I have my flywheel off and I'm looking down the hole, but I don't see anything that looks like the new pilot bearing I have. It's smooth with no roller bearings or seal. When I put my finger in, nothing rotates.

 

Wow! You inherited a car where the prior owner was running without a pilot bearing?

 

I've put 30,000 miles on the car in the last seven years. Is that possible?

 

yep! seen it before, in fact you might not even notice

 

Could there be some kind of cover over the rollers?

 

Your car was an Automatic at one time,if I recall your setup.Auto engines do not have a pilot bearing as they run a counterweight and flex plate.
So you DID NOT Need to have a Pilot bearing.
You NEED one though when you switch to that setup that you are intending to put on.

 

either someone put an automatic engine in the car or replaced the clutch and simply cleaned out the grenaded pilot bearing without replacing it.

you can run without a pilot bearing without much problem but eventually it is going to prematurely wear out the transmission input bearing.

 

Glad I didn't pay $100 for a removal tool

 

you may still need it if the pilot case is still in there.

 

You can borrow the pilot bearing tool from Autozone for no charge.

Also, there is a separate seal that goes on top of the pilot bearing.

 

screw the pilot seal, causes more harm than good.

 

That is the best money spent on a simple tool.
If you have a seized bearing, it is going to be a BITCH getting it out.

And depends who installed it...if that thing is tapped all the way in, you're not getting that thing out. The problem with the other pilot bearing remover tool is the "fingers" are too thick to grab onto the lip of the bearing.
Once I had to break apart the bearings to be able to find a way to grab the lip .
It was so seized and too far back that I had to dremel the pilot bearing wall and rip it out. The wall is stainless steel and thick. After about 2 hours I threw that frickin thing so far I pulled a muscle.
On another seized bearing, I used the Mazda tool and it came out after couple yanks. By far the greatest tool.

 

the harbor freight tool works fine and costs about $60 bucks, or use it once and return it. or buy it used if there is one for about $40.

those part store pullers are garbage.

 

I just use the nut / bolt / socket method, works every time. and is free if you have nuts and bolts laying around everywhere

 

What is the nut / bolt / socket method?

 

OK. I tried to put the new pilot bearing in. It went in about 3/4 then jammed. I removed the new bearing with using the nut/bolt/socket technique.

I'm pretty sure that what I'm looking at is the outer sleeve of the old bearing still in the shaft.
There is no lip or anything left for a puller to grab onto.

Any suggestions?

Doug

 

Dremel time.

 

Got it out by sliding a very small screw driver under the part and then twisting it with needle-nosed pliers.

Obviously, someone has been in here before. There are some nicks on the front surface of the eccentric shaft and some scuffs that I can see but can't feel with my finger at the bottom of the hole where the bearing goes. Should I be concerned? The car has gone for at least 30k miles this was and with a messed up pilot bearing.

 

it will be fine as long as the bore where the bearing resides is free from burrs that may deform the bearing.

 

Should be ok use some fine grit sand paper to smooth it out and make sure therw are no burrs.

 

the removal tool is the best **** I ever bought

I haven't use it much, but when u need it, u be thankful that u actually bought it.