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Hello. You can call me Drake or James. I live in Newburg Wi. I own a mint condition 45610 mile 1998 big twin Ultra Classic. I just discovered a sheared woodruff key in the oil pump shaft that supports the oil pump drive gear. I'm working on it still installed on the bike and not on a bench. What brings me here is the disappointment to find out there are two bolts on the left side of the oil pump body that are too long to completely remove. All the gears are still in the pump body. Looks like I need another 1/16" of clearance to be able to take the bolts completely out so I can take the pump off for inspection. Is there a trick? Should I get the grinding wheel out? I really don't want to rotate the engine to get the bolts out.
Thanks for reading this. I hope I can contribute to this forum in the future.
Drake
@drakejam I have moved the thread Welcome area to a technical area (you will get a lot more responses to the question in this area).. If you want to post a new Welocme thread please do so
The cover and body (should) have slots on the inner side so with the bolts slightly screwed in, you can slip the cover out/off.
Then, remove the tiny lock ring from the shaft then the feed gears. You can then remove the bolts. Remove the body without pushing the shaft forward, leaving the return (keyed) inner gear on the shaft and the idle gear will likely stay in the pump.
That is a "short primary" model bike, so the shaft cannot be removed without basically taking the engine out. Not to worry, you can install a new pump or anything else it might need without pulling the shaft. It's tedious, but doable.
NOTE************************************** Forgot to mention - it's a good idea to turn the engine so the keyways are up. Not required, but easier going back.
Last edited by t150vej; May 23, 2024 at 04:18 PM.
Reason: note
The cover has the slot. The body does not on my bike. I figure the main reason I was having a problem getting the bolts out was because the scavenger gears are wedged in place. They will not rotate or move at all. They will not come out. When I finally got the pump out with a lot of wiggling and slight tapping I did find some metal chips inside.
The gears still look good. No broken teeth. It a good thing a woodruff key is designed to break before a harden gear. I now have to figure out how to get the gears out without damaging anything. Heat? Pounding on brass? It's all fun if you have patience. Sheared woodruff key Stuck in place pump scavenger gears
What's in the first photo? All I can see is a pump shaft drive gear - do you have the nosecone off? Inner gear/pump shaft key sheared?
Those are the feed (pressure) gears. You haven't got to the scavenge gears yet. Need to wiggle the body and get the un-keyed gear out first. That cover and body are extremely soft, so be careful
Would not run that motor until you get a new pump in it, and would not allow the motor to start, until the new pump has been primed.
Hence pump walls are cooked on the old pump, and gears are not going to build decent pressure to begin with from too much of a gap from end of teeth, to side walls of pump.
As for why the pump distoryed, is the mess on the scavenge side, or is the mess on the pressure to motor side.
We can see that metal went through the pump to shear the key, but did it come from the oil tank, or did it come from the sump side of the motor isntead.
Hence oil from tank to pressure side of the pump to motor, orscavenge side out of motor to oil filter instead.
With luck, debris came from the oil tank that something was dropped into it, which is easier to pull to clean it and the oil line out to make sure you don't have more debris in them,
while if problem was on the scavenge side of the pump, that means the debris came from the engine or cam chest cavities/down into it from the rocker assembly, and motor really need to come apart to make sure not more debris in the motor and where the debris come from to start with..
Cam Chest / Gearcase / Nosecone cover is off and all oil pump gears have been removed. I see no damage on any of the gears, Including the oil pump drive gear.
What is damage are the surfaces where the gears are installed on the scavenger side of the pump. Is there a way to check the cam bearing without taking it out? It looks good from what I can see. I will find out how to check the lifters.
Thanks
Very good explanation.
Cam Chest / Gearcase / Nosecone cover is off and all oil pump gears have been removed. I see no damage on any of the gears, Including the oil pump drive gear.
The damage you see in the pic is on the scavenger side. I found very little debris. I did find what looks like a piece of the key that broke off between the gear teeth. Its the same color as the key.
What should I take apart on the engine to inspect while it is still mounted on the bike? I'm retired and have all the time I need to figure it out.
Everything looks good from what I can see.
Thank you very much.
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Drakejam
