pilot bearing whoes.....please help

[dsylvia]

For the last 3 weeks or so i've been in the middle of swapping trannies. but i keep hitting speed bumps along the way. first it was a blown clutch, now its the damn pilot bearing.

a couple days ago i went to autozone and picked up a pilot bearing and figured i was good to go.

checked out the crank and then installed the pilot bearing. i tapped the bearing in using a socket to keep it straight. once in, the clutch alignment tool didnt fit in the bearing anymore! i thought maybe i had to tap it in a little bit more. when i did this, the bearing slid almost all the way back. and now i cant get it out, lol.

heres some pics

after hammering the pilot bearing i looked at the crank and noticed something i couldnt see before, what looks like a very thin bearing stuck in the crank. can you see what im talking about in the pics? it seams that that is whats keeping the new bearing from coming out cuz of the lip.

my question is, is that really an old, very worn out bearing or is it just part of the crank. i've tried removing it using a puller tool, but i've broke 2 tools already and its not budging. which makes me wonder if its supposed to come out at all, lol.

and if that thing isnt supposed to come out, how the hell do i get the new bearing out. the tool i have doesnt reach that far back.

i need some serious help, this is the only thing keeping me from installing new clutch and transmission.

[j-z]

LOL man you really fuked yourself on that move. so you didnt even take the old pilot bearing out? thats your problem right there. thats why your alignment tool wouldnt go in all the way. also, from the FSM there is a specific depth at which the pilot bearing should sit at. i know a way to get both of them out since you cant get either out cause with two in there, its not enough room for the tool to grab and pull them out. go find a single handled hacksaw and just carefully cut through the bearing. once theres a cut in it there wont be any pressure on it and theyll come right out. and you probably hit the stock one all the way to the back, so you def wont be able to use the puller tool on that one. what did you think that you didnt have a stock pilot bearing in there and decided to add one?

[shotgunhunter4]

oh my goodness. Sounds like something i would do.

Sounds like Jz's got a pretty good idea.

[dsylvia]

lol. when i first went to put the pilot bearing in, it didnt look like there was one there. i didnt notice the lip until after hammering the new one in.

is that thing the previous pilot bearing? i thought about cutting it like you said, but i was hesitant cuz i wasnt sure if that thing actually comes out.

the bearing thats sitting way back is moving around freely, so one i remove the old one, it'll slid right out.

[dsylvia]

so shoudl i cut the piece out that the arrows are pointing to?

[j-z]

cut the bearing that you just put in there. sounds like you broke the original one in pieces when hammering the new one in and thats what you hear moving around. theyre soft so you should be able to cut right though the bearing.

[dsylvia]

the thing the arrows are pointing to, is that supposed to be there? or should i cut that out?

[j-z]

and from the FSM that lip is part of the actual crank. you shouldve been able to see the old one in there before putting the new one in.

[dsylvia]

what part of the FSM are you looking at, i have a copy and couldnt find anything on the pilot bearing.

[j-z]

its under pilot bushing replacing. EM-45 for my 96 manual.

[C-Kwik]

The pilot bushing (The KA doesn't use an actual bearing, though I believe Nissan Motorsports does sell a pilot bearing for the KA) looks to be in the right place. Perhaps a bit marred from banging on it. But...

There is an old school trick you can use to remove it. Find a wooden dowl that just fints the width of the center of the bushing. Make sure its a few inches long. Then take some thick grease(bearing grease should do the trick) and fill the hole up to close to the top of the bushing. Then push the dowl into the bushing. It should be snug enough not to let grease out. Then hit it with a hammer. The grease should push the bushing out as the grease cannot compress.

Recommendation on putting in a new bushing: Find a socket that is as close to the size of the bishing as possible. Make sure thescket can go into the hole without getting stuck. Use the back of the socket's surface against the bushing so that it hasless chance of marring the end of the bushing. Use several sfto blows to get it in rather than hard swift blows.

[Florida240sx]

How I took out my old bearing was with a hammer and screw driver. The bearing shoudl be most likely brass. Just take a big flat head and slowly tap at it cutting the bearing. Done it twice and takes abotu 3 minutes each time. Slow eays taps until you get a groove and watch it break itself apart.

[dsylvia]

ok i just went to home depot and bought a hack saw. came home and cut the bearing that i we previously put it. heres what i got now.

am i good to go with installing the new pilot bearing i got, or should i try and remove the thin piece pointed to by the arrows?

thanks everyone for all your help so far.

[Tulsa_S-13]

Just out of curiousity are you doing a 5 speed swap? If you are then the bushing that you microsoft painted arrows on is the A/T adapter bushing and needs to be removed.....

[dsylvia]

now that you mention it, im not doing a 5 speed swap, however, the motor may have come from an automatic vehicle. this motor isnt original to my car.

i purchased it from someone doing a SR swap. i had the motor rebuilt while still driving my car around. i'll try and contact the person i bought it from to find out for sure.

if in fact it was an auto, how do i go about removing it. I've tried using a pilot bearing puller but the tool keeps breaking. would it be possible to cut out like i did with the other one? i basically cut the other one into 2 peieces and split it.

[fiznat]

hey man sorry I lost you on AIM.

Tulsa is right, you *have* to remove that automatic transmission adapter thing before putting in the pilot bushing correctly. Like I said, what I usually do is grab the thing with some channel locks and twist + pull till it finally comes out. Its a real pain (its in there really tight), but it can be done with some patience and muscle. You're going to have to take the flywheel off so that you can get a better look at the adapter-- you'll never get any tool to pull that thing out right with the flywheel still on.

So yea, pull the flywheel, get the adapter out, install a new pilot bushing and you should be good to go.

[dsylvia]

thanks for all the helps guys. i'd be so screwed without you input.

weather permitting, tomorrow im gonna take off the flywheel and try to remove that stupid thing.

i'll keep you guys posted. thanks again

[j-z]

i was thinking the same thing about it being an auto bushing. but i didnt really say anything as i figured the motor was already in your car and youve been driving it. good to see some progress is done.

[pr240sx]

Next time, use a dremel sanding wheel to smooth out the hole.At very LOW speed

[Tulsa_S-13]

The A/T adapter bushing is a PITA to get out. I ended up using an air chisel from different sides to get it out, just be careful not to hit the crank.

[fiznat]

^^ Hell yea it is... I used pure raw muscle to get mine out haha

Howd it go man? Get it out?

[dsylvia]

it didnt go anywhere at all. my friend was supposed to come and help me but couldnt make it. so tried taking the flywheel out on my own. depsite all my ghetto rigging i couldnt get the ****in flywheel to hold still. so i couldnt put all my force on breaking the bolts loose. i gotta get a steel pipe for more leverage. i was gonna use the handle to my aluminum jack. but i just paid 90 bucks for it and didnt want to damage it, lol.

hopefully my friend can make it tomorrow to give me a hand.

[j-z]

man, those flywheel bolts are a bltch! i was using a really strong impact on them and broke two impact sockets trying to get those fukers off. but they did all come off though. you may have to hit them with an impact if you didnt put those bolts on yourself. what the hell is up with that flywheel anyways? why do i see rivets on it? also looks like you need to get that bad boy resurfaced.

[BlackHat]

I did a DOHC and a SOHC tear down and those flywheel bolts are hell. I had to have my friend prop his back against the wall while standing on the block so I didn't pick the whole thing up trying to loosen them. Impact wrench or a BIG breaker bar are a must (and the friend thing).

Keep us updated! I am going to have to do this real soon...

[dsylvia]

the "rivets" are actually allen screws that secure the clutch surface. you can remove it and replace it without replacing the entire flywheel.

the flywheel only has about 1000 miles on it. think a resurface is required. i think it looks discolored from the a)the quality of the pic, or (b)its been exposed under the car while waiting for new transmission.

[95_240]

so shoudl i cut the piece out that the arrows are pointing to?

You can just drill holes in the bearing where you have the arrows pointing and then use a hammer and a chisel on the side of the bearing and the bearing will break. This is what I did to get my bearing out. It takes about five minutes to do it this way. I tried using a slide hammer and it broke luckily it was a rental. If you ever do have to take a manual bearing out the grease trick that was mentioned earlier is the quickest and easiest way to get the bearing out.

[95_240]

Here is a crappy picture of what it looked like when I removed it.

[dsylvia]

my friend showed up tonight and we got the flywheel off. after that we both took turns muscling the bushing and it didnt budge. i tried cutting it with the hack saw but it didnt make a difference.

so we then went to home depot and bought a 1" drill bit to take some meat off the bushing. got back to the house and the bit wont fit in the chuck of my cheap drill.

that was the end of the night. im gonna borrow my friends heavy duty drill tomorrow and have at it again.

talk about tiny ****in baby steps. this is getting aggrivating already. i'll keep everyone up to date and try and get some picks also.

[fiznat]

Comeon man, muscle that beyotch!!! hahahaha

I told ya its a pain to come out, you gotta do more twisting first, screaming and swearing also helps. I have a buddy who's perfect for these kinda jobs-- real meaty/strong guy, we call him "breaker bar Nick" because if you tell him to do something either it'll come out or he will break the damn thing. Used for extreme circumstances only though hahaa. I'll rent him out for $50/day.

Be careful about drilling that thing out. You REALLY dont want to damage your crank or the oil seal there.

Good luck!

[dsylvia]

yeah im really not feeling to good about sticking a hug ****ing drill bit in there. cuz if i go too far i'll start drilling the crank.

maybe i'll do what 95_240 recomended and drill tiny holes around it.

im just very leary of putting a drill in there, lol