LS3 Pilot bearing help!

[Zachalanche]

I received the wrong pilot beating with my clutch kit. unfortunately I didn't realize this until I had everything assembled and went to install the transmission. The input shaft on the t56 is long, and requires the smaller pilot bearing that fits in the inner bore of the crank. Here's the problem: I have the larger ball bearing that goes in the outer bore installed. It went in easy, but now I can't get it back out. Is there a trick to this?

[Z06vet]

You'll need a puller. Most of the chain stores- advance, autozone, etc have one you can rent.

[minendrews68]

I just changed one. I used a Snap-On puller and it never got it out. I had to wind up cutting it out. Be careful if you do and don't mess up the inner bore. If it went in easily, it might not be too bad.

[andrewb70]

You'll need a puller. Most of the chain stores- advance, autozone, etc have one you can rent.

^^^This....at least you figured it out before you broke something!



Andrew

[Zachalanche]

^^^This....at least you figured it out before you broke something!

Andrew

I broke the puller from the parts store. Also tried a blind bearing puller with no luck, and as a last resort i tried the grease trick, but all that did was blow out the bearing seal Think I'm about ready to start cutting.

[sccacuda]

Never had a puller work. I use a slide hammer with a flat hook. Usually comes out in pieces, inner race, and once it is out of the way, the outer.

[Zachalanche]

So I really didn't expect this to work. Any one tried the bread trick? I figured the bread might not squeeze between the bearing races like the grease did, but even with that logic I figured this would be a dead end. But hey, why not have the back of my crank stuffed with grease and bread. I could follow with some butter and jam next.

So, late last night I got after it with 3 pieces of white bread a glass of milk and a bolt custom ground to fit the inner bearing race, wheat probably would have worked as well, but I would rather save that for eating. first slice pushed out most of the grease and made quite a mess. Second slice in and the bread started pushing bread through the bearing making grease covered french-fries. At this point I am certain this isn't going to work, but I had one more slice that I had already handled with my greasy fingers so I wasn't going to give up until it was also stuffed into some part of my engine. I made sure to peel the crust and use that first in hope that it would somehow clog the openings between the bearing balls. By this point I was swinging the hammer quite a bit harder out of frustration when I noticed the outer bearing race was standing slightly proud of the crank. I took a big drink of the milk, quickly gathered up some greasy bread fries off the floor and recycled them into the center of the bearing stuffed the bolt in behind it and gave it a few more enthusiastic whacks with the hammer, and whalla:



Not only did the bread successfully press the bearing out without damaging the crank, it also cleaned all of the grease out. all I had to do was sweep up the bread with a dust pan. Wish I would have tried this first because my hands are so sore from slide hammering that I can barely hold this glass of milk.

[andrewb70]

Brilliant! Nicely done.

Make sure that you clean up all that gunk on the surface of the crank where the flywheel sits. You want that super clean so the flywheel sits against the crank as perfectly as possible. Also, don't forget thread sealer on the flywheel bolts. Those holes go all the way through to oil and if you do not use thread sealer you can have oil weeping through.

Andrew

[Zachalanche]

Brilliant! Nicely done.

Make sure that you clean up all that gunk on the surface of the crank where the flywheel sits. You want that super clean so the flywheel sits against the crank as perfectly as possible. Also, don't forget thread sealer on the flywheel bolts. Those holes go all the way through to oil and if you do not use thread sealer you can have oil weeping through.

Andrew

Thanks for the tips, I had gone through this once before, and ended up disassembling all of it because of this bearing issue. The ARP instructions called for blue lock-tite instead of the sealer. I thought this was odd, but as far as I can tell the crank bolt holes appear to bottom out, which I know is not common.

[Z06vet]

Thats awesome. I never would have thought of that. I would have rather used a slide hammer than the puller, but I couldnt find one with a foot small enough to go inside the bearing.

[andrewb70]

Thanks for the tips, I had gone through this once before, and ended up disassembling all of it because of this bearing issue. The ARP instructions called for blue lock-tite instead of the sealer. I thought this was odd, but as far as I can tell the crank bolt holes appear to bottom out, which I know is not common.

Zach,

If the flywheel bolt are not drilled all the way through, then you should double check to make sure that the length of the bolts is such that the bottom of the bolts don't bottom out on the bottom of the hole. You obviously want the head of the bolts to torque against the surface of the flywheel.

Andrew

[minendrews68]

Zach,
I'm not sure why the bread worked! I thought you were suppose to make toast out of the bread, smear some butter and strawberry preserves on it and wash it down with the milk. Maybe that's where I went wrong....

Carl

[Zachalanche]

Zach,
I'm not sure why the bread worked! I thought you were suppose to make toast out of the bread, smear some butter and strawberry preserves on it and wash it down with the milk. Maybe that's where I went wrong....

Carl

I figured I could save my recipe for crank stuffing for thanksgiving.