Is there any way to tell if the front thrust bearing has dropped out of place when removing the e shaft pully bolt?

I took it off to remove the oil bypass, and in order to get the nut off I had to take it to a friend with an industrial impact wrench. Unfortunatly he took the bolt completley out with the engine resting on a pallet in the back of my truck while I was using the bathroom before I could flip the engine on its flywheel.

The engine is a 13b-re

Any help is appreciated,,

 

I should add, is there any way to tell if its dropped out of place without removing the front cover..

thanks,,,

 

It sits behind a whole bunch of stuff so I'm gonna say no but mebbe someone who's actually done this will correct me. ~rich

http://www.mazdatrix.com/faq/pulley.htm - for your viewing pleasure.

 

The mazdatrix faq is where I am getting my information. There has to be a way to tell if everythinng is comming together right. The seal rides on the pulley right so if the bearing dropped below it when everything was torqued the pulley would be a few MM forward, and that would be evedent by the mark on the pulley visible where the seal used to ride.

Does this sound right?

 

Yes - The front seal wear mark is a good clue.

After it's back together, recheck the e-shaft end play.

 

That sounds logical - the bearing now wedged inbetween would remove the end play... ~rich

 

I generally doesn't fall out unless the front hub is removed and then the engine tilted and/or rotated. There's a bit of tension on the spacer from the bearings and oil. Put the front hub on an snug the bolt by hand until it won't move then check the endplay. If you receive NO endplay, then the bearing has fallen down.

 

If the thrust bearing was actualy in front of end play spacer, when the nut was torqed down, wouldn't the engine be really hard to rotate by hand, which is easy with the engine out of the car, and the plugs removed.

 

I see what your saying, so I probably have nothing to worry about, beacuse I didn't actually take the front hub off untill the engine was sitting on its flywheel. It was pretty well stuck in place even with no nut, that remaining tension would have held the bearing in place.

Thanks for the reply's