Thursday, May 13, 2010 [19326 miles]
Today the engine will come apart. Darryl has some items to deliver to Brent, and since my house is about half way between theirs they will meet here. Brent will take my heads and crank back with him; the heads to see what work needs to be done and the crank to verify that it is OK.
Work space cleared
If nothing else, pulling the engine got me to throw away some unused stuff and put other things where they belong. The goal was to empty several years worth of junk that hat accumulated on the table I use for engine work. The table is an old microwave cart with a thick wood top. Ignore the 2x4 frame on top of the cart in the picture. It is not needed.
First, remove oil pan
Oil pan removed
Oil strainer
Oil strainer removed
That was easy. All hardware is dumped into zip-lock bags (I’ve several sizes) so it doesn’t get lost or co-mingled with hardware from other portions of the engine.
timing case cover
Tach access cover
Ready to pull
Pulled
Almost as easy. I did have to hook up the puller in addition to removing all the hardware.
Gears
Breather
Gasket in great shape
I put the breather and wavy spring in a bag. The last picture shows why I like hylomar… the gasket is in such good shape it could almost be re-used. Instead I think I’ll hang it on the wall as a reminder.
Special tool
Clutch removal tool
Flywheel
The special high-tech (broom handle whittled to size) tool holds the engine from rotating as I loosen the first three clutch cover screws to make room for the removal tool nuts and screws.
Clutch in great shape
Almost new
Clutch components
The clutch hasn’t been on the bike that long and it shows. It looks almost new. I stuffed the parts in a bag and moved them out of the way.
Safety washer flattened
Big tools
A few seconds later
Turned flat
An air impact makes flywheel screw removal easy. The socket is modified (turned down) so that it will sit flush against the flywheel, grabbing all of the big screw.
Cam screws removed
Pulling the cam
Almost
Let’s see
It’s about this time that Darryl arrived. After a cup of coffee it was time to work on the front side of the engine. I removed the oil pump drive gear (left hand threads) and Darryl spun the oil pump. It did not sound good. OK, but first I need to remove the camshaft. I do not use air tools on the cam screws, instead using a hit-it-with-a-hammer impact wrench. It did the job. Darryl took pictures as I hooked up the puller and removed the cam.
Lifter
Another look at the break
Cam is toast
First a reminder as to why I’m doing this. Notice the face of one of the cracked lifters. Ouch. The second image is of the cam side of the lifters. Is it any surprise that my cam is toast?
Pulling timing gear
Half way there
A few more turns
I used the many-in-one tool to remove the timing gear. The back of the gear will need a bit of dressing with a file before it goes back on the bike. We did note the fit of the timing and cam gear before pulling either. Perfect. No play. No binding.
Remove bearing retainer
Nicks on the lifter bushings
After pulling the front bearing retainer/oiler we looked closer at the insides of the case. You can see scratches on the lifter bushings, but only one of the 4 has mark that can be felt with your fingers. The mark is near the top and only goes about half way around the circumference of the bushing.
Time to pull flywheel
Tools in place
Pop
Loose flywheel
Removing tools
Ready to remove
It took some effort on the puller before the flywheel popped off the crank. I’ve got to get a better/larger wrench. I’ve only a crescent wrench big enough for the puller screw. It’s not even a very big crescent wrench.
No rear seal leak
Inner flywheel face
The inner face of the flywheel was dry and there was no indication that the rear main was leaking. Of course… it’s going to be replaced, anyway. I also think I’m going to have the flywheel lightened while it is off the bike. Brent shows up about this time.
Remove nuts and screws
Pull front main w/carrier
That is a slinger
Darryl and I remove the nuts and screws that hold the front carrier to the engine case. I hook up the many-in-one tool in the configuration needed to remove the front bearing with carrier. Oh look, a slinger. Let’s see how full it is.
Just at the crank oil access
Will be replaced
Slinger stuff
Grit
Oh, look. The crud is just at the opening that feeds oil to the crank bearings. Most of the slinger stuff is compacted. When scooped out it feels like sludge. There is, however, a (recent?) layer of gritty stuff around the oil feed. I’d say this crank was pulled just in time.
Need new oil pump gears
The oil pump gears not only sound funny, they look and feel bad, too. I’m hoping Joe has a set somewhere in the shop.
Ready to remove crank
Heat the case
Warm enough
Which way does the web go?
Pull forward
All the way forward
tilt down
all the way down
And out
cam bearing still there
And that’s how you remove a crank. Not hard at all. Once the crank was out I removed the oil splash washer from the back of the case and used a drift to knock out the rear seal. The rear cam bearing is still in the case. I’ll heat the case to remove it, later.
Try to remove rear main
Tool in place
Not going anywhere
Here’s where we had a big fail. The rear main would NOT come off. The bearing was wiped down with alcohol and we used some grinding compound to get a good fit between tool and bearing. That wasn’t the issue.
The tool wasn’t coming off the bearing, it was warping! Since Brent was going take the crank with him anyway, he said he’d use his fingered puller. It never fails… except he called later to say his tool couldn’t do the job, either. He’ll cut the bearing off with a dremel. We’re hoping that the bearing didn’t somehow weld itself to the end of the crank.
Ready for another day
That’s it for now. All of the pieces/parts save the transmission, clutch, and flywheel are on the cart that will be wheeled out of the way while I decide what is next. [Note: the box on the bottom of the cart is stuff that I should throw away, but haven’t yet. You never know when you’re going to need a broken mirror, for example.]