Electric Shift Front Prop Shaft Bearing

[yorab]

Motor in signature. A special puller is required to pull the front bearing at the tip of the gearcase cone. I don't have that puller and it would take more effort than it is worth to come up with an equivalent puller system. Seloc and Clymer both say that heating the cone and tapping will release the bearing. This makes sense theoretically, but has anybody ever gotten this to work?

 

[Daviet]

Re: Electric Shift Front Prop Shaft Bearing

I tried it once, it worked. Be careful when you heat the bullet, it will deform or melt if you get it overheated. Do not pound on the nose, I just tapped the prop end of the housing on a piece of wood, and the race came out.

NOTE: I did this on a junk housing to see if it would work, I did not install a new race back in the case.

 

[yorab]

Re: Electric Shift Front Prop Shaft Bearing

Okay Daviet, I'm glad that somebody got it to work. I certainly won't gripe and moan to you if the cone gets distorted in any way, but I am going to give it a shot. I think that I will first try to dunk it in hot water for a few minutes. This is a very gentle heating and should minimize any chance of permanent distortion. I just need to keep it in the water long enough to heat the cone and not the bearing inside.

BTW, were you working on an electric shift gearcase? If so, did you already have the coil removed or did it come out with the bearing?

 

[Daviet]

Re: Electric Shift Front Prop Shaft Bearing

I didn't dismantle the gearcase, it was tore apart when I got it.

 

[yorab]

Re: Electric Shift Front Prop Shaft Bearing

I heated the cone in boiling water for 3-5 minutes. I then tapped the cone on my kitchen countertop (hope my girlfriend doesn't read this) with the open end of the cone downward. The front coil and bearing fell right out. However, the outer bearing race is still in there. I believe that I heated the cone too long. The bearing was very hot to the touch, so the outer race must also be very hot. I will try a quicker dunk next time. That way, the aluminum cone will heat and expand but not the steel race inside. If that doesn't work then perhaps a combination of heating the cone and pulling with some sort of homemade puller may get the race out.

I also noticed that the reddish colored stuff on my front coil is cracked in places (see pic). What is that stuff? Is it some sort of cured resin meant to protect the electrical areas of the coil. Will those cracks be a problem? If I don't get many responses to these questions, I'll post in a separate thread.

 

[Daviet]

Re: Electric Shift Front Prop Shaft Bearing

Yes, you are correct, a sealer is applied to the coil to insulate it.