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Has anyone succeeded in replacing the front bearing on an FD smog air pump? Mine is making scrapping noises. I got as far as previous posts discussed, but the front bearing is hidden between the aluminum housing and the internal drum, and I can’t figure out how to push the bearing safely. I tried hitting the end of the shaft to see if the shaft would just slide out (likely bad idea) but that didn’t work and probably just further damaged the old bearing. I also tried torquing the shaft with the drum locked, but there doesn’t seem to be anything threaded on the shaft to break lose.
Maybe this is a lost cause, and maybe I could sacrifice this unit for science, but I still have hope of getting the thing running on the car quietly. Note, I marked the vanes and such so I should be able to reassemble correctly if I get the bearings figured out. Also note my goal is restoration and passing CA emissions, so not so much interested in a delete at the moment.
Bonus marks if anyone has the PN for the front bearing - I already have replacement for the pulley bearing based on the markings on the old bearing (2TS2-DF0676LH, https://ebay.us/m/tAoSA0).
No direct experience here, but:
Maybe you can get the bearing and rotor out by heating the housing, since it looks like aluminum, and the bearing would be steel, so the housing should expand more than the bearing and loosen it, making it easier to remove.
No direct experience here, but:
Maybe you can get the bearing and rotor out by heating the housing, since it looks like aluminum, and the bearing would be steel, so the housing should expand more than the bearing and loosen it, making it easier to remove.
Thanks for the quick response Dave. I tried torching around the bearing for about a minute with propane, then gave several moderate hits on the end of the shaft with a 3 lb hammer. No luck. I was eyeing up the 12 t hydraulic press at Harbor Freight yesterday. Think a press would have more luck?
I can't help you with the bearing, but I had the same issue with mine making a nasty noise. If you want to replace the air pump that you've got, I've got one that I purchased a couple years back from $200 from @tomsn16 . I've never used it (cars in pieces), but it spun quiet when I got it, and I've never known anything from Jim to be less than perfect. I had originally been planning on keeping the car closer to stock when I tore it down, but am going full emissions delete now. $100 and it's yours. I'll have to go find it, but below is the original picture from Jim.
I can't help you with the bearing, but I had the same issue with mine making a nasty noise. If you want to replace the air pump that you've got, I've got one that I purchased a couple years back from $200 from @tomsn16 . I've never used it (cars in pieces), but it spun quiet when I got it, and I've never known anything from Jim to be less than perfect. I had originally been planning on keeping the car closer to stock when I tore it down, but am going full emissions delete now. $100 and it's yours. I'll have to go find it, but below is the original picture from Jim.
Thanks for the offer Sigma, and I might take you up on that! I do have a second airpump that I bought a while ago which is also noisy, but I haven't stripped it down to the point I can tell if it's the front bearing (I have access to all the other bearings and should be able to clean them up). I think I'll give that a shot tomorrow, and if that fails and I don't get any other good ideas I'll take you up on your offer. Quite the collection of airpumps I've got going here, lol. Also glad to know I'm not the only one with the car in pieces - any day now...
Thanks for the quick response Dave. I tried torching around the bearing for about a minute with propane, then gave several moderate hits on the end of the shaft with a 3 lb hammer. No luck. I was eyeing up the 12 t hydraulic press at Harbor Freight yesterday. Think a press would have more luck?
Maybe the 12-Ton press would work, but that's not guaranteed to not ruin something. Having one of those is a good idea in any case if you fix your own cars.
