriver. Once the tranny bolt holes started to line up with the holds in the block, I insterted the long bolts and got the transmisson resting on those four bolts, plus the stud at the top of the bell housing. I was able to slide it forward, but it's still got a little ways to go yet. I can tell that it's not 100% angle-correct with the motor, so my next step is to go out into the garage and try adjusting the jack that's got the back of the motor and the jack that's got the transmission to see if I can't perfect the angle. What a pain in the neck... Hopefully I'll be able to get it in time to leave for my vacation tonight. This road trip just wouldn't be the same in a Saturn =)
06-05-04, 02:26 PM
#35
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Finally! After all the trouble, I went ahead and purchased a transmission jack. Miraculously after countless hours of jiggling the trannsmission into position with the jack, I finally got it to slide in and bolted up. Immediately after putting back everything together, I went for a spin. What a difference the new clutch has made. First gear doesn't stumble as before and this thing takes off like a bat. It grabs pretty good too. One unrelated thing that surprised me were the flames that were consistently popping out the back (I didn't notice this before). This 12a FB spits flames better than my FD. I was quite surprised while I sat stairing behind my car while letting her warm up to see bluish/orange flames spitting out the exhaust. At first I thought it was my imagination, but upon close inspection they were flames for sure...gotta love the rotary. For the time I've had the car, I noticed the small pops and backfires, but never expected flames. I still have my cat on (non-gutted) and still this thing would do it. My exhuast setup-- Racing Beat headers, cat, and custom 2.5 piping exhaust with dual tip Racing Beat FD-look alike muffler. I'm tempted to go with a canister type exhaust to see if I can get better results with flames. I'm proud of this thing. BTW I would like to let you all know that y'all are great help and I've just come to the realization that 1st gen guys are cool people. heh heh
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