I put in a MP roller pilot bearing about 2 years ago when I put the engine and tranny back in my car. About 8 months after putting the engine and tranny back in the clutch starting slipping and I had a shop put a new clutch in.

It has been about 9 months since the new clutch was installed and now whenever I'm letting out the clucth in first gear I hear this horrible noise coming from the engine/tranny area and I can feel it in the clutch pedal. This problem does not happen when you push in and out the clutch when the car is stopped and in neutral only when you first get going from a stop in first gear. It does not happen in any other gears when the car is moving.

I took the car back to the shop that installed the clutch and they told me they have to drop the tranny due to they think it is either the throw out bearing or pilot bearing.

I have had a bad throw out bearing and those make noise when ever you push in the clutch so I don't think it is that.

What are the symptoms of a roller pilot bearing going bad? My biggest worry here is that they are going to blame it on the pilot bearing and try to soak me for the labor of dropping the tranny and replacing the bearing. Since I have never had one of these go bad before I'm not sure what the symptomes are. Personally I think it is an issue with the clutch plate engaging with the fly wheel.

Any thoughts here would be greatly apprieciated.

-Thanks

If i can remember correctly..

A noise in all gears except 4th pedal up, is the pocket bearing.

A noise in all gears (except N) pedal up, is front case bearing.

A squeal at first press of pedal up/down, is the throw out bearing.

A squeal when pedal down in neutral is the pilot bearing. Its is a classic case of riding the clutch pedal on a over built street car to smooth it out its driveablility.

Am i right , guys ? four gear savoy ?

Bad vibration coming out of 1st gear from a stop.

If it is chattering at the get-go , probably a warpped flywheel is happening.

There is no clutch chatter, just a noise that happens only at certain points in the release of the clutch pedal. I think if you rev the engine higher and let the clutch out it does not do it as much.

The noise it so strange I don't even know how to describe it, but you can feel a high frequency vibration in the clutch pedal. When the mechanic went with me on a test drive to show him the problem even he was baffled by the sound.

I have never been convinced of the practicality/need for a roller bearing.
In my opinin, nothing wrong with the stock bronze oilite bushing...it could take a beating and handle dust and dirt.
Correct me if I'm wrong here....but doesn't the roller bearing setup install in the flywheel, not the crank recess ?
If so, that puts the roller bearing much closer to the output shaft bearing (307/308), and then there is not much room for the input shaft to have any wiggle room...so to speak.
So...what I am suggesting here, is that those little rollers are taking up a lot of load, from your output shaft, and they are in a dirty environment.
Bronze anyone ?

Challenger 74, I believe you are correct on the bearing being installed in the flywheel, it has been a while since I did it and now that you mentioned it I believe that is where it went.

The reason the roller bearing was used is because the crankshaft is a 4" Eagle stroker crank and for some reason the hole that they drill for the tranny input shaft is not the standard size as the factory shaft so you can't put the standard pilot bushing in there. I don't remember what the specifics where at the time but my engine builder said I could use the MP roller bearing as an alternative.

I'm not sure if Eagle has since addressed this issue (this was almost two years ago when I had the engine done) but I think I remember reading a post on here that someone else had the same problem trying to find a pilot bushing that would fit the Eagle 4" crank.

But it is what it is, so no need to really debate whether they are a good idea or not, I really just need to find out what the symptoms are when they go bad.

Roller bearing goes on the end of the crank in the convertor hub register NOT on the flywheel.
As for your noise good luck.

If you tapped it in the hub with a hammer, it can be a pain to knock out. Some have suggested filling the space behind the roller with grease, then shove a dowel in the hole, and tapping it out with hydraulic force. It is a pain. It is best to mic the pilot hole in the crank, and lathe your own. Its pretty simple.

Once the shaft is through the pilot, the rollers usually stay in place.

I'm curious, did you align the bellhousing with those dowels(RobMC forumite can help)? What is your driveshaft angle, and lenth? +3 +3 ? 4gearsavoy is really knowledgeable on this topic.