Pilot Bearing Failures
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
From: LAkeland, FL
Pilot Bearing Failures The original pilot bearing was disintegrated (rusty dust in an empty bearing cage) when I replaced the original clutch at 120K miles. I replaced it with another GM bearing. That bearing disintegrated by 160K miles. I replaced it with a bushing. The failed pilot bearings caused excessive wear on the bearing at the back of the input shaft, and I replaced the tranny at 190K miles. The bushing, with 30K miles on it, was wallowed out. I replaced it with another bushing when I replaced the tranny. At 201K miles, I'm beginning to hear the rumbling noise signaling the beginning of another pilot bearing failure. Should I go back to a bearing?
If you're chewing up pilot bearings/bushings, it's possible there's a very slight alignment problem between the bearing and input shaft. Are all four dowel pins still in place? There should be two in the block to line up the bellhousing/block and two in the transmission to line up the trans/bell. Any missing or loose dowels could alter the centerline ever so slighty and cause bearing/bushing failure.
