I have a 6/3 and I'm doing its yearly full service. I want to repack the pinion bearing but find it hard to remove and don't want to damage it, is there some trick to it"s removal? The bearing works fine now and I removed the sheild and cleaned out all the old grease already with brake cleaner and everything looks fine and I did not have a issue with it before. I'm wondering should I repack it without taking it out of the sideplate, replace the sheild and just call it a day?
Oh and by the way I also have TSI 321, should leave it open and use just the TSI? I know gease will last longer but I service it every year anyway. Thanks for your thoughts.
They are a bugger to remove. I have the best luck rapping the sideplate fairly hard on my wooden bench. Often it pops out. If that doesn't work, find something that fits into the bearing exactly like the pinion gear and move it side to side and it may come out. The drive shaft bearings in the side plate can be hard to remove as well, but they need to be cleaned and greased annually just like the pinion bearing. As for TSI, use that on the spool bearings only; use heavy grease on the pinion and drive shaft bearings
Thanks AK that was the ticket, the third rap onto a piece of wood and it popped right out. The drive shaft bearing came right out without a issue but thanks for the heads up there as well.
I also find Alan's custom bearing remover very useful. A small Penn wrench where the tip is bent, so it can be used to carefully pry out the bearing.
Paal