loose flywheel wooddruff key,alignment issue?

[masterblaster]

Had a fly wheel bolt come out and the wheel came off at low rpm,it has seemingly wallowed out the cranks flywheel slot,the key has a little side to side motion in it, when the wheel is put on and pushed back by hand as far as it will go,it has a few millimeters movement each way,I know when the bolt has 70 lbs torque on it that it holds by the taper but would this cause any issues if its not perfectly centered? once it does get tight on the taper?

 

[aranka]

i am not certain if that would be an issue or not, but my guess is that it will be.... to that end, i would either secure the key in its intended position with some jb or weld the fly to the crank. if you go with the latter it will be permanent so as the knight from indiana jones said "choose wisely".

 

[Big Kahuna]

welding the flywheel to the crank is not an option, how are you going to know if it is sitting true on the axis it should be?

I always replace the key with a new one, they only cost about $3.00 for them new.

 

[restosud]

you're right in that the taper will hold the wheel in place once tightened.
the key is there to locate the wheel mainly for timing purposes.
if you have a way to check the timing is correct then you shouldn't have any problems.

 

[masterblaster]

its catch 22 if i were to time it and find it was off,id have to remove it to move the stator to adjust,makes me wonder how much it could be off.the key is fine its the groove in the crank that holds it thats widened

 

[aranka]

welding the flywheel to the crank is not an option, how are you going to know if it is sitting true on the axis it should be?

I always replace the key with a new one, they only cost about $3.00 for them new.

you weld it after its aligned and tight on the taper. he said he thought it would be straight after its torqued down. the welding would keep the fly from slipping due to the loose keyway slot.

 

[Big Kahuna]

as long as the shoulder is not shot, he should be able to tighten the flywheel up and align it..... I personally feel that the key does aid in keeping the flywheel in time, but others believe that you can run without..... Once you weld it how you gonna remove it without grinding away parts of the flywheel.

 

[aranka]

as long as the shoulder is not shot, he should be able to tighten the flywheel up and align it..... I personally feel that the key does aid in keeping the flywheel in time, but others believe that you can run without..... Once you weld it how you gonna remove it without grinding away parts of the flywheel.

why would you want to remove it after its welded? thats not at all what i was saying.

 

[WaveDemon]

why would you want to remove it after its welded? thats not at all what i was saying.

to change a stator or bendix or split the cases when it's time for a rebuild.

 

[aranka]

i meant the key per the above post.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

The key does absolutely nothing but hold the flywheel in position while you tighten it down,if you could properly position it and tighten it down you could leave it out ,it wouldn't matter one bit.A friend of mine who does Golf carts for a living does exactly that,he positions the flywheel where he wants it to get the desired timing and locks it down without using a flywheel key.

 

[Big Kahuna]

why would you want to remove it after its welded? thats not at all what i was saying.

were you meaning weld the key to the crank??

 

[aranka]

somewhat. what i was saying is he had a few options. the first was to jb/or weld the key to the crank and torque the bolt as normal. the second was to place the keyway for alignment and then weld the fly to the crank. i stated that the latter was going to be permanent etc.

 

[Big Kahuna]

ok, I was thinking you were talking about welding the wheel to the crank..........

That would work......... But, not really needed, like Terry said, You dont really need the key as long as you get it lined up.

 

[aranka]

si senior.

 

[masterblaster]

I put the wheel on and sorta split the difference with how far the wheel would move in either direction on the keyway slop,was just hoping it stayed that way while tightening,the bolt has a large washer so it looked like it stayed in place,put 70lbs on the bolt,motor fired fine.well see on timing once it hits the water