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Today at Atelier Kaz - Private NSX Enthusiast, ex-Honda R&D engineer with F1, Indy/CART background

Health Check, Cooling Sys, etc 16

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Over the last several days, I was tackling with the drive shafts on both R & L sides.



As reported earlier, they were seized in the hub.



First attempt using the hydraulic hub puller didn't work so I then drove the car for a while to put some heat and vibration into the spline and applied hydraulic puller immediately on return with no success.

Then, removed the brake disc, caliper, bracket and studied the structure of the hub/bearing/carrier to decide whether it was safe to apply heat.
After I was happy with the method, applied enough heat and then placed the hydraulic puller but once again, it just doesn't want to move at all.


This is the first time I couldn't remove the drive shaft from the hub even after driving the NSX, applying the hydraulic puller immediately and I even used propane burner to heat it up further.
Even 10tonn hydraulic puller was not enough......


From my past experience, while I love challenges and working under stressful environment, I know it is important to know one's limit.


So contacted the owner over Skype and carried out video chat to show another method using higher rated hydraulic puller (probably needs 15tonn+) that I don't own.


In fact, after all these challenges this time, my hydraulic puller is showing sign of hyd oil seepage so looks like I damaged the seal.
I applied too much force...... I need to service it......


There are lots of people using two or three craws bearing puller directly on the hub but I'm against this method. Considering the thickness of the hub plate, you could warp it.
If you are applying extreme force like this time, you should use bearing separator at the back of the hub plate to spread the force at wider area with extension bar and hydraulic ram.


The owner will try to free up the seized spindle by taking the car to another place where it deals with commercial vehicles that require larger/higher rated tools.








As a side note, it was very good idea to remove the brake caliper during these process.

I found that someone installed the caliper without aligning the ' + ' marking in the piston against the pin on the inner brake pad that for all these years, the piston was just pressing against this tiny pin and the pad was not making good contact against the disc.





In fact, the inner area of the disc was still showing the silver protection coating so the pad was never touching this area. No wonder why the car didn't slow down efficiently.


Because the car was driven for many years under this condition that the wear on the pad is un-even and I'm concerned about it as it will cause different type of un-even contact when I re-install them properly until the pad and disc wear further for a while.

Will check the brake performance during the test driving session.

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