Good Afternoon All,
Having meticulously (so I thought) rebuilt the timing side and now completed the primary side, I suddenly have a crisis of confidence about whether or not I installed the thrust washer before the intermediate gear.
My memory tells me that when I came to cleaning and re-assembly, the washer was stuck to the pinion by a film of oil and that I have put it in place, but now I can't tell memory from wishful thinking. There is no washer in the timing side parts box.
Is there a sure way to tell from the assembled timing side if the washer is there? All the chains run straight by eye against the line of the timing cover gasket face and the cam chain exactly follows the grooves in the tensioner.
The clearance between the back of the pinion and the raised part of the crankcase behind it is enough for a fairly thick piece of notepaper to move freely when the pinion is pressed hard against the crankcase.
Common sense tells me to take it all apart again and check for sure, but I thought I'd clutch at straws first in case the assembled sages of the heavyweight-twin forum can tell from the information above, whether or not the washer is there. Please be gentle in your chiding!!
Thanks in hope
Alan
The number of times...
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Room to spare
You should be able to pull the intermediate gear forward enough to check behind it for the washer. A good bright light and a dentists mirror will help along with a probe of some kind to do some prodding. For a probe I use a short length of thin flat steel such as found on old wiper blades.
A couple of years ago I invested in a cheap endoscope (boroscope!) for the massive sum of £6.50. This wondefrul gadget, which runs off a laptop or PC has a 5m cable and now enables me to check inside the combustion chambers, lower cylinder bore and crankcases without huge amounts of engine dismantling. A great investment.
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Thanks
Thanks Ian and Philip.
Philip, I have an old scope but it doesn't work on my newer laptop for some reason. I tried with the phone camera but couldn't get it to focus. I'll look for a newer scope which will allow access in the limited space available and also try the dentist mirror approach.
I'd prefer not to tear it down again but Ian is correct of course if Philip's method is inconclusive.
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... I've had similar thoughts! I've removed the cover from a gearbox to check I'd tightened the mainshaft nut (yes I had) as well as loads of other "did I tighten that up?" episodes.
If it was me I'm afraid I'd bite the bullet otherwise there's always that niggling worry.