Hi
I bought a cutom built softail with evo motor. I was told it was a 95 motor and it has been rebult. The motor started the whining noise so I did the cam bearing change to the torrington. The ina bearing was in there I couldn,t believe that someone wouldn,t of changed it on a rebuild.I,ve been looking in the manual again and relized the thrust washer in the manual has tabs so it don,t spin. The one in my motor looks identical except without tabs. IS THIS NORMAL? could this be why the bearing failed? The ina bearing was crusty had little grit in it. Should I take it apart again and put the tab washer in? It is a stock cam N grind.I also saw a date on the inside of rocker boxes mar 99 so is this a 99 motor?
Thanks

 

I believe that HD used plain round thrust washers by the late 90's. I saw the same thing in a 98 evo that I worked on.

 

I wouldn't rely on the date stamped inside the rocker boxes to determine the engine's date of mfg. Rocker boxes get replaced, or updated. The MoCo built EVO's without chrome boxes, so many owners (me included) added the chrome ones later. Also, the rocker boxes can warp, necessitating replacements, or a nightmare of leakage issues (don't get me started).

Anyway, it could be that the rebuild was only on the top end, which means they wouldn't have done anything with the cam. You don't need to pull the cam to freshen up the cylinders, heads, etc. No doubt why the stock cam was left in.

Someone on this forum, who's memory is better than mine (I did my cam back in 1995), can reply about the guts.

 

Thanks Guys
Quick Response.
The round washer should be fine? I just put it back the way it came apart.I hope I don,t have t tear her down again.

 

Sure, it should be fine. I would check the cam clearance after replacing the bearing though. Most likely wont change, but I would still check it..

 

Just a side note: Why not swap out the pathetic stock cam for something that will allow the engine to breath?

 

I hope too one day! A little at a time.

 

Was the engine rebuilt by H-D? When they do that they replace obsolete parts or parts known to be troublesome with the latest revision. My factory rebuilt '94 has cases with a '96 part number. Even though I had no trouble with the cases, '92-95 cases were known to be notoriously weak, so they apparently get replaced. Chrome parts are always replaced with new, so the rocker boxes might be the latest revision.

 

Was told it was done by a harley mechanic but at home. Anything is posible.
Thanks good to know

 

I've never seen one without the tabbed thrust washer, but then I've not seen it all either. Bigtone is close to correct. They started using longer cams beginning in 1990 which did NOT use the spacer, only the tabbed thrust, and end play less than .050 was considered acceptable. Sounds like you have a spacer only in yours... Could you see where it (may have) spun and rubbed the case near the bearing? Part number you need is 25550-57A