Pilot bearing and flywheel issue. 1.8L
 

I took out the motor and tranny to do all the seals and replace the clutch. Everything went smooth right up to the point when I separated the tranny from the motor. The pilot bearing fell out! I thought it was odd, and I set the bearing to the side as I complete the rear main seal and other stuff. Today, I go to install the clutch and the hole in the flywheel is bigger than the bearing. So, I check the old bearing against the new on and they are the same. I go to the autoparts store, 2 of them actually, and they have the same sizes too. I think my flywheel got damaged by the semi-seized pilot bearing and got bored out by a little bit. You can see the outer edge of the hole is raised. Have you all seen anything similar to that? I obviously need a replacement 1.8 flywheel. No biggie though. If thats my only hang up during this process then I will be pleased as punch. I also have the turbo stuffs just begging to be put in...

Was the bearing that came out an OEM unit?? If so it's very possible to be exactly what you said. The OEM units are not the best and bind. I know quite a few people that have had to pull the tranny for a bad OEM pilot bearing and the clutch is still in good shape. The funny thing is you had no idea you had a bad bearing. No noises?? No creeping at idle in gear with the clutch in?? No hard shifting?

Nope nothing. My brother in law asked me the same question after inspecting the original bearing. You can see some discoloration from the heat build up. These were the factory original parts. The clutch was going to fail in the very near future. It could have been worse too. I am going to call a local imports supply house to see how much a new flywheel cost. Advanced has them for 59.00 after 40.00 for the core replacement. I could pick up a used one, but as cheap as they seem to be, I would rather get a new one.

I make it a habit to never use an Mazda OEM pilot bearing. It's hard to make some people understand why I want them to buy a new pilot bearfing before I install a clutch when the "kit" they got from the dealer has a bearing in it.