Hello all,
Working on my 2003 G35 coupe Manual six speed. Was fixing a rear main seal leak, and it led to doing other work as well. Got the engine back in place, cradle is bolted up, suspension reconnected. Looking at the car before putting the manual transmission back in, I thought I would replace the pilot bearing. In the past, I've used the grease trick, the toilet paper trick, and a pilot bearing tool. Tried all three today with no luck. The puller I have is 2 prong, it cannot seem to get it's little grabber feet behind the bearing to help pull it out. Putting in the wet toilet paper and the grease, and hours later still not coming out. That thing is really jammed tight in there. if using a puller,for the pilot, what exact tool did you use, I will buy it as I am stuck. If you have another method (I just watched a video on the bread method, pretty funny, I like that one too) if someone would tell it to me, I will try again tomorrow.

 

Wow, this is turning out to be much more difficult than I thought. I bought another tool, this time 3 legged to really get a grip on the bearing, still won't budge. I know these take some time, but damn this one is being a pain.
I thought this tool would do the trick, it's nice.
I think I am going to have to find someone stronger than I am to try this, maybe I just don't have the incredible strength needed to get this thing out.
And now I have scratched the hell out of it, so I must remove it now.

 

Here's a link to the exact ones I use on those VQ pilot bushings.

The problem is Nissan uses a smaller inside diameter than most other manufacturers, couple that with a pilot bushing that's extremely worn and thin and you WILL have trouble getting it out. This puller works every time though, it's too big to actually fit so you will need to use a bench grinder (or manually file) away material to get it to fit. Test your fit against the NEW pilot bushing, not the old one. If it fits a new pilot bushing it will fit a worn out one.

You want to set it's tightness once installed so that it's touching the edges of the crankshaft without having any extra slop. Only takes a couple of hits with the slide wrench and it will pop out any pilot bushing.

OEM Tools 27059 puller


Any 5/8 threaded slide hammer will work, here's the one I keep with that puller, OTC 4579


I'll be at the shop later, I can snap a photo of exactly how I modified it. Basically though I just used a bench grinder to contour off the points so the square puller end of it fits into a circle.

 

I have a feeling that your issue is probably from using a screw type puller instead of a slide hammer type puller.

Worst case scenario you can use a hacksaw or sawzall blade by hand a cut a slice into your existing bushing, then it will practically fall out.

EDIT: If you're using a "collet puller" that will not work, period. Those things are way too light duty for a pilot bushing.

 

Hmmmm.... What you linked to is the exact one I tried, as you said the "feet" just won't grab it well enough, it slips. I will be interested to see your modification.

This is the one I am using at the moment:

Slide hammer style with 3 legs instead of 2.

Hmmm....a sawzall, huh. Oh, I see, you mean just try to cut it holding the blade in my hand, right? Otherwise too much back and forth from the sawzall. I've never tried that before, but I like your thinking!

I presume since it's probably copper it shouldn't be too hard to cut by hand.

I can try that this weekend.

Thanks for the idea.

 

What you linked is a collet puller. The problem is the inside edge that is supposed to grab the back side of the bushing is TAPERED instead of being flat.

That other puller OTC 4579 has a nice sharp 90 degree with no taper, it locks well onto the inside lip of the existing bushing.

I'm just getting ready to head out so I'll get a picture shortly.

And yes use the sawzall or hacksaw blade with your hand, not the power tool (wrap a shop rag around it so it doesn't bite your skin if bare handed). Those bushings cut pretty easily (they're mostly brass alloy), don't worry about slightly nicking the crankshaft, you're not actually going to hurt anything if you cut in a little deep. There's enough of a gap behind the bushing to the back of the crank that a hacksaw blade usually works, I typically use that instead of a sawzall blade because the finer tooth of the hacksaw blade doesn't bind up as much and you have a longer "handle" to hold on to.

 

thank you for all the tips!

Will be trying these all out.

 

Weird, my pictures didn't upload or something, and my entire post seems to have vanished. Here they are again.

In the first pic I drew an arrow to the most important feature of this pilot bushing removal. It's that hard 90 degree angle that's not tapered. That grabs tightly against the inside edge of the existing pilot bushing. Then you can slide hammer to your hearts content to pull it out, just don't overtighten it and wedge it up against the edges of the crankshaft. Just barely remove the play but don't actually TIGHTEN it once it's set in place, you should still be able to move it back and forth.

EDIT: Found them, put them in the wrong post... here's the text of that post.

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Those pictures really help explain what it needs to look like to work. Thanks again.

 

Welll, it took a combonation of both the dremel to weaken it and the puller to finally get it to come out! I ended up cutting it with a dremel on two sides in order to get it to loosen, it wouldn't collapse with a screwdriver, but the puller, after 20 or more pulls with the slide hammer, finally got it free.

Now I can finally put the transmission back in and exhaust on.

It is the smallest parts that are the biggest pain.

 

Awesome, glad you got it all worked out.

 

Thanks for all the advice, I think I would have given up and just set fire to the car if you hadn't given me some ideas on how to get that silly thing out of there.