Re: Self-destruccting Release Bearing

[Al Waschka <awaschka@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

If the bearing didn't destroy anything else, you were lucky, at least according to my experience.  One
ear came off my release bearing.  In the process of generating the scratches you saw, mine wedged
between the side of the bell housing and/or the crankshaft position sensor and the flat head on the
pin in the flywheel that indicates top dead center.  The head broke off the pin, with the result being
the car wouldn't start most times.  I was really confused by the fact that it started sometimes, but
now I understand it.  The signal is not needed to run the engine, just to start it.  If the engine
stops in the right place when you turn it off, it will be aligned close enough when you crank it, it
will start and the timing adjustment based on O2 will pull it in to proper operation.  If it doesn't
stop close enough to the right place, it won't start.

The cost of the failure was a new flywheel, roughly $300.  Luckily I could do the work, but as you
have discovered, those Torx bolts can be tough to get out.

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