Crankshaft/ alternator/ keyway/ Very worrisome! Please help
Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 10:08 pm
Reassurance needed- Help!
In my hour of need, I hope someone can help me out:
1970 450 Scrambler.
The crankshaft has a Woodruff key for the primary pinion gear. Given.
The alternator rotor is brass, heavy (flywheel function?) and sits behind the primary pinion.
The crankshaft is not tapered under the alternator rotor, but has a shoulder inboard of the alternator rotor that stops the rotor from hitting the stator.
There is a locking washer and a nut that holds the primary pinion and the alternator rotor on.
The nut was loose, the pinion and the alternator were loose from the crankshaft when I got in there.
When I first removed the pinion gear, the Woodruff key was mangled with a portion of it sheared off in the pinion keyway. I cleared that out and ordered a new key (not here yet). The keyway for the pinion Woodruff key in the crankshaft was clear.
When I pulled the alternator off with a puller, the keyway in the alternator (***NOTE the diagrams in several books show no keyway in the alternator rotor- is it possible that the ones in the diagram are taper fit but mine is not?***) was occupied by a clean slice of key- flush with the keyway. On the crankshaft corresponding with the alternator key location was the outline of a keyway- but filled in. I assumed (?!) the occupant of the alternator rotor keyway was a piece of a sheared off Woodruff key (though narrower at 3mm than the pinion key at 4mm) and the outline on the crankshaft under the alternator rotor was the remains of the other part of the sheared off Woodruff key. As a result, I ordered a 3mm key and tried to punch, then auger the crankshaft "keyway" out. Its been hard work. It does appear that the metal in the "keyway" is softer than the surrounding crank material- but I am not certain. The keyway has resisted clearing to the point that I wonder if the keyway was filled by design and the alternator rotor filled with a piece of key by design and the rotor works by pressure fit between the torqued bolt holding the pinion gear and the shoulder on the inboard end of the alternator rotor. I am having doubts about continuing to carve out the "keyway." Can anyone help with info?
Is there or is there not supposed to be a key between the alternator rotor and the crankshaft? If not, what was the outline in the crankshaft?
Is there or is there not suposed to be a keyway in the alternator rotor? If not, why does mine have one?
Thank you,
Sheldon
In my hour of need, I hope someone can help me out:
1970 450 Scrambler.
The crankshaft has a Woodruff key for the primary pinion gear. Given.
The alternator rotor is brass, heavy (flywheel function?) and sits behind the primary pinion.
The crankshaft is not tapered under the alternator rotor, but has a shoulder inboard of the alternator rotor that stops the rotor from hitting the stator.
There is a locking washer and a nut that holds the primary pinion and the alternator rotor on.
The nut was loose, the pinion and the alternator were loose from the crankshaft when I got in there.
When I first removed the pinion gear, the Woodruff key was mangled with a portion of it sheared off in the pinion keyway. I cleared that out and ordered a new key (not here yet). The keyway for the pinion Woodruff key in the crankshaft was clear.
When I pulled the alternator off with a puller, the keyway in the alternator (***NOTE the diagrams in several books show no keyway in the alternator rotor- is it possible that the ones in the diagram are taper fit but mine is not?***) was occupied by a clean slice of key- flush with the keyway. On the crankshaft corresponding with the alternator key location was the outline of a keyway- but filled in. I assumed (?!) the occupant of the alternator rotor keyway was a piece of a sheared off Woodruff key (though narrower at 3mm than the pinion key at 4mm) and the outline on the crankshaft under the alternator rotor was the remains of the other part of the sheared off Woodruff key. As a result, I ordered a 3mm key and tried to punch, then auger the crankshaft "keyway" out. Its been hard work. It does appear that the metal in the "keyway" is softer than the surrounding crank material- but I am not certain. The keyway has resisted clearing to the point that I wonder if the keyway was filled by design and the alternator rotor filled with a piece of key by design and the rotor works by pressure fit between the torqued bolt holding the pinion gear and the shoulder on the inboard end of the alternator rotor. I am having doubts about continuing to carve out the "keyway." Can anyone help with info?
Is there or is there not supposed to be a key between the alternator rotor and the crankshaft? If not, what was the outline in the crankshaft?
Is there or is there not suposed to be a keyway in the alternator rotor? If not, why does mine have one?
Thank you,
Sheldon