What's the best way to get the front engine oil thermal pellet out?. . . .Anybody got some nifty trick to make the job easier?

Engine is in the car.

Do I leave it in gear with the emergency brake on and twist on the nut head?

There's gotta be a trick here. . . .it's a 17mm or a 19mm hex head?

. .Thanks. ..

 

its a 19mm, and yeah you just unscrew it.

 

Clutch pedal will need to stay depressed during the entire operation. You do not want to drop the thrust bearing off of the spacer.

https://mazdatrix.com/front-pulley-thrust-bearings/

 

That bolt can be a bear to remove. It's a long bolt and Madza puts Loctite on the threads so it's pretty much glued in there. If you can't break it loose manually, than try an impact wrench. The first time I removed that bolt on my original engine, I had to pull the transmission and bolt a 6' bar to the flywheel to prevent the engine e-shaft from turning. I think I still used an impact wrench to break the bolt loose. I wouldn't recommend using Loctite during reassembly. Also, there's two torrington needle roller thrust bearings behind that front pulley hub. If one of those bearings slips, than you're in for a big job to reassemble correctly. Make sure that front hub does not slip.

 

Use caution for the torrington bearing... It's best if the engine is facing UPWARDS out of the vehicle....

The clutch depress method does work.. but use caution./.

-M

 

Good stuff. . .Thanks. . . .

Yea that flat bearing looks tricky behind the pulley.

I agree, I think the impact gun is best but that requires the removal of the radiator most likely. . . .Need space to get in there I would assume.

Well. . .I always wanted a Milwaukee cordless impact.

 

When I had my engine out and installed the Blank thermal pellet, a Ryobi impact actually worked. I was surprised..

-M

 

you can install the pellet without removing the pulley or anything. and then there is this, so you can tell if the bearing is right

 

You can crack it loose using the starter + a breaker bar wedged against the ground. Triple check the direction of rotation before attempting

 

Yikes !!!!!!! . . . .That's an evil genius right there.

 

This never did work for me even after multiple tries.

 

if you have a compressor, used air tools can be dirt cheap

 

The direction of rotation as you face the front of the engine is clockwise, so the breaker bar will cause the bolt to turn counterclockwise which will loosen it.
First, remove the EGI fuse and crank it over to make sure the engine does not start!
Then, attach the breaker bar and a quick flic of the ignition switch should break the bolt loose enough to use a ratchet wrench to remove it.

The thermal pellet restricts the oil going through the oil jets that squirt oil onto the stationary gears when the engine is below 185 degrees. The oil flow to all four bearing is not effected by the pellet, full flow at all times. Nice to know!

Never jack the car up using the oil pan as the lifting point, the bottom of the pan will flatten and make contact with the oil pickup screen. This will reduce the space between the pan and the pickup tube, restricting the flow of oil into the engine.

More oil flow is better, so I am going to use only 10W-40 conventional oil and change it out twice a year along with the oil filter.