I just had my transimission problem fixed (blocker rings were worn and the gears wouldn't syncronise) Anyway.. the tranny guy said to replace the piliot bushing (brass bushing in the back on the crank) So I went to the dealer and they have it listed as a bearing. So they brought one out and it's not a brass bushing, it's a full roller bearing. So we looked up different things for about 20 min and found nothing. The picture of what they brought out goes in exactly the same place as what I need but it's not a bushing like what is in the back of my crank right now.

Anyone know anything about this? I told my tranny guy that I was thinking of swapping it to a roller cuz I heard they made them.. but he said no. if it came with a bushing, replace it with a bushing, not a bearing.

What should I do? Did GM canncel the bushings and just made all the replacements bearings?

Thanks!

 

do i know about this?

after $2200 worth of trouble, you'd THINK i know about this

ever hear chatter coming from your tranny when you're idling in neutral?

ever feel your clutch pedal rattle around so much you can feel it all the way up your leg when you touch it?

that's your pilot BUSHING (for those with stocker trannies)

i made the mistake of not replacing mine when i had my stocker clutch replaced with a SPEC Stage 3 Ceramic 6-puck (BEAUTIFUL clutch!!!) The douches who replaced my clutch saw the bushing was stock and crappy so they didnt bother to replace it.

So, after driving around for a while while it was chattering in neutral at idle, shaking the clutch pedal etc. That $10 part finally came back to kick me square in the face

This thing being worn had done so much damage, my entire beautiful SPEC Stage 3 clutch was completely SCREWED. The pilot bushing/bearing balances the transmission with the rest of the powertrain when engaging/disengaging the trans. So when this BUSHING (for those of you running stock equipment) stopped doing its job, nothing was balanced and EVERYTHING screwed up. It ended up eating my synchros, eating my clutch and costing me $2200 in total repairs. One good thing is that upon replacing the bushing with a bearing i noticed a definite improvement in ride quality!

My advice, GET THE BEARING AND LOSE THE BUSHING, FOLLOW DIRECTIONS AND REPLACE ALL USED MISC. PARTS NO MATTER WHAT - YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT WILL GO WRONG OR HOW 'WORN' A GIVEN PART REALLY IS!!!

To answer your question, GM replaced the bushing with a bearing - apparently the bearing lasts a lot longer and provides much better engage/disengage quality etc.

that's my $0.02

oh yea - and after the $2200 in repairs, I was stuck back with a stock clutch!! My Spec clutch was out of warranty and they wouldn't help me!

 

Dayum! Well my bushing is not really worn... I was just going by what the tranny guy said and before you flame him, he told me exact instructions down to what direction to sand my DS yoke So I trusted him.

My engine building teacher suggested changing it to a roller bearing in the first place (I have A LOT of trust in what he says) So I was SHOCKED to hear the tranny guy say he was dumb for suggesting that.

Thats all the convincing I need... I will change it to a roller bearing (before my clutch starts rattling and vibrating like you described, and before my drivetrain costs me any more money) And my faith is restored in my engine teacher.

Does anyone else have any experience with this? I second opinion would really put my mind to rest.

Thanks a lot pillagenburn! And sorry to hear about all that. Amazing what that little $10 piece of metal can do

 

If I remember right my car had a roller bearing in it from the dtart, but it was trashed. i picked up a new one at NAPA for about twelve bucks and it has worked flawlessly. I have no idea what your tranny was thinking. Of course a roller bearing is superior to a brass bushing. I just put a little grease on mine and tapped it in place. It's a nice snug fit on the input shaft. Went back together like a charm.

 

Ok... roller bearing it is. But while we are on the topic...

How did you guyes get your bushing (if you had one) out? I think there is a tool.. and I might be able to get access to it. But other methods I know of are packing it with grease and using a hammer and punch or watever fits, hit the grease at the hydraulics of it will push it out from behind.

Anyone recommend a way to do it? Thanks again!

 

I'm with pillagenburn on this. My car was experiencing a vibration that I could feel throughout the car. I had recently put a new Ram Stage 3 Powergrip clutch in and it started doing it. I then put in a new billet steel flywheel and it was still doing it. Some people were telling me the flywheel was out of balance but the 3rd time we had the trans out (In a matter of weeks ) we finally noticed the damaged pilot bearing. A new one got rid of all the vibration. Good luck to you.

 

You can try the grease method, but I used a puller on mine. I'm sure you can rent one from Autozone if you don't have one. I also just read somewhere that instead of grease you can use wet toilet paper, which may actually work better since it won't ooze out as easy.

 

I've used the grease method on my '79 4-spd... Pack the bushing bore full of grease; then get a wooden dowel that's close to the size of the bore. Hammer in the dowel(gently) and the bushing should pop right out.

Dave

 

go to your local checker/schucks/kragen and rent the pilot bearing puller tool. If the manager is cool he wont even charge you a rental fee as long as you buy the bearing/bushing from him. Atleast thats the way i run my store


trav