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I opened the cam chest today to inspect the cam after finding the cam sensor bubbling.
The first thing I see is a chewed up retaining ring laying in the bottom.
Then I realize it had been chewed on by the oil pump drive gears.
I haven't found a retaining ring in the parts fiche, does one belong anywhere in the cam chest?
Year and model of bike not provided.
Taking a guess the part is Thrust Washer for Cam Gear part number 25550-57a.
Any chance the cam was changed on that bike?
What does "cam sensor bubbling" mean to you?
Perhaps the Cam Position Sensor part number 32448-95B was melting the factory original beige sealant/goo and the beige/sealant goo was visible at exit from bottom of timer cone?
Link to parts finder: http://partsfinder.onlinemicrofiche.....asp?make=hdmc
'97 Carbureted Road King. I didn't think it would make a difference, is there a model of Evo with a retaining ring in the cam chest?
The cam has the thrust washer on it, this looks nothing like that, it is the dimensions of a retaining ring.
I'm trying to ID the cam now, I've heard there should be marks on the inner end, this one has nothing.
The inner bearing is a Torrington though, so someone has been in it. The push rods were one peice.
Cam sensor bubbling, it has bubbles on it's surface as if it were hot. This is what led me to open the cam chest, I had read that cam bearing issues can cause the sensor to get hot.
It looks to be a Screaming Eagle cam - 406 SEH-1A is stamped on the shaft.
That and the Torrington tells me someone has been in there since it left the factory.
Information always helps.
We can not see bike and have no idea of miles, condition or length f ownership.
Does it look like the retaining clip used on transmission side cover that covers inner ramp?
Retaining ring part number #10998
From other side of bike but perhaps individual somehow got it stuck in a rag and let it go while conducting a clean-up? Maybe they were changing a clutch cable at same time?
If CAM sensor sealant is beige and it has the number stamped explained earlier then I am surprised it has not melted away to the point that electrical can be seen..The factory original has beige sealant while the replacement has black sealant.
There is one lock ring and one retaining ring in the cam chest area (depending on how you describe them).
There is a tiny lock ring on the end of the oil pump shaft and a large (1.25") retaining ring on the pinion bearing inner race. Unless it's in 2 pieces, it looks like the one in the bottom of the case is too small to be the one for the pinion bearing, but may be deceiving from what I am seeing the small photo.
Nonetheless, you have a problem. Looks like the inner race has drifted/walked away from the flywheel. The yellow arrow shows the groove for the pinion bearing retaining ring that should be covering the area of the rollers and and roller cage of the pinion bearing (show at the red arrow)
The following photo shows what the retaining ring looks like with everything correct. Ignore the cam bearing that is destroyed in this one.
t150vej, that's a good catch. If that is the bearing retaining ring, it looks like it popped out off its groove. I've seen two types of pinion bearing lock rings. The one in the picture and a spiral lock one.
Other than age and possible pressure of misalignment (guessing), I don't know what would cause the case pinion race to walk.
Thanks, that looks like it. The factory manual reads like that ring is on the inside of the crankcase.
What is supposed to keep the inner race from drifting out?
I wanted to rebuild the engine anyway...
It's a press fit. Many modern manual transmissions use that type of bearing race design, rather than have a bearing wear on a shaft. I've done a good bit of flywheel work over time but to be honest, I've never seen one in person that did that plus, it's not a common problem so I can't speak to a probable cause. Correct and proper fix would be to split the cases and wheels, replace the race.
If it were mine I'd split wheels, replace race using Loctite 620 (correctly per instructions) and go from there. Lap outer race then measure and fit the correct size pinion bearing after the race is ground. Any automotive machine shop that turns crank shafts can do the race grinding.
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Retaining Ring in Cam Chest?
