Thread: tranny troubles

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ok so i'm doing a clutch on an 84 mustang, 5.0 5 speed.... everything was running smooth til i got to the bearing inside the crank for the pilot..... its all cracked.... and it wont come out... its frozen in there.... i've tried torching it and hitting it with a slide hammer..... but the damn thing just wont move..... any ideas?

You could freeze it out. I've seen some stuck stuff and you would be surprised what the cold will do versus heat.

Have you tried the grease technique? A buddy of mine had one stuck in his Mustang and he took wheel bearing grease and some stay dry, mixed it together and then stuck it in the hole behind the bearing pressing it in with his finger. Then he took the pilot tool and stuck it in the bearing and hit it with a hammer. It's like redneck hydraulics the force from the grease behind the bearing will force it out when you hit it from the front.

no i dont have a picture right now.... a little late and dark to take one.... i can take one in the morning... i'm gonna give it another try in the morning... maybe call a buddy over at a tranny shop too and see what he says.... the redneck hydraulics sounds interesting.... but i doubt it'll work, i already soaked it with a bunch of PB blast and tried a heavy duty slide hammer.... and i got no movement at all

its the needle bearing part... and the inner ring and needles are all gone, so all thats left is the bearing race... but its way jammed in there

It sounds like you need a dremel tool to cut the race out. If it is that far in the puller jaws probably won't be able to fit behind it to pull it out.

Yep, a small dremel will allow you to grind a slot through one side of the circle and then it will relax to a smaller size and you can pull it out more easily. Just be careful you only grind through the race and not too deeply into the crank, but that is hard to do as the crank is made of some very tough steel.

I've tried the hydraulic route with grease, and for me it just didn't work, although some swear by it.

Don

We had to mix grease with stay dry. I don't think regular grease would work unless it was really heavy.

Originally Posted by Gerald Streeks

We had to mix grease with stay dry. I don't think regular grease would work unless it was really heavy.

grease will work great if the line up shaft is tight enough in the center of the bearing. fill it up with grease and knock the hell out of it. it will come out.

alright i'm gonna dig out my dremel and hopefully i have cutting discs, since i wont have time to run and get some.... once i get this stupid bearing out this tranny will be a snap to put back in...

and heres a picture of the bearing to give you an idea even tho its a little late

its hard i was trying to drill it with a heavey duty titanium bit and it was getting no where... and actually i'm not replacing the rear main seal..... the car belongs to a friend that is broke and could barely afford the clutch kit..... his tranny needs a rebuild too really, its got a lot of shaft play, luckly the pilot and splines are still in good shape, but he wont be able to afford the rebuild for another month at least..... i already had to pay to resurface his flywheel.... luckily i dont mind dropping the tranny again, it only takes me about 20 minutes to get it out and another 20 to get it back in....

A good man with a fine-tipped cutting torch could split that sucker in half without damaging the crank. Don't try this at home, kids, find a licenced professional!
Is the metal thin enough to get a pointy punch in behind it and roll it inwards?

the story ends sadly..... i cut the bearing out with my torch and got the new clutch in and the tranny back in.... got everything put together for my buddy and he was happy..... but the clutch cable snapped... so he came back the next day and replaced it while i was at work.... he couldn't get it to start.... his waterpump was out when he drove it over to my house and i had been scared he blew his head gaskets.... sure enough he did... and in a pissed off rage... he sent it to the wrecking yard while i was gone..... so i did all that work for nothing

yeah that mustang was already a piece of junk you could tell by the rims, he had 13" x 10" daytons........ it actually ran great before he blew the heads.... but after that whole incident..... i'm not doing anymore major work for friends just because i'm sick of doing favors for people and then getting pushed to waste my only day off not getting rest or paid.... i'll still be nice enough to do belts, accesories, tuneups... the easy stuff... but definately no more heavey line