Went to Autozone and loaned the pilot bearing puller. Connected it to the slide hammer, but the bearing will not budge. Anyone have any ideas? I sprayed with PB Blaster and will give it a try again tomorrow night.

Cram the hole with thick grease (wheel bearing grease should do the trick.) Then use a punch that is as close as possible to the ID of the pilot bearing. Give it a whack or two with a hammer. The idea behind this is it forces the grease in the hole, which has nowhere to go so it presses the pilot bearing out with hydraulic pressure. You can also try heating it up with a torch to break the hold. Heat the outer area to expand...then use the slide hammer. They also have a three finger puller that works. Lots of swearing sort of helps... 

corvette440hp2009-01-27 18:53:26

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Once had to resort to air chisel. Cut into it carefully then came right out.

[QUOTE=Whtlitnin]Once had to resort to air chisel. Cut into it carefully then came right out. [/QUOTE] I forgot the cutting.......you can use a Dremel Tool to make a small cut...but as mentioned be careful.  

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Tap it IN to the hole to break it loose, then pull it out.

I haven't had a lot of good results with commercial pilot bushing pullers....might work on this one, might not on the next one... I've got a couple of different ones... neither works on all of them.
If the puller doesn't get it out(once you do tap it forward a wee bit, as Ken suggested), then cutting a slot with a Dremmel tool(or similar) down one side is the only way to go. I'll always try the puller first once...once...after that, it's grindin time!

Not to bag on Larry's idea (I luv ya man...), but...Heat ain't such a good thing back there, depending on how hot you get the end of the crank...you may wind up replacing the rear main seal after you get it all back together, unless the engine is torn apart at the time...then putting a smoke wrench to it might be just the thing.


btw...if your engine has a pilot bearing, those pullers ain't worth a crap on them anyway...cut a slot down one side and be done with it.

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Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56    
My Link


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"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

as above, use grease in the pilot hole and it comes out the easiest

I made my own little tool. Took a piece of rod stock, roughly the diameter of the hole and cut a square groove back starting about an 3/16 inch from the end. Made the groove wider than the bearing. Then I just insert it and whacked it with the slide hammer while moving it around the bearing. Sucker came right out.  I tried a 3-finger puller before, but no luck. just wasnt strong enough. It really takes a slide hammer to get it out (it takes a hammer to get it in too!)

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C3: 1979 Corvette Coupe, Auto, L-48, Red/Doeskin (my wife's fave);

Finally got that pilot bearing out. It was stubborn. The dremel did the trick.

[QUOTE=jp75vette]Finally got that pilot bearing out. It was stubborn. The dremel did the trick. [/QUOTE]Jack, I'm glad things worked out. You are a wise man "in freezing" the new bearing. That shinks it enough for an easy install. You know your "stuff"


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If you have odd wear, you may want to check the flywheel runout as well.

Thanks for the tip on the flywheel run out. We will have a warm spell in MIchigan on the weekend, so I will check the runout on the flywheel first and then the bellhousing.

Another, more common issue with odd wear on the pilot bushing is driving habits...
If you like using the engine to slow you down, rather than the brakes, it can wear the pilot quicker than normal, and usually makes the center of it oblong, instead of round.
When downshifting, the input shaft of the trans is spinning waaay faster than the engine rpm(until the clutch is fully released)...this causes rapid wear of the pilot. Eventually, the input shaft just basically starts flopping around in there, thus the un-even wear.
Just an added speck of info...

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Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56    
My Link


(click for Texas-sized view!)             NCRS

"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

here is my custom tool i built

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http://www.vetteprojects.com/bmv

Just replaced my pilot bushing and I drilled 2 holes in sides then split bushing and it fell right out. I also had flywheel cut down it had a bad spot. I was getting a loud rumbling noise when clutch peddal pressed in and engine reved up. I hope this fixes my problem :)

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A worn pilot bushing/bearing will definitely make that noise...with the clutch pressed in, revving the engine will let the input shaft flop, and make a grumble noise as it beats itself against the sides of the worn bushing. I bet the fixes the noise.

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Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56    
My Link


(click for Texas-sized view!)             NCRS

"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

I sure hope so, Now I cant get it in reverse with safety Switch cable  hooked up from steering column. I didn't change anything. when Cable hooked to reverse arm its not in reverse. I'm confused don't know what I did? I'm heading down to garage and check it out.

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All fixed and good to go, I just forgot to set shifter in reverse before hooking up linkage :) Old age is my guess ! just in time for my week vacation next week SWEET time to go CRUZn ........

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Link no worky.


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FWIW there's a Chevy pilot bearing w/ needle bearings in it.  Should outlast the engine.  




|UPDATED|6/25/2012 11:02:51 AM (AZT)|/UPDATED|


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1973 L-82 4 spd