i put a new clutch pp/tb in and forgot to put in the pilot bearing is it gone do alot of damage if i run her without it or do i have to tear her down agin the old one was just a bunch of rust fragmeants&dust anyways so is it an absolute must?? all advice is appricetied

 

yes

 

When I pulled my motor to rebuild it I noticed there wasn't a pilot bearing in there. No way I missed it. I know that the guy before me had pulled the original engine out, so it seems reasonable. I put a new one in when I reinstalled it but I don't notice any difference at all. It still puzzles the hell outta me on how I managed withou one, but I did.

 

You need a pilot bearing, they don't put it in for fun





I've had damaged ones come out too, that just means you're overdue for replacing and you can risk damaging your shaft(s)

 

I had one that was damaged and I felt a slight vibration from the drive train. It went away after replacing it. I am sure it would have vibrated a lot more or worse at over 8K RPM.

 

I had a pilot bearing completely die on me. All I pulled out of the shaft was the race. The needles were all gone, probably fell out of the bell housing. The input shaft of the tranny has some nice scores on it. The tranny wouldn't go into first gear at all, so I'm suspecting you wouldn't be able to either without banging it in.

 

As much as a pain-in-the-*** it sounds, you should do the job properly.

With a lift, replacing the pilot bearing shouldn't take more than a couple hours.





-Ted

 

Replace it. But, as an interesting side note I did a clutch job on an MR2 turbo and they don't use a pilot bearing. The shaft just hangs out there. Very odd to me.

 

I think my pilot bearing is going out on me. It's hard as hell to shift the transmission into gear when the engine is on. I was sitting at a stop light last night and nearly had to use two hands to put the engine in first gear. Strangely, I just replaced it when I rebuilt my engine about 4k miles ago. I think I may have forgot that little seal that goes in after the pilot bearing though. :-/ Anyway, I would say it's definately noticeable if it goes bad.

 

[quote name='ryosuke_fc' date='Jun 4 2005, 05:33 PM']I think my pilot bearing is going out on me. It's hard as hell to shift the transmission into gear when the engine is on. I was sitting at a stop light last night and nearly had to use two hands to put the engine in first gear. Strangely, I just replaced it when I rebuilt my engine about 4k miles ago. I think I may have forgot that little seal that goes in after the pilot bearing though. :-/ Anyway, I would say it's definately noticeable if it goes bad.


[/quote]



Your problem might be something else like maybe air in the clutch line or just a worn out tranny.