SO! long story short, Performance Mazda in Houston lied to me when I told them to check my transmission, which i have warranty for. I was having issues shifting form 3rd to 4th gear only at 7k rpm. They told me they checked my clutch, which they don't cover, and that it would be 1800.00 total for a STOCK clutch, throwout bearing, and pressure plate.. Naturally i said screw you guys I'm going to buy an ACT PROLITE flywheel and performance clutch and pressure plate and do it myself.

After pulling the braces off for the exhaust, removing the exhaust, taking out the drive shaft dropping the transmission, and pulling the clutch it was apparent that the dealer had NOT checked teh clutch at all. The clutch was completely fine and all the bolts form the exhaust and such had never been touched. But now i have everything off and want to put the performance stuff on.

We FINALLY got everything off after running into one issue after another with the flywheel but now we can't get the pilot bearing off.How in the WORLD do i get this pilot bearing off? And what all do i need to know for installing the new pilot bearing, flywheel, and clutch and pressure plate? I've watched the DIY video and been all over the forum. And btw.. the DIY video for the clutch and flywheel replacement leave out a LOOOOOT of stuff that needs to be done lol.. it's not as easy as it looks.

 

I use a Blind Hole Bearing Puller:


"Back yard" methods such as stuffing grease or wads of wet paper behind the bearing and punching it out may not work since our pilot bearing doesn't have much contact surface behind it.
Could be wrong... never tried this method on an 8.

Torque the bolts/nuts properly!

Are you planning on replacing the oil seal too?
Be sure the pilot bearing is tapped in straight.
Once the bearing is flush with the end of the eshaft, then start tapping in the oil seal.

The alignment tool for the clutch disc always slopes down, so you'll need to hold it level while tightening the PP bolts.


Obviously too late, but there might be a "better" DIY soon

 

^^^ What he says. Get ready to eventually have to check your clutch pedal's welds... and probably replace the whole transmission.

A good rule of thumb is to avoid starting car work that you're not sure you can carry out on your own. Transmission and clutch replacements are very easy if you know what to do and have the right tools... There's also a service manual that's worth a thousand DIYs.

 

Okay, thanks for the advice. And yes, the original clutch that the dealer said was bad, is perfectly fine. And i know whats going to happen. I'm going to take the clutch back to them and say it's perfectly fine now fix my transmission like i said the first time, and they will happily tell me that sense i did the work myself the warranty is void. So I will be getting Mazda USA involved with this.

As for the pilot bearing, i purchased the pilot bearing removal tool from MadzdaTrix so I'll do that once it comes in. I have the new flywheel on though so that's good. I will probably make a thread explaining EVERYTHING involved in a flywheel and clutch replacement, including torque values for bolts, and everything else i had a hard time finding lol.