Pilot bushing removal--what's the trick?

Something about packing it full of grease and driving it out with a socket?? Sorry, I forget stuff....
I'm a body shop guy, not a mechanic Somebody help me before make a mess....

I'd buy a new one, but I can only imagine the look on that teenage counterguy's face at the local auto patrs store when I ask for a crankshaft pilot bushing for a 3-speed Cadillac

thanks y'all

 

You can pack it with grease then drive it out with a rod that fits snuggly into the hole, or you can do it by wadding up wet paper towel and stuffing it into the hole and behind the bushing itself.

I had to use grease AND wadded up dry paper towels to pop the one out of my old Vega motor! For lack of an appropriately sized dowel rod, I put a deepwell socket of the right size onto a 3/8" drive extension backwards and used that to mash the grease and towels enough to knock the bushing out.

Not fancy or high tech, but it works!

 

The trick is: find a short socket that fits into the existing bushing kinda tight you dont want a lot of clearance ( I use a piece of stock from a cut off bolt for my ford) fill the existing bushing with grease, turn the socket backwards on an extension and hammer it in, the grease will flow behing the existing bushing and you and the hammer are being the hyd. piston forcing it out. It actually works. but the fit has to be close. Good luck should work.

 

That's the direction I was headed.....

Thanks Greg---you're my NEW best friend!

 

Why pull it if you're going to reuse it?

 

I have been meaning to make a tool that slips into the Id opening, opens up past the bearing and has a weight on it that can be rammed out.

i have tried the grease trick. I have never has luck with it and end up getting a chisel and hammer and taking it out piece by piece. Of all jobs, I hate this one the worst.

The problem I see with the grease trick is you really never find the diameter of insert at the right size and grease ends up slipping out past the insert.

 

uhhh you TOO oldspeed

now I have TWO new best friends

Thanks a bunch guys.
mid-tenn mike

 

Not reusing that engine....it's locked up tighter than a tick on a hound dog.
I'm hanging the 3-speed on my good 331.

 

That's where the paper towel wadding comes into play...you'll still get grease oozing out, but the towel helps hold enough in there to do the job. Most times, you have to pound it in, re-pack the hole and pound it in again and again until the bushing moves. It can be slow and tedious (if your bushing is as stubborn as mine was), but it will work...and it will get the bushing out unharmed as a nice bonus!

 

buy a new bushing

 

that tool is being made , it's called a pilot bearing puller..i have one and use it , i too have never had much luck with the grease method

 

I have had good luck using a bolt that fits inside the bushing then wraping masking tape around the threads until its a snug fit. fill it with grease and hamer the shit out of it. So far its worked all the time.

 

There is another trick of usings wet toilet paper(preferabley new!) Wet the TP jam it in the bearing use a rod that fits tight into the bearing and tap it in with a hammer. It may take a try or two but I have done it before. It works on the same idea as the grease just a little easier to clean up
Clark
PS...no I'm not kidding

 

I cheat I have a lathe and some CRS grease works every time.

 

LOL at you guys saying to use a socket or something.

Just use the right clutch alignment tool. It is sized properly to the throwout bushing/bearing and you're gonna have to have it to line up the clutch disc when you tighten the pressure plate.

 

Yeah, What he said.


It never took me more than 15 seconds to get one out.

 

If it's the original BUSHING, prolly brass... do the trans & engine a favor and replace it with a sealed pilot bearing. If your local parts store doesn't carry one...then try a local bearing store. Most of them have bearings in all sizes and types.

To get that brass bushing out in 1 piece...use some SoK! Penetrating Oil (Best on the Planet) and a small slide hammer. Take that bushing to the bearing shop and tell em to match it with a sealed bearing.

 

i agree.

 

New bushings are cheap. Buy a new one.

I use this method:

Get a big fatassed bolt... I think 3/4" head with a 5/8" thread... Put it on my impact and drive it into the brass bushing... it threads itself into the soft brass and goes until it hits the back of the crank. Once it hits the back of the crank then the the bolt can't go further so the bushing starts to climb up the threads until it pops out. After it's out, throw the bolt and bushing in the trash. The longest it took me was like 10 seconds.

This is for a Chevrolet so... I don't know what the rest of you guys got.

Travis

 

Like Texashardcore says put in a sealed bearing I did its the only way to go my 5cts worth

 

I've cut about a foot off a broom handle, sanded to fit and used the grease trick............It works.........OLDBEET

 

That stuff really IS the shit.

 

Just another variation on the stick and grease theme. I find a dowel pretty close in size, then wrap the end in duct tape to get the tight fit. Be sure to get all the air bubbles out of the grease and keep packing it in there. Finally, be sure to keep your face out of the line of fire unless you like the taste of grease
I have never had these methods fail me.

 

I used a 3/8 socket extension flipped around backwards. Fit the hole just right and the bushing popped right out.

 

I like this idea! Oh yeah, BUY A NEW ONE! HOY(slang for i want to be cheap like Dan Collins)

 

If you've got an old input shaft laying around just use that and a dead blow hammer to get the bushing out. I use wheel bearing grease, but any kind will work.
Frank

 

Perfect!