nels415

Thanks to Richard Hamilton's DIY write up to fix the spoiler drive gear on Robin's site, Starbucks is no longer located in the back of my 993. I replaced the bearing, man was mine rusted out! It's quite amazing how the tiny 15mm bearing could cause such a ruckus throughout the entire spoiler. A vise would have made it easier to remove the bearing, but a pair of pliers and a foot did just fine. Thanks Richard!

-nelson

graham_mitchell

Nelson, I still have a percolator following me around Where did you get the replacement bearing from and how much was it?

nels415

Graham,

I bought mine local here, but you can order from Boca Bearings.com. here is the url.
http://bocabearing.com/inchMetricSearch2.cfm
Look for MR625-2RS -29 $7.95. Greg H. told me about this place. They're in Florida.

-nelson

graham_mitchell

If anyone is interested, I found a place selling the 625-2RS bearing in the UK for £1.25/~$2 (plus VAT for EU customers) each. Shipping is extra but obviously shouldn't be much for such a light and small item.

Contact http://www.ball-bearings.biz/uk/home.php (no affiliation, etc)

I just received mine very promptly. I will try the DIY tomorrow.

nels415

Graham,

That's a great price on the bearing, let me know how the diy goes.

-nelson

graham_mitchell

Well I pulled the gear assembly apart and thought that this DIY was going to be over very quickly (first mistake!)

The old bearing was very rusted and I know that it needs replacing now. I went to tap it out using a vice as per the DIY. However, the outer housing of the bearing came away, and the ball bearings, leaving the inner sleeve firmly stuck on the shaft. I tried for half an hour to get it off the shaft. I even took it to two local garages to do, but they didn't want to know.

(Stupidly both garages asked what car it was from and then suggested I get the job done at a Porsche dealer. Are they for real?? Any mechanic should be able to do this )

So... does anyone have any advice on how to remove what's left of the bearing?

mike cap

Graham,

If you can get a puller on it, apply a little pressure and heat from a small acetylene torch (the kind the plumbers use for soldering copper pipes).

Just a touch of heat to the inner race in two or three spots should do it.

If you can't get a puller on it, soak the shaft overnight with (or immerse in) penetrating oil. Then clamp in a vise, hit the inner race with a little heat and tap with a small punch.

graham_mitchell

thanks, Mike. I already have it soaking in penetrating oil. I don't have an acetylene torch but maybe someone I know will have one. I'll keep you posted

mike cap

Graham,

Just a touch of heat (blue flame) is all you need. You want to isolate the heat to the bearing race and not heat up the shaft itself. If you want to double your chances of success, throw the whole thing in the freezer for 1/2 hour first, then pull out, vise mount, hit the bearing race with the torch and use the punch to drive off.

Greg H.

Graham -

Did you get the female cable receptacle off first? It has to come off before the bearing. I used a vice grip GENTLY applied to that part directly, then tapped on the side of the vice grip with a hammer to get it off first. Then the bearing race came off easily.

Greg H.

graham_mitchell

Doh! Thanks Greg. If Bozo ever needs an assistant, I have just proved that I'm qualified

The female cable recepticle that I hadn't noticed came off easily and now the bearing has been replaced. Can't wait to put it all back in the car tomorrow and enjoy the silence (well, the lack of coffee making noises anyway!)

graham_mitchell

DIY now complete, and it now sounds as it should for the first time since I bought the car. Just a quiet motor hum, not a cappucino machine

This was a very straightforward DIY for those with the right tools, and total cost: ~$2.50.

These DIYs are addictive!

p.s. nels415, that a great new avatar

Caveman

Hey Guys,

This sounds like a great DIY. I have the same coffee grinder under my spoiler as well. Roughly how long did it take?

Thanks and regards,

David

nels415

David,

It all depends on how sharp your knife is to cut open the gearbox, or how rusted your worm shaft is. As long as you have all the tools, the new bearing and grease, it should take no longer than 2 hours max. Now, this doesn't include drying time when gluing the gearbox back together. Depending on what type of glue you buy, mine was a 16 hour maximum bond time. So total time probably a day.

-nelson

graham_mitchell

David, taking the gear out is about 2 minutes. Pulling the housing apart took me about 20 minutes, slowly cutting and prying without damaging the housing. Then tapping the female shaft sleeve off, and then the bearing was about 5 minutes, taking it slowly. Putting the new bearing on and the old sleeve was about 1 minute. Wiping old grease away and replacing it with new grease - 2 minutes. Then all that's left is glueing the housing back together and reinstalling. So about 40 minutes of labour. But then you need to add the time you waste looking for tools or even buying something you don't have.

I recommend you start the job one evening, then leave the glued housing in a vice overnight.