OK so i got my new t/o bearing from mazdatrix-(12 dollars for 2 day air KICKASS)
anyway i'm working on the tranny and slid her on the fork but notice that the new bearing doesn't hug the fork as much as the old one did, there seems to be a little left and right play in it, not much maybe 1/4 of an inch at most.
My question lies here, should i bend the fingers on the t/o bearing so it sits a little tighter on the fork or is it cool to leave it how it is?

Oh and upon furthur inspection of my pressure plate there are a few fingers bent pretty badly from when the old t/o bearing was/went bad i assume.

The old bearing doesn't rotate very easily at all and just looks like it's in rough shape. So after i install my new clutch the tranny is going back on and then after i hook up the exhaust it's on to do a vac hose rennovation with all new hoses and then i'll be good as gold

Matt

 

Actually i think i perhaps found the root of all my problems.
My clutch pressure plate had a few bent fingers but that wasn't the worst of it, on the clutch disk, when i took a quick look at it while it was still mounted on the flywheel i discovered that one of the springs had broken all of the way out, and the one oppisite of that had developed a large crack that i assume with 20 miles more driving would have broken also. so now it's on to replacing my clutch set, good thing i ordered an alingment tool from mazda trix along with a few other goodies when i needed a t/o bearing.
Matt

 

anybody answer my question in the 1st post please?
thanks,
Matt

 

You need a little play there, because the fork arm "fingers" must rotate a bit as the T/O bearing is actuated forward. As long as the bearing spins up like it should, not much force will be transmitted to the fork arm channels at the back of the bearing assy (rotationally)...Once everything's together, she ain't going nowhere

Check the pivot ball on the tranny front cover while you have it all apart, also, it tends to wear a groove that affects the smooth transition of the arm/bearing into the pressure plate (which can lead to premature failure of the spring "fingers").

 

I put some bearing grease on there (be sure to apply sparingly as to not get it on any the clutch assembly). It seemed to run real smooth down the shaft after that. Also, I wouldn't bend those "arms" that hold the t/o bearing to the fork at all, I dropped a t/o bearing once (koyo brand, not mazda) and both of them broke off. They don't seem too flexable. There is some play in the fork and bearing, but if the fork is bent then it won't operate correctly once you bolt everything back together, it could also cause your new t/o bearing to fail as well. I actually just threw away one or i'd be able to send you one.

 

Project completed, thanks for you help guys.
M

 

I was going to throw in that you should probably replace all that jazz if you're going through the trouble of pulling the tranny, but looks like you took care of it. The pilot bearing is the most fun of all