starter clutch

djfisher22 · Post by **djfisher22** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 4:56 pm

Finally got back to my 72 J model and today pulled the engine covers for sand and polish.Found a mess under the L.S. cover. The waterpump gear is a bit cracked but I think useable.(how critical are the cracks?)PM sells em on ebay for $78 shipped to me but from the package I assume it's still available so I'll see what kind of discount I can squeeze from my local dealer.Does Miller sell below dealer list on his still available stuff??

Worse problem was an exploded cage bearing in the starter clutch. after disassembly I found the race it rides on had some bits of the bearing smeared into it. I dressed it with a file,india stone and emery paper and besides being a thousandth or so smaller than my parts motor race, the one I cleaned up looks OK and the assembly now works fine after a dry run with the starter. Question is has anyone ever gotten that race off the crank and replaced it without crank removal (or destroying the crank seal

).The race on my 8000 mile parts motor is perfect and It would feel better to run that bearing on it rather than the one I refurbed.How critical is the clearance on the bearing and race? Am I being too picky?

Thanks

DJ

rngdng · Post by **rngdng** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 2:01 am

DJ,

I can't really answer the question on the starter clutch, but as to the waterpump gear; I have a solution. See the link for my fix.

http://www.3cyl.com/rngdng/Gear_repair.pdf

Lane

jkevinlilly · Post by **jkevinlilly** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 4:38 am

Lane, was this done to the gear in Pinky??

Kevin

rngdng · Post by **rngdng** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 2:49 am

Yes. That gear is in Pinky, and has been for about 4 years.

Lane

H2RICK · Post by **H2RICK** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 12:50 am

How critical is the clearance on the bearing and race?

DJ, if I understand what you're asking, that actual diameter where the clutch rollers engage is itself not critical (within a couple of thou). What IS critical is the surface of that race. You do NOT want any high or low spots. My SWAG is a max of .001" over the entire surface. Otherwise your clutch may not engage properly and the rollers can slip under load giving you the grab-skip-grab-skip thing.
My .02 worth....

Post by **Suzsmokeyallan** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 7:10 am

DJ are you referring to the inner bearing collar on the left outer crank journal. The first ones on the 72s were a one piece unit, then they were changed to a separate collar and washer later on.
This unit should slide off the crank as its not made on there. That bearing seems to suffer from some lubing issues as i found the one on my 72 shredded too.
Fine bits of the bearings went everywhere destroying all the rotating parts, even into the three spring loaded pins and i still cant get one out of the gear housing. Thankfully Suzukidave had a spare assy he kindly donated to me for the cause.
It would appear that sometimes oil doesnt get in there as well as it should, then the needles run a bit dry, heat up and start flaking, from there its the race and then the surfaces next etc.
I think its one reason they adopted a two piece assembly later, however id be looking at it for reasons of double checking adequate oil flow into the bearing.

tz375 · Post by **tz375** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 10:06 am

Allan is right on the money there. Replace that old J one piece with a later model 2 piece sleeve and washer.

djfisher22 · Post by **djfisher22** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 8:42 pm

tz375 wrote:Allan is right on the money there. Replace that old J one piece with a later model 2 piece sleeve and washer.

That was kind of my original question.Has anyone ever removed that race without pulling the crank? I spent a few hours with a file and emery paper and really ended with a nice surface. If the 1-1.5 thousandths clearance is OK I think it'll fly. Good info guys,thanks.

Post by **Suzsmokeyallan** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 9:13 pm

DJ the race just slides off the journal, however yours might be bonded on by the fine particles of the bearing destruction so clean the surface with alcohol and try using a rubber strap grip to turn it and remove it.
Dont use it back because it will cause the next bearing to fail again, thats why they updated the one piece collar to a two piece unit so the oil could flow better around at the back by the washer.