I just got the front cover off last night, and found the reason my engine died. Part of the front rotor bearing had slipped(?) forward and was eaten by the thrust plate. The bearing is toast, but I wasn't sure about the eccentic shaft. It has slight scoring and a small grove that I can pick up with my fingernail where it meets the front edge of the bearing.

Would it be nessicary to have the eccentric shaft turned by a machine shop to completely remove the marks, or wsould using emery paper to clean it up do the trick.

Or does the shaft need any work at all. Could it just be good to go as is. The damage is very slight.

Oh, and who has the best trick for getting off the flywheel (besides an impact, mine doesn't have enough torque) I snapped 2 half inch breaker bars last night trying. The flywheel nut does thread on normally right?

 

I've only heard of a machine shop taking material off the e-shaft journal (the lobe of the shaft where the rotor rides). This is done to improve the amount of oil flowing between the rotor bearing the e-shaft journal. I've only heard of them removing .001" (1 thousandth of an inch).

I don't know if that is where your groove is, but its probably too deep. I'd replace it to be on the safe side.

The flywheel nut is a super bi-otch to remove. It gets installed at 300 lb/ft. Gotta get more torque or more leverage if the impact gun doesn't go high enough.

 

just go buy a good impact wrench/and impact socket(54mm, 2.125")... you'll love life much better.

 

To get the flywheel nut off,,, I heat the bitch with MAPP gas for about five minutes, then I hit it with a 3/4 inch breaker bar with about four feet of 3 inch condiut the on the end of that and hang off of it (yes, i have the breaker bar sticking up out of the engine bay, i put a blanket over the fender incase it breaks)

Before i started heating it up... I broke several half inch bars....

The bruce Taurentine video shows him taking that nut off by standing on the engine and leaning on a 1/2 inch breaker bar while bouncing up and down... BULLSHIT Bruce... I've NEVER seen one come off that easy.. EVER... I weight 230 Lbs, and it takes my whole weight at the end of a four foot piece of steel to get that bitch off!!!!!! Even then when it breaks loos it sounds like the wole E-Shaft shattered.

BUT.. if you heat it up,. you will most definately have to replace your pilot bearing cause it will be toasted.

Also.... I don't know how you saw the front rotor bearing by taking the front cover off. the stationary gear would prevent you from seeing into the rotor.. Do you have your engine dissasembled????

 

NEVER use a questionable eccentric shaft...this is the basis of your engine. Doing so could cause balance issues and/or vibration, spinning/premature wear of future bearings/stationary gears, excess shaft play allowing rotors to slap, etc. etc. There are too many good e-shafts out there to worry with a questionable one. I won't even use one that I have the slightest idea that it saw excess heat or abuse. All 86-95 eshafts are the same thing, turbo or non, and there are too many in existence that can be had for 25 bucks all day long to use a questionable part and possible tear up thousands of dollars in seals, rotors, and housings.

 

What are your talking about?

First of all he is not going to take the flywheel nut off in the car. I think your confusing the front hub bolt with the flwyheel nut. Didnt say that! Second, heat is not needed in 99% of the cases. The breaker bar, and cheater is all I have ever used. Works fine. I even do them all day loing on a engine stand which is a hell of a lot less stable than putting the engine on the ground.

Also, I am sure he doesn't know better, however it can only be his stationary gear bearing that got into the trust washer. And if that happened - well, mucho $$ in replacement parts as a whole bunch O' stuff will be bad.

 

If you're going to tear the engine down, that you're actually that gun ho about doing it yourself...... I simply cannot understand why you wouldn't get an impart set.

I bought a crappy cummins 3/4 impact gun for about 30 bucks. I have compressor. And the 2 1/8 - 3/4 socket from sears. all told spent about 300 bucks

Flywheels are absolutely no problem to take of at all. Breaker bars are fun you want to spend that frustration.

But I lock that flywheel up and just let the impact spin it off. It takes about 30 seconds.

I guess the real point is, spend the money on the tools, they'll make everything else so much easier. Because chances are that if you're gutsy enough to work on the rotary, you'll be using that impact set all over that car and it will pay for itself 10 fold in time and avoided frustration..

 

I am very curious as to how this bearing "slipped" forward. The bearings are a press fit into the stationary gears. It takes a LARGE vice or hydraulic press to install/remove them. I wonder if perhaps the stationary gears used in your engine had been previously installed in an engine which spun it's bearings? Normally this is due to lack of oil.

As for removing the flywheel/eccentric nut/bolt, I have never had problems using a breaker bar. Of course, my bar is 6 feet long.

 

Heres more details on the problem. When I took off the oil pan, I found metal shavings in the bottem. I thought that It was probably a torrington bearing problem, like the one detailed at mazdatrix. (The engine was rebuilt by the previous owner, and it only had 700 miles on it, I question his rebuilding skills) But after pulling the front assembly, I found the bearings to be fine. The Front stationary gear was the problem. Attatched is a crappy photo expalining it better. Material fron the rotor bearing had been chewed up.

http://www.nucleartroy.com/front

I did heat up the fly wheel nut with a propane torch then promptly snaped a breaker bar with a 6 foot piece of pipe over it. I guess it just takes a little more than that. Gotta love Craftsman though!.

 

I went to harbor freights web site and I got a impact gun that goes up to 625 lb/ft. It owns flywheel nuts. I'll see if I can find a link for it.

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