Would it be ok to heat up the pilot bearing and try to remove it that way? I have the advance auto bearing puller and it slips off after a couple of turns, I tried the bread trick and it hasn't moved. I read what other people have done and I have yet to try and use the slide hammer trick.

 

well you dont want to cook the rear seal.
you can cut it out if needed.
Also I would install a bushing and not a bearing.
Bearings ware out and fall apart.
A bushing packed with grease will last a LONG time

 

The bushings that are sold at the auto parts stores now have iron in them and they are total crap. If you want a good Oil Lite bronze bushing then contact AGE Autogear. They sell the good bushings that will last a long time, and they won't eat up the input shaft of your transmission. I removed one of the newer bronze/iron bushings earlier this week from a '69 Camaro that hadn't been in the car for very long and it was already completely shot, and the input shaft was getting rough and turning black. If you don't know what kind of bushing you are getting then just take a magnet with you and stick it on the bushing. If it sticks to the magnet then it's the junk stuff that you don't want.

 

Keep trying the grease / bread until it works. This works on the Gen I & II well.

The blind hole puller tool (rental? Harbor Freight? with slide hammer) is an option.

Heating the part that's inside another will expand it. Though you could heatgun it and use freezing spray (R134a) on the bearing to shrink it, I'd just go for a puller.

If doing a lot of them, invest in a tool like the OTC 7318.

And I second that Autogear is a good vendor.

 

Heating the bearing will expand it & make it tighter. Heating the crank seems like a bad idea, if you put to much heat into it you could distort the crank, which could lead to all kinds of problems.

 

If it's a bushing then I've used a tap to cut threads in them and then screwed a bolt in to push them out.

 

Sorry for the late response, I'm still battling this beast. I have two bearing pullers with the slide hammer. One of them I can't use cause the end of the jaw won't fit without taking one out but even then the dowel is doing its job and won't let it out just enough to for the jaw to come out and put one in and then the other.. My wife is bringing home a can of air which I'll turn upside down and try that way.. I will also see if my new one is magnetized or not. Also let this thing soak in some pb blaster the last two days.

 

I've read I don't need to remove the flywheel but should I? Would it be easier to get this thing out? First time doing a clutch and pilot bearing btw.

 

I don't think you have to pull the flywheel. I made a crude slide hammer attachment for pulling pilot bearings. I sacrificed a jaw from a cheapo Chinese 3 jaw gear puller and welded it to a long nut that fits my slide hammer. If the grease trick doesn't work I pull this guy back out from the depths of my tool box. Works every time.

 

I'm pretty much using the same thing I even went as far as to use a 9000 pound wench and it didn't budge at all, I think I may be screwed or at least that's how I'm starting to feel lol

 

I'd try BIG GEAR HEAD's suggestion then. Run a tap in the old bushing and then thread in a bolt. If that doesn't work just try and cut it out.

 

I don't trust myself to cut it and I don't have those tools. I may end up tryin to use a mallet and knock it forward and try and break it free that way if not Ima heat and freeze it may be then, last resort take it to the shop...

 

Worst case scenario you'll get to spend some quality time with a cutting tool in the near future.

 

Yea true, I still have a couple things to try, then I'll consider cutting

 

The pilot bushing is a press fit. You can't knock it free. It's going to be tight no matter what. You will have to force it out one way or another. If you drive it forward then it's just going to be harder to get out.


Get a 9/16-12 bolt and cut some notches in the end so that the threads can cut into the bushing like a tap. Screw it into the bushing and it should cut it's own threads. Keep turning it until it hits the crankshaft and then it will start pushing the bushing out.


If you can't get the bolt to thread into the bushing far enough to hit the crank then at least you should be able to get it threaded in far enough to get a grip on it so that you can use a slide hammer or pry bar to pull the bushing out.

 

The flywheel needs to be removed so it can be resurfaced. This is standard maintenance when replacing a clutch. No, it's not an absolute must, but it will give your new clutch a clean & even surface to mate to. There's no way I could do this job without replacing that $20 rear main seal. Cheap insurance.

 

If the flywheel comes off you should replace the bolts. I think technically flywheel bolts are supposed to be one time use, then technically I should have tightened mine with a torque wrench and not a ratchet with a pipe on it but whatever. Just some food for thought.

 

As previously mentioned, the hydraulic method works. I remove pilot bushings by packing the bushing with wheel bearing or chassis grease, inserting a very close fitting dowel/rod and smacking it with a hammer. Might have to pack a bit more grease into it as the bushing moves out but this method has yet to fail me.

Wear appropriate PPE to keep the grease off your face.