Pilot bearing fell out....

[Rickey_Bobby]

A friend of mine was installing a new clutch the other day and I cam by to help as he was installing the driveshaft.

When he backed up I saw what looks like his pilot bearing on the ground.

Any first hand knowledge on what this will do if left out?

Car has a specII clutch, tr3650, and puts down 375 at the rear. No drag radials.

 

[fast97gt]

some verybad things will happen, but if it was left out it wil shift rough and maybe not go into gear at all if waited to ling to correct it. but i gotta ask i find it hard to beleive it fell out so what im asking did you forget to put it in or even replace it. one way to find out is find your old one then you know if you forgot or didnt rmember to replace or not

 

[Mustang5L5]

If you are sure it was not installed, then you need to take the car apart again and put it in.

The pilot bearing is one of the supports for the trans that keeps everything lined up. Without it, the input shaft and clutch disk will wobble causing vibrations and may cause problems in the trans down the road. Not having the trans internals fixed in place can cause the trans's torque rating to drop due to flex and gear spread.

In other words, you NEED a pilot bearing

 

[Rickey_Bobby]

I wasn't around for the actual removal of the tranny. My buddy said he put the tranny in and out a few times to get it lined up, I'm thinking one of those times the pilot bearing stick to the input shaft and got pulled out.

 

[stangman]

well he'll be removing it again one way or the other, by choice or necessity.

 

[LaserRed01GT]

If you are sure it was not installed, then you need to take the car apart again and put it in.

The pilot bearing is one of the supports for the trans that keeps everything lined up. Without it, the input shaft and clutch disk will wobble causing vibrations and may cause problems in the trans down the road. Not having the trans internals fixed in place can cause the trans's torque rating to drop due to flex and gear spread.

In other words, you NEED a pilot bearing

Good advice. It's not so critical to the transmission Rickey, but it can be critical to the clutch. It can cause clutch chatter and vibration and will abnormally wear the clutch. He is going to have to yank the trans unfortunately and get that pilot bearing in there.

Could it have been the old pilot bearing?

 

[Rickey_Bobby]

I don't know if it was the new or old. Looks shiney. And my buddy that did this hasn't worked on a car before.... So When I ask obvious questions he's like "whats a pilot bearing"... So thats not good.

I'm gunna help him pull it this week if the weather stops acting like its Ohio

All for an $8 part....

 

[fast97gt]

weres the old one??? if the one you found looks shiney, find the old one, and youll know

 

[1wildGT]

Does the SPEC kit come with a new pilot bearing? Maybe he just left the original in place not knowing what the hell it was? If it is shiny I would assume it's new? I would think he would know if he pulled the old pilot bearing cause aren't they a pain. Gotta use a puch and grease or slide hammer to remove. I just say that because the first two clutches I ever changed I never touched the pilot bearing or knew what the hell one was until recently.

Whatever you guys figure out, good luck. Sounds like the kinda crap I do. Took me 7 hours to swap a mid pipe and install a catback this weekend because of murphys law.

 

[speedytang]

I would give anything if a Pilot Bearing just fell/came out. lol