Pilot Bearing
 

My first VQ35 apparently came from a manual Altima - now this one came from an Automatic 03 Maxima. What exactly needs to be done about the pilot bearing? I know I have to remove something from the auto motor and install the bearing - does anyone know how much that bearing costs from the stealer?

you dont have to remove it. My Auto 02 Maxima engine had the bearing still in there, and I thought I needed to replace it with the MT version, but you actually dont have to.

Nothing needs to be changed.

There is no bearing at all as it is. Go figure. The shaft on the trans is def smaller than the hole. We just ordered the MT bearing at Napa (im at work now) because its like 1.85$ cost or something. I also read a thread in this section where it said someone doing an auto to MT swap had to put in the MT bearing because there was none. The 2003 maxima this engine came from was definately auto - they showed me the car.

Broan your max was already converted to manual by the time you switched to the S13 right?

I had lots of setbacks because I couldnt borrow the cherry picker but its at home now. Im probably putting in the engine tomorrow morning before work (in the snow lol!). This time im pretty sure both crank sensors are positionned just fine; the one on the flywheel holds itself in place just by the magnetic pull alone. Thought youd like to know the Kia steering rack seems to work fine - I was originally going to custom weld tie rod ends but instead we found unequal length rod ends that fit the Kia rack (they are from a Dodge Avenger).

Since the rack is pushed 3 inches to the drivers side to clear the aftermarket shorty headers, one of the tie rods is about 3'' longer than the other. It looks great (aluminum steering rack + all 4 brand new inner and outer tie rods).

Yes, my motor was already setup for 5Spd when I did the 240 swap but when I did the tranny swap I didn't do anything to the end of the crank. Worked fine for the transaxle. On closer inspection it looks like the enput shaft of the 6MT grazed the crank. Nothing to be worried about on a fairly low power setup. I don't think there will be enough force to make the input shaft walk without the pilot. Thanks though for reminding to get a 35 out of a 6MT car.

Good to hear you got the rack worked out. I'd love to see pics when you get around to it. Only thing I can imagine with an offcentered rack is a loss of turning radius because of being limited by the length of travel due to being constantly partially extended toward the pass side.

you can rent the puller from autozone.

Actually, I lose nothing. Some cars come stock with unequal length tie rods. It changes nothing at all except for the rack being physically pushed to one side instead of the other. It still turns 2 full turns on both sides (in fact, they list the Kia Rio with manual steering having 4.3 turns total from lock-to-lock). You just gain 3'' on one side and lose 3'' on the other but mechanically it works just like it does in the Kia it came from. The booths are both extended equally on both sides. I dont think it would be hard to turn with the stock rack with PS removed (like you) because of the weight, but a rack made to be manual already is always better. Its a couple pounds lighter and looks much cleaner I think.

We have a puller at work. But there doesnt seem to be anything in there so Ill probably just need to push the MT bearing in there. It would work without it like Broaner said but hey - why not put it in while im in there.

do you think this rack will fit in a 4th gen ? when i pull my 3.5 to do some work id like to replace my stock rack.

and you think its alot lighter than a 4th gen rack?

On my 3.0 I didn't install the pilot bushing and have had no ill effects. Original motor had it, new motors did not.

Any FWD econobox manual steering rack will work. Hyundai Accent, maybe some B13 Sentras, etc.

My Kia Rio rack is made for a 2365-2405 lbs car, according to the specs. Mine will weight around 2225 with the heavy @ss stock hood and stock wheels I think. So it will be light on its feet. Your car is light but the weight distribution is totally different. My car should have around 46f-54rear or 47f-53rear while yours must be around 60f-40rear. So it will be heavier to steer around but since the Kia is also FWD, itll probably work just fine. You can play ALOT with the length of the tie rod ends.

auto bushing or no bushing just wrap tape evenly around the clutch alignment tool until it fits the crank snug. With an a/t or no bushing the input shaft never touches it, it's only purpose is for lining up the clutch for install, I personally think nissan engineers dropped the ball somewhere along the way and that's why input bearings always seem to go bad so quick