How to remove the pilot bearing without the pilot bearing removal tool
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apex seal BBQ
Joined: Sep 2002
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From: AL
How to remove the pilot bearing without the pilot bearing removal tool
After two or three hours of staring at that pilot bearing and hating the fact that I was going to have to spend $100 on an SST to get it out, I decided to give it a try myself. I came up with a method that worked for me, and since I've just finished celebrating, I'm going to share it with you. It was mostly trial and error, it may not work for you at all, and you may destroy the bore of your e-shaft, so be careful, and don't blame me if it doesn't work.
NOTE: this will destroy your old pilot bearing. You didn't want it anyway, did you?
NOTE II: This may make no sense at all. Sorry.
NOTE III: This may be a very bad idea. If so, I did it, and you don't have to.
You'll need a hammer, 1 or 2 M8 studs or long bolts of some sort (that one from the PS pump is what I used), a grinder, a variety of 8mm washers, a few sockets, one large socket (mine was a 35mm), a prybar, and some patience. Hey, it will save you the $100 dollars.
See attached crappy illustration and photos to help explain this difficult-to-explain procedure.
1) Observe the almost impossible to remove pilot bearing. You will need a flashlight, and some kleenex to wipe away the tears.
2) Attach a nut or two to the stud with a washer in between that is smaller than the id of the lip of the bearing, but larger than the lip provided by the bearing rollers. I went through a bunch of washers until I found one that was just right, and I ground on it a bit to make it fit. It should squeeze through the seal with a light tap and past the first lip of the bearing and stop on the rollers.
Find a way to isolate the end of the stud (a nut with a small socket works) to prevent it from mushrooming, and tap it down with a hammer. This will push the bearing down the bore. Don't tap it too far, or it will seat all the way down and make it harder to get out later. You can now pry out the oil seal up top (the blue thing) with a flathead screwdriver. Do it carefully.
3) Using the same washer, or a similar one (you will need to grind it down a bit more, so the OD is slightly less), tap the washer all the way down, past the rollers, so that it engages on the bottom lip of the rollers. This will tear up your washer and your bearing, so kiss it goodbye. Then, get a prybar up top, place something that won't damage the flywheel or rear housing between the prybar and whatever its fulcrum is (like a rag or a piece of wood), and pry like hell and/or tap on the bar lightly with a hammer. After lots of tapping, the washer will come out and take a bunch of the rollers with it, in addition to the inner bearing race. You will be left with nothing but the steel sleeve down there in the bore after you clean the junk out of there (use your flashlight).
4) Get a new washer, and a nut. Take the washer and compress it along two axes perpendicular to one another opposite the radius, so that the OD of the washer is decreased and the washer bends into a U-shape along both axes. The idea is to get the washer OD slightly smaller than the ID of the lip inside the outer bearing race. Place a nut at the bottom of the stud, with the compressed washer next. With a screwdriver, push this assembly down inside the bore of the outer bearing race so that it slips inside the upper lip. Then, place a deep-well socket over the stud (the green thing), with another nut on top, and lock the top of the stud with two more nuts. Tighten the nut down on the socket so that it compresses the deformed washer flat between the socket and the bottom nut and restores it to its original diameter. It should grip the inside lip of the outer race fairly well.
5) Get a big socket and place it over the outside of the stud, after removing the other stuff (like the smaller socket). I used a 35mm. Place another washer and a nut outside the socket and start tightening slowly, and it will slowly pull the bearing up the bore and out. Do it with a wrench and watch the stud so you can ensure the stud itself isn't turning. The way the washer inside the bearing is deformed will ensure that pulling on it will force it to grip harder, so it should work fine.
Comments are welcome. I can't wait to get the tranny installed, now
NOTE: this will destroy your old pilot bearing. You didn't want it anyway, did you?
NOTE II: This may make no sense at all. Sorry.
NOTE III: This may be a very bad idea. If so, I did it, and you don't have to.
You'll need a hammer, 1 or 2 M8 studs or long bolts of some sort (that one from the PS pump is what I used), a grinder, a variety of 8mm washers, a few sockets, one large socket (mine was a 35mm), a prybar, and some patience. Hey, it will save you the $100 dollars.
See attached crappy illustration and photos to help explain this difficult-to-explain procedure.
1) Observe the almost impossible to remove pilot bearing. You will need a flashlight, and some kleenex to wipe away the tears.
2) Attach a nut or two to the stud with a washer in between that is smaller than the id of the lip of the bearing, but larger than the lip provided by the bearing rollers. I went through a bunch of washers until I found one that was just right, and I ground on it a bit to make it fit. It should squeeze through the seal with a light tap and past the first lip of the bearing and stop on the rollers.
Find a way to isolate the end of the stud (a nut with a small socket works) to prevent it from mushrooming, and tap it down with a hammer. This will push the bearing down the bore. Don't tap it too far, or it will seat all the way down and make it harder to get out later. You can now pry out the oil seal up top (the blue thing) with a flathead screwdriver. Do it carefully.
3) Using the same washer, or a similar one (you will need to grind it down a bit more, so the OD is slightly less), tap the washer all the way down, past the rollers, so that it engages on the bottom lip of the rollers. This will tear up your washer and your bearing, so kiss it goodbye. Then, get a prybar up top, place something that won't damage the flywheel or rear housing between the prybar and whatever its fulcrum is (like a rag or a piece of wood), and pry like hell and/or tap on the bar lightly with a hammer. After lots of tapping, the washer will come out and take a bunch of the rollers with it, in addition to the inner bearing race. You will be left with nothing but the steel sleeve down there in the bore after you clean the junk out of there (use your flashlight).
4) Get a new washer, and a nut. Take the washer and compress it along two axes perpendicular to one another opposite the radius, so that the OD of the washer is decreased and the washer bends into a U-shape along both axes. The idea is to get the washer OD slightly smaller than the ID of the lip inside the outer bearing race. Place a nut at the bottom of the stud, with the compressed washer next. With a screwdriver, push this assembly down inside the bore of the outer bearing race so that it slips inside the upper lip. Then, place a deep-well socket over the stud (the green thing), with another nut on top, and lock the top of the stud with two more nuts. Tighten the nut down on the socket so that it compresses the deformed washer flat between the socket and the bottom nut and restores it to its original diameter. It should grip the inside lip of the outer race fairly well.
5) Get a big socket and place it over the outside of the stud, after removing the other stuff (like the smaller socket). I used a 35mm. Place another washer and a nut outside the socket and start tightening slowly, and it will slowly pull the bearing up the bore and out. Do it with a wrench and watch the stud so you can ensure the stud itself isn't turning. The way the washer inside the bearing is deformed will ensure that pulling on it will force it to grip harder, so it should work fine.
Comments are welcome. I can't wait to get the tranny installed, now
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Jeff20B
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Sep 16, 2018 07:16 PM
