Help needed removing rusted bearing from washing machine tub (1 Viewer)

[Kernal]

Figured I'd toss a wider net by asking the question here. I'm attempting to salvage a Maytag Neptune front loading washer with bad tub bearings. Got the rear bearing out after using penetrating oil for a couple of days, heat, and a BFH. The front bearing however has much more rust in and around it. It hasn't moved at all after three days of soaking in a few different penetrating oils, a dremel to remove rust around the edges, light heat using a heat gun, multiple tries with a large slide hammer pilot bearing puller, countless hits with a BFH and a hardened steel bar; it ain't budging. I can't heat it too much as the bearing sits in an aluminum housing which in turn is pressed into the plastic outer tub of the washer. Any suggestions on a different tool or maybe trying to cut it out with a dremel? Not much room to work inside the tub.

Here's a couple of photos showing the outer tub, the front bearing and seal as I found it, and how it looks now after pulling the old seal and grinding away some rust. Thanks.

 

[haryv]

Call around in your town to see if a pressurized gas company has some liquid nitrogen to use on it. That should shrink the bearing enough to pull it out.

 

[Kernal]

My best guess is that rust has welded the bearing to the housing. Not sure how I would transport and apply liquid nitrogen, and wonder if it might crack the plastic tub??

 

[Heirloom]

I have removed rusted bearings by breaking out the inner race and balls, then using a die grinder to weaken the outer race at 2 points. Use a hardened chisel and a hammer to crack the race in two and extract. Be carreful not to grind into the tub adapter.

That is some serious corrosion. Where was it stored?

 

[Kernal]

Don't have a dedicated grinder, just a dremel type tool. This was a not-so-well working washer inside a house until recently but the seals apparently failed a long time ago causing the bearings to be constantly exposed to water.

Here's a couple of photos after beating on the outer race with a hardened chisel and BFH from the backside for 15 minutes. After all that pounding the outer race is still frozen in place.

 

[Joe_E]

Can't you cut several slices in and around the race with a sawzall or a small hacksaw where the blade sticks out the end? Then soak it and chisel tap out the smaller sections.

 

[IBCRUSN]

Do you have a welder? Run a small bead around the inside, as it cools it'll shrink and should then tap out. If you can find liquid N2 that might work. Wally world stores usually have dry ice that might help too.

 

[Kernal]

All good suggestions, thanks. Don't have a welder but that does sound like it would work. No other cutting tools except the Dremel. Am concerned extreme cold from liquid nitrogen might crack the plastic tub the metal hub is pressed into, don't know the shrink rates of plastic, aluminum, steel?? I could call around about dry ice, maybe holding that to the race would shrink it enough.

FWIW, just remembered that a couple of years ago I got help removing a stuck caliper piston at an old timer's brake shop, he had a tool that bit into or grabbed the inner bore of the piston with sharp teeth or arms, then with the caliper in a vise he beat on the long arm of the tool which twisted the stuck piston out. If I had a larger version of that tool or with a welder weld a bar with short fingers to the inner race 90 degrees to the axis of the bore, if the heat alone didn't unstick the race I could then pound on that? Gots to buy me a welder someday. I'll get a cutting wheel for the Dremel and see if I can grind down a couple of slots, the take the chisel to it? I'll try that next and report back. Thanks.

 

[Kernal]

Got it out. Bought a Dremel EZLock mandrel and cutting discs, they're larger and thicker than the standard discs. I was surprised how well they cut into the race with my cheapo B&D $29 corded Dremel-type tool using the 24,000 rpm setting. It still took a couple of hours, cutting, pounding, cutting, pounding, with taking photos in-between to study on the computer as I wanted to avoid damage to the housing as much as possible. It was difficult to see how deep I was cutting back in the hole so I used the camera for that. First made a few X's at the 6 O'clock position then some horizontal cuts across the X's to weaken it more, then pounded from the backside. Finally a chunk popped out. Then I cut another X at 12 O'clock and kept pounding and another chunk popped out the bottom and soon I could feel the race start to move and out she came. A large part of the difficulty was that there wasn't much of the race above the inner spacer so couldn't always get a complete strike from behind, the chisel would slide off after each whack. And the tub being plastic I couldn't apply too much heat or cold for fear of damaging it.

You can see in the photos the rust was at the backside of the race where it butted up against the aluminum hub. Thanks to everybody for the suggestions.

 

[tag3]

Big pat on the back.

 

[Kernal]

I wore down one cutting disc to a nub and broke the second when I put too much sideways pressure on it while cutting, but at that point I was able to pound the race out. Also noticed that the handle of the drill got hotter the harder I pressed down while cutting so I turned it off occassionally to let it cool off, although it never acted like it couldn't handle the work. I liked the shaft locking feature this drill has, you flip it up and it keeps the shaft from turning while you change out the discs or mandrel, but the speed selector dial at the rear was difficult to adjust using finger pressure, had to use a small tool to push the wheel to get it to move. Might take it back for a replacement. As this is the Tools section here are the tools:

 

[Garfield68]

Need some help top of wash machine kind of stubborn won’t get out of ring of bearing and can you give me advice how to get off