Page 1 of 2

Pilot bearing/bushing removal

Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 10:47 am
by scumby
I've tried a two armed puller already and from the looks of it the grease trick that has worked in the past won't work on this one. i've tried heating the crank with a heat gun to expand it a bit but that didn't work either. any suggestions or does anyone have a better style puller?

Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 12:35 pm
by OldGreen
Last time I did one, I made the puller out of washers, nuts and a piece of all thread. Should have taken a picture.

Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 12:50 pm
by 79chevy39.5's
I like to use grease and pieces of paper towel (generally scotts shop towels) I use a bolt with electrical tape to make a tight fit. There is a lisle tool that reads into the bearing/bushing that you use a grease gun on that then pushes it out

Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 1:03 pm
by scumby
problem with grease is that the cavity in the crankshaft is identical in size to the I.D. of the bushing I'm trying to remove with the exception of a 1/8" tapered gap between the two about an inch from the inside of the crank.

Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 1:05 pm
by OldGreen
Pic?

Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 1:37 pm
by scumby
not currently at the house, maybe tomorrow. the pic below I found on the interweb since I'm not home. you can kinda see where the bushing ends and there is only about an 1/8" to get the fingers of the puller set in. however there is a taper on the bushing that allows the fingers to work their way up the taper and out of that small grove.

Image

Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 2:45 pm
by 79chevy39.5's
Thread a bolt into it. It can push it out or give you something to grab onto

Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 2:51 pm
by Lurch
I've got a puller at work that may work.

Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 3:22 pm
by scumby
79chevy39.5's wrote:Thread a bolt into it. It can push it out or give you something to grab onto


I was thinking that as well. possibly even tapping it.

Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 3:36 pm
by mattawajeep
Try a piece of white bread. Works better than grease when you dont have as much of a lip. Get a punch the same size as the hole, shove in a piece of crustless bread and hit it with a big hammer. Real fast and easy to clean up.

Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 3:40 pm
by OldGreen
That is exactly what I did on my 304. Bread and BFH. Hard!

Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 3:58 pm
by White trash
Is it a bearing or bushing? It must be a bearing since I'm sure you'd have broken the bushing apart by now. :lol:


If it's a bearing weld a nut to it and take a few inches of appropriately sized all thread with a nut welded to the end and crank it down.

Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 4:05 pm
by scumby
White trash wrote:Is it a bearing or bushing? It must be a bearing since I'm sure you'd have broken the bushing apart by now. :lol:


If it's a bearing weld a nut to it and take a few inches of appropriately sized all thread with a nut welded to the end and crank it down.


bushing. the red arrow shows where the separation of crankshaft and bushing are.

Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 4:08 pm
by scumby
mattawajeep wrote:Try a piece of white bread. Works better than grease when you dont have as much of a lip. Get a punch the same size as the hole, shove in a piece of crustless bread and hit it with a big hammer. Real fast and easy to clean up.


I'm not sure the white bread would work, again that little 1/8" crack is the only separation of the two and the ID of both are the same so the bread would only be able to occupy that little crevice. And I don't have a punch of the proper size.

Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 4:16 pm
by mattawajeep
scumby wrote:I'm not sure the white bread would work, again that little 1/8" crack is the only separation of the two and the ID of both are the same so the bread would only be able to occupy that little crevice. And I don't have a punch of the proper size.


That little crack is the only bit you need. The force has to go somewhere, and it'll be the crack. Done it lot's of times on a sprayer or tractor with funky bushings.

When you push the bread in, make sure to fill the crack as well, and fill it almost all the way to the outer bushing. If you don't have the correct size punch, use some electrical tape on a bolt, or the punch to fill the gap as 79chevy39.5's said. Hit it hard with a big hammer and you'll laugh when it pops out.

Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 4:18 pm
by OldGreen
Yep. It is kind of comical.

Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 6:19 pm
by scumby
I guess i'll have to buy a loaf of white bread.

Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2015 5:46 pm
by scumby
Does it have to be white bread? Forgot to pick some up om the way home, tried non white bread and it did not work. Put a few cuts in it with a dremel in hopes it would relieve some
pressure but no help. Broke my snap on puller trying to get it out. To big ID to tap it, 1.4ish inches.

Lurch, what kind of puller do you have?

Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2015 6:03 pm
by 79chevy39.5's
You can't just chisel it out?

1.4 is big what this in?

Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2015 6:24 pm
by scumby
chiseling not going to work it's more of a sleeve that's an 1/8" - 3/16" thick for the nub on the torque converter to fit into. it's a 4.0 block.

Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2015 7:02 pm
by 79chevy39.5's
Converters don't use pilot bushing

Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2015 7:28 pm
by Roman
UH OH!

Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2015 7:37 pm
by mattawajeep
scumby wrote:Does it have to be white bread? Forgot to pick some up om the way home, tried non white bread and it did not work. Put a few cuts in it with a dremel in hopes it would relieve some
pressure but no help. Broke my snap on puller trying to get it out. To big ID to tap it, 1.4ish inches.

Lurch, what kind of puller do you have?


What kind of bread did you use? I imagine whole grain stuff might not work that well. :lol: But anything with the same consistency of standard white bread should work. Hotdog, hamburger bun, playdough.....

You apply any heat or PB blaster to it yet? Bread should work no matter what, but if you've got penetrating oil in there it would lessen the force you need to apply with the hammer.

Oh, and if it's that big, 1.4", you'll need a big hammer. A full sledge would make things easier.

ETA: I think I remember reading about that particular sleeve. I think most cut it out or use a chisel. If you have a decent chisel set and sharpen them you can cut through just about anything. It's also big enough that you could fit a slid hammer in there, or even a sawzall.

Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2015 7:45 pm
by OldGreen
scumby wrote:Does it have to be white bread? Forgot to pick some up om the way home, tried non white bread and it did not work. Put a few cuts in it with a dremel in hopes it would relieve some
pressure but no help. Broke my snap on puller trying to get it out. To big ID to tap it, 1.4ish inches.

Lurch, what kind of puller do you have?



WAIT. . .the hole should either be 3/4 or 7/8. Do you already have the new one? You may be removing the insert that the bearing rides in.

Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2015 7:49 pm
by mattawajeep