Pilot Bearing Question???
Pilot Bearing Question??? Hey all, my transmission woes just keep getting worse. The shop working on my 2002 Trans Am with a 5.7L called saying the Centerforce 43001 pilot bearing that replaced the OEM one is noisy and they question it for a higher performance clutch (I had a McLeod Street Extreme ceramic clutch kit, 75323, installed). The shop wants to know if I want to live with the noise or go with a brass pilot bearing? I am not sure of advantages or disadvantages of this and would prefer quiet unless it would lead to failure. This is a saga I don't want to repeat for at least another 50k miles.
What pilot bearing should I be running. Car is stock motor and rear end. I wanted a stronger clutch, pressure plate, and flywheel after replacing the master/slave cylinders.
What pilot bearing should I be running. Car is stock motor and rear end. I wanted a stronger clutch, pressure plate, and flywheel after replacing the master/slave cylinders.
I personally prefer the needle bearing style of pilot bearing over the bushing style, less drag and less wear. Either one should function just fine and working on cars for a living I've never seen or heard of a pilot bearing causing a noise, I've seen them completely worn down to nothing and not cause issue, sounds more like a possible throw out bearing problem or possibly an incorrectly installed clutch disc or incorrect flywheel. Good luck, Michael
The 43001 is a roller bearing it definitely shouldn't make noise unless its defective or was damaged upon installation. The easiest way to tell if its the bearing is to release the clutch in neutral. I definitely wouldn't accept it the way it is, if it is in fact the pilot bearing it could damage the input shaft which is 450 for a tremec part and its on back order. Its possible the throw out bearing is making noise but the noise should change by working the clutch pedal. If it were me id tell them to pull the trans and go take a look at it to make sure they didn't screw something up.
I contacted McLeod last night but their phones were off and all I could do was submit an email request. I will call them today and hopefully get through, last time I was on hold for 2 hours.
You are correct, the throw out bearing is on the slave cylinder, but the bearing itself can be replaced separately. It's not likely that a new one from the dealer is bad but it is possible or it could have gotten nocked out of position during the installation process or even during shipping. It really sounds like the trans will need to come back out to see what is going on. The only clutches that I know of that make noise are the multi-disc units and that is only when the clutch is pressed in. The other gentleman is correct on the throw out bearing noise, if it's that it should definitely change the sound in some way when the clutch pedal is pressed vs released. Good luck, Michael
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Joined: Apr 2007
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From: Montgomery (Lake Conroe,) TX north of Houston
Any updates on this?
My Centerforece Dual Friction clutch kit came with three different roller pilot bearings. The instructions were very clear on how to measure to insure that the right one of the three were installed in the back of the crankshaft. Maybe that 43001 bearing isn't the right one?
My Centerforece Dual Friction clutch kit came with three different roller pilot bearings. The instructions were very clear on how to measure to insure that the right one of the three were installed in the back of the crankshaft. Maybe that 43001 bearing isn't the right one?
No updates, the shop was to drop the transmission to pull and reassemble the flywheel, pressure plate and clutch to measure the pressure plate's finger gap to determine if I need to RMA the pressure plate with McLeod. I had too many work things going on to catch up with the shop manager this week which sucks because I wanted to get this all sorted out prior to the holiday break.
