necessity is the mother of invention ? Same guy that shoves white bread into a copper water pipe to make it stop dripping for a solder job. It works though. Never tried it on a pilot bushing. Ever heard of using desitin (diaper rash cream) to set up rear end gears, instead of machinist blue?
If you think about it for a moment, you'll realize that the pilot bearing or bushing spends relatively little time acting as an actual bearing. I'm thinking of a bearing as a means to allow two connected parts to operate smoothly when the two parts (in this case, the crankshaft and the transmission input shaft) are rotating at different speeds. Or even opposite directions, or when one part remains stationary. With a manual transmission this only occurs when the clutch is disengaged. With the clutch fully engaged the crankshaft and input shaft are turning at the same speed, assuming there's no clutch slippage. And the pilot bearing is just sort of going along for the ride and keeping the input shaft centered in the back of the crank. An oilite bronze bushing probably requires no additional lubrication. But I'd still be tempted to smear a light coat of grease on the end of the input shaft to seal out moisture and corrosion, and a very light coating on the clutch splines as well for the same reason.
My DD pickup came to me with a receipt for a clutch job and a note saying 'pilot bearing will need replacement'. Who the heck does a clutch and leaves a sketchy pilot bearing in? Anyway if I let the clutch out rapidly from a stop there is a loud squeal. Let it out normally and no noise. It's also hard to put in gear after idling with the clutch out. I think the input shaft has a hard time slowing down.
That little packet of grease is for the splines for the clutch disk where it rides on the input shaft. Do lube the pivot pint for the release fork with some wheel bearing grease.
Sometimes you just have to drill it out. I tried the pack it with bread trick and wale on it with a slipfit dowel but it just didn’t work. I drilled it to 1/16 to 1/8 wall thickness and used a punch to fold the wall in on itself for removal. It’s quick and gets the job done
When the clutch pedal is depressed at idle it may take a few seconds for the clutch disk and input shaft to stop spinning. A synchronized first gear should take care of this and make it easier to put in gear. But the problem can also occur if the clutch isn't adjusted properly to completely disengage the disk when the clutch pedal is fully depressed. Especially with an older trans with a non-sychro first gear. Or if the splines on the disk aren't sliding freely on the clutch gear splines. Or if the disk has been installed backwards which could cause the disk to drag on the flywheel or pressure plate when it should be floating between them. Might be worth crawling underneath and making sure things are installed and adjusted properly.
Wish I could get a look at it but it's a 5 speed with integral bell and no inspection cover. With a sticky pilot bearing/input shaft, even with the clutch disengaged at a stop the shaft may not stop spinning. on it's own, I think. It is full synchro and will go in gear with some patience and effort. Anyway it is what it is, not coming apart (also a 4x4) until it needs something more major. Thanks for the thoughts.
Hadn't thought about that. I was figuring 5 or 6 bolts and a drop light and you might be able to see a bit of what was going on in there. Hmmm . . . Hydraulic clutch? Maybe leaking down or needing a better bleeding?
johnfin cut slots in it said in his opening statement. All the filling behind it is out the window. A hook on a sliding hammer is the only option to me unless he has a die grinder and a small cutter. He doesn’t need to worry about a mark on the surface ….. it’s meaningless.
I just got one out with the bread method and it went super smooth and worked flawlessly with cleanup being minimal compared to what I think grease would be.
This is the first time I have ever heard of using bread to remove a pilot bearing. Not surprised it works though. As a old remodel carpenter, when sweating copper pipes under a house and dealing with a dripping shut off valve. I would stuff the pipe full of bread or doughnuts, would suck up the water long enough to solder the joints. Do not use glazed doughnuts though, will melt and contaminate your solder just like water
After you solder the pipe together how do you get the bread out???? As for the pilot bearing, since you’re not going to re-use it, just thread an appropriate sized bolt into it (they are made of a soft metal) and turn….
On a chevy with a brass bushing just get a 5/8-11 fully threaded course bolt and start threading it in to the bushing (like you would a tap), when the bolt goes thru the bushing, it bottoms out on the crank and the bushing is removed, someone told me this years ago, it works unbelievably, I did it using a ratchet wrench in 10 seconds.
The Jalopy Journal
