If only we all had vanagon owner's manuals with such explanations....

In a prior e-mail, you mentioned the following:
"If the pilot shaft bearing chewed up
the tranny input shaft add still more time and money."

Can you explain how a siezed pilot bearing causes the tranny input shaft
to be chewed up?  What is the likelihood of this happening?

I was told once that if a tranny is on the bench, it's "easy" to replace
the input shaft.  What is a ballpark price for an input shaft, and how
much time should it take to replace?

Thank you for your excellent and generous contributions.

David

On Sun, 08 Jun 2003 16:14:09 -0700 mark drillock <drillock@earthlink.net>
writes:
> Yes. The main purpose of the bearing is to allow the engine to turn
> at a
> different speed that the tranny input shaft. If the bearing is
> seized
> the tranny shaft will turn whenever the crankshaft is turning. Since
> both shafts turn together anyway when you are in neutral with the
> clutch
> pedal released the suspect pilot bearing is not needed at that time.
> It
> is also not needed when in gear and the vehicle is moving with the
> clutch pedal released. It's main use is when the vehicle is stopped
> in
> gear and the engine is running. That is what wears it out. Some
> people
> sit at stop lights with the clutch pedal down and the tranny in
> gear.
> Doing that forces this bearing to work that whole time and shortens
> it's
> life. It also does some work when you are shifting gears and have
> the
> clutch pedal down and if you make it a habit to coast in gear while
> holding the clutch down that will also require the bearing to do
> work.
>
> The pilot bearing is a little tiny needle bearing. It gets no
> lubrication it's whole life other than what it is given by the
> mechanic
> who puts it in. When you idle at a light with the tranny still in
> gear
> this poor bearing spins at 1000 rpm the whole time. It is amazing
> that
> they last as long as they do when driven properly but holding down
> the
> clutch while idling wears them out. They usually make noise long
> before
> they get so bad as to completely seize.
>
> Mark
>
>
> David Most wrote:
> >
> > If the pilot bearing is seized, would I still be able to start the
> engine
> > with the gear shift in neutral and just let it idle?
> >
> >
>

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