2.3L ('02-'11) 2003 Mazda B2300 (2003 ranger clone) - Manual Trans. Pilot bearing question

[R2D2]

So I originally had a 2003 Ford Ranger 2.3L manual trans that I bought from my dad back around 2008 that had similar problems as the Mazda ranger clone of the same year that I have now. At one point for a few years I was having slave cylinder issues mostly. However when thinking back, I was having multiple issues simultaneously. Slave cylinder issues and bad pilot bearing issues, at the same time. Since I've resolved the slave cylinder issues, here the last couple 2 or 3 years, I keep having to replace the pilot bearing every 20K miles or so. I just replaced the bearing almost exactly a year ago last February and now one year later with only around 20K miles on it it's going bad again. I bought the 2003 Mazda off craigslist about 7-8 years ago because I knew anything that went wrong with that truck I already knew what the problem was and how to fix it because of the ranger. The Mazda that I bought off Craigslist happened to have had a bad 2nd gear synchro in it and so when the ranger went kaput after 350Kmi I transferred the ranger transmission to the Mazda. Anyway, back to the problem and question.

So every time the truck starts getting hard to get into gear the last couple years I know it's time to drop the trans again. It always turns out to be the pilot bearing gone bad because the bearing cage has broken up in the bearing releasing the needle bearings which jam up at the back of the hole and then keep the input shaft from moving fully forward so that the clutch will disengage enough to get it into gear smoothly. It's never the release bearing or the clutch finger springs or worn clutch disks. It's always the pilot bearing. Is anyone familiar with the issue? I blame the cheap design of the pilot bearing. Every single brand of these bearings made for this truck all have plastic needle bearing cages. I have not found one with a solid metal bearing cage. Does anyone know of a cross-reference with other trucks that have the same size pilot bearing that actually have metal bearing cages? Aside from the cheap design of the pilot bearings, what else do you think it could be cause of the pilot bearing to go bad so soon? Bent input shaft maybe with a slight wobble? Idk. I'm tired of this. I don't have a lift and a garage to drop the trans and do the job. I always have to do it in my front yard out in the open with jack-stands and it's a 8-10 hour job getting the truck all jacked up nice and high and safe, do everything it takes to get the trans off all to replace a $5 bearing and then putting it all back together. All that every 20Kmiles because of a $5 part.

 

[pjtoledo]

I have a 2005 Ranger, base model with 2.3 manual.
the original pilot bearing started making noise & grabbing somewhere around 170,000 miles.
replaced it at 180,000 and it was still O)K when I replaced the engine at 360,000 miles.
Napa parts for me on that job.

check the input shaft. mine was a bit scored and needed polishing. added some extra grease.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Before bearings there were bushings...
Maybe?

 

[Brain75]

If you can't find bearings with decent materials (not plastic)... get the raw dimensions needed (OD and ID), and then look on amazon for Timken brand - or timkens site directly for a local distributor... surely there will be a decent bearing with the right specs - just the parts stores don't have that number in their computer so they say "nope that's not it". That said, I put a bushing (sintered bronze) that I bought off amazon when I did my T5 swap and am still quite happy with it... I'm not a 'racecar driver'...

 

[bobbywalter]

i would check your dowels and runout.

 

[R2D2]

I have a 2005 Ranger, base model with 2.3 manual.
the original pilot bearing started making noise & grabbing somewhere around 170,000 miles.
replaced it at 180,000 and it was still O)K when I replaced the engine at 360,000 miles.
Napa parts for me on that job.

check the input shaft. mine was a bit scored and needed polishing. added some extra grease.

I always got the clutch kits from NAPA. The pilot bearings come with the kit. The last time though I ditched the pilot bearing that came in the NAPA kit and got a National pilot bearing off Rock Auto. The brand National was the most expensive one ($5-$6) but still had a plastic bearing cage. To my recollection the input on the Ranger trans is not scored, which is the one that's in the Mazda right now. Now the input shaft on the original Mazda trans was massively scored, and like I said it had a bad 2nd gear synchro. I hauled that trans to the junk yard. I believe that truck was used for a commercial work vehicle and that multiple people were driving it who didn't care about the truck because it didn't belong to them by the way they totally messed up that transmission.

If you can't find bearings with decent materials (not plastic)... get the raw dimensions needed (OD and ID), and then look on amazon for Timken brand - or timkens site directly for a local distributor... surely there will be a decent bearing with the right specs - just the parts stores don't have that number in their computer so they say "nope that's not it". That said, I put a bushing (sintered bronze) that I bought off amazon when I did my T5 swap and am still quite happy with it... I'm not a 'racecar driver'...

That sounds like a plan. I've got a micrometer but I will probably need a dial caliper to measure the dimensions exact enough I guess.

Edit: Check it out. I went to Rock Auto and pulled up the pilot bearing and it has the exact manufacturer specs of the bearings. You can't get more exact than this. So I guess I'm off to Timken to see if they have it:

Edit 2: Looking at the description there for "Features & Benefits:" It says "Available in both caged design and full complement". I wonder if that "full compliment" design is what I'm looking for. Rock Auto is not showing any additional pilot bearing except the one listed and all of them have plastic cages. I guess I would have to contact National Bearing directly and see if they have that full compliment bearing.

[

Edit 3: I actually searched "Timken pilot bearing FC65354", which corresponds with the National bearing No. from the Rock Auto screenshot and Amazon has one. That was easy enough. I guess since the part number is identical that the dimensions are identical or that would be a really crazy coincidence if it wasn't. And the cage looks metallic and not plastic. Winner winner chicken dinner. Thanks man!

Edit 4: They have the Timken FC65354 pilot bearing on Rock Auto also. $5.80 plus shipping. Just for future reference. I checked the housing diameters on the info links from Rock Auto and both the National and Timken are exactly the same size.

https://www.rockauto.com/en/parts/timken,FC65354,clutch+pilot+bearing,1964

i would check your dowels and runout.

I'm not a tech but even though I don't know exactly what you're talking about that sounds familiar just from pouring over Haynes manuals over the years doing tons of repairs. I'll have to look that up and research it and see if it's something I can do.

 

[Brain75]

runout is in reference to the pilot shaft - if it is not round, but egg shaped... just measure the diameter a dozen times working around the shaft to see if they all match (true round) or vary all over the place (egg shaped). As you can imagine an egg shaped surface will keep wearing out any bearing you put on it.

"dowels" is in reference to the alignment dowels or alignment pins between engine and trans.. pins that stick out and mate into matching holes on the other surface - if they have been hamburgered by someone forcing a trans to mate, and shaved off a little or rounded out then they don't hold the alignment true anymore.. more just checking they aren't all smashed up but lesser can also check runout on them.

 

[R2D2]

runout is in reference to the pilot shaft - if it is not round, but egg shaped... just measure the diameter a dozen times working around the shaft to see if they all match (true round) or vary all over the place (egg shaped). As you can imagine an egg shaped surface will keep wearing out any bearing you put on it.

"dowels" is in reference to the alignment dowels or alignment pins between engine and trans.. pins that stick out and mate into matching holes on the other surface - if they have been hamburgered by someone forcing a trans to mate, and shaved off a little or rounded out then they don't hold the alignment true anymore.. more just checking they aren't all smashed up but lesser can also check runout on them.

Ahh ok, that's easy enough to understand. You could actually mount a dial caliper to the bell housing to get a real accurate reading on the runout. And when I bought this truck and dropped the trans for the first time one of the lowest bolt holes was totally stripped out. And one of the starter bolt holes is screwed-up too and I swear it looked like no one had ever dropped the trans before. I'm wondering if some jack leg on the assembly line screwed the holes up with an impact wrench when it was manufactured. Every time I've put it back together I make sure the bolts start hand tight easy before I start cranking down on them and it has to be on the dowel pins or it won't pull back to the engine block.

 

[bobbywalter]

i am referring to runout as in offset of the dowels. corrosion alone takes the case relationship to centerline of crank enough to eat up pilots and drag the shifting a bit but not wipe out the input bearing.

 

[R2D2]

i am referring to runout as in offset of the dowels. corrosion alone takes the case relationship to centerline of crank enough to eat up pilots and drag the shifting a bit but not wipe out the input bearing.

Ahh ok gotcha