40 Amp Alternator disaster (ongoing....)

Paul said:
Hard to tell what is going on with this picture, all the grease obscures things. Any chance you raised a burr inside the bearing bore with your first installation attempt?
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No burrs, have fitted baseplate with gears removed and end bearing fitted, went in fully , no problem...
 
Have been at this baseplate fit for some days now, never thought this part of the upgrade was going to prove so impossible to complete. Have tried the 'Lewis pin' and the 'Fren Stick' methods to no avail, this baseplate just refuses to go in...! ....man flu is not helping as I feel like cr*p...Have exhausted all attempts for today (must be well over 200 ! ) Will try again tomorrow, but I feel like doing the same thing repeatedly won't result in a different outcome . Am totally bewildered as to why the baseplate won't slide in, from other reports this should have been relatively easy. Have all the required parts so can't just give up (but pretty close )....
 
I'm waiting for the "ah-ha!" moment but most likely something will finally give and it will pop in place. I'm sure you looked closely so I assume with the lewis pin inserted the splines line up properly. Wouldn't account for the other method you tried, just spit-ballin' again.
 
Davemac said:
Am back to trying the ‘modified fren stick’ method using a splined tool with no success, can feel the gears moving slightly to mesh , but still can’t seat the base plate....aaargh !
View attachment 294366
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I assume here that the transmission is in gear keeping the first split gear still while you twist the second section of the gear into alignment.

Right about here, where you feel the gear turn to line up, I would try tapping on the tool or a solid part of the base plate with a rubber mallet. Perhaps while twisting with more and less force. Resist temptation to use a five pound metal hammer.
Another thought. Measure the distance that the plate is falling short of its mate.
Does this distance correlate with something else?
Measure the distance from the base plate to the advancing face of the second section of the split gear, and compare that to the distance of the base plate mating surface to the alternator drive gear.
I would think the distance is the same. If not, it may indicate another obstruction.
 
Uncle Phil said:
Dumb question - Have you measured the old one and the new one to see if the new one is longer?
I know it shouldn't be but something is holding the new one further out or it would slide right in.
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See post 17 the base plate assembly is the same length as the original, I think it's a gear thing.....
 
sirbike said:
I assume here that the transmission is in gear keeping the first split gear still while you twist the second section of the gear into alignment.

Right about here, where you feel the gear turn to line up, I would try tapping on the tool or a solid part of the base plate with a rubber mallet. Perhaps while twisting with more and less force. Resist temptation to use a five pound metal hammer.
Another thought. Measure the distance that the plate is falling short of its mate.
Does this distance correlate with something else?
Measure the distance from the base plate to the advancing face of the second section of the split gear, and compare that to the distance of the base plate mating surface to the alternator drive gear.
I would think the distance is the same. If not, it may indicate another obstruction.
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When I turn the splined tool I can feel the spring loaded gear move, have tried various positions of the spline and it makes no difference. The base plate just won’t move in. There is a 1mm gap between the engine casing and the O ring on the baseplate so leaving about 6mm (1/4”) to go . Have tried tapping with a hammer (wooden shaft end ) as some have done, but still no movement. It’s now starting to drive me crazy, really frustrating when you read how many have managed the upgrade already.....
 
Smudgemo said:
I'm waiting for the "ah-ha!" moment but most likely something will finally give and it will pop in place. I'm sure you looked closely so I assume with the lewis pin inserted the splines line up properly. Wouldn't account for the other method you tried, just spit-ballin' again.
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Gear teeth lined up perfectly with the Lewis pin in place but the baseplate just would not go in further than just before the O ring , still trying to figure it out
 
When you hit the point of resistance, does it feel like one solid piece of metal has run into another solid piece of metal? Or does it feel like one piece of metal has run into a hard rubber mat?
Is it possible that there is so much grease in the hole where the shaft end bearing fits that there is a sealed air space, that you are pushing against a pocket of compressed air?
Clean out that grease and try again.
 
Just to be clear, does the drive assembly advance in further when the split gear is lined up?
It looks like from you picture with the ruler that the wider section of split gear would be partially engaged with the drive gear from the motor when you hit resistance. Therefore something else is stopping it.
 
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A thought: Could the alignment pin being used be too thin or too soft to completely align the two gear halves?
 
Davemac said:
See post 17 the base plate assembly is the same length as the original, I think it's a gear thing.....
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have you tried putting the original alternator back into place just to see if there's anything different about installing it and the new one? It may reveal something that helps explain the problem you're having.
 
Smudgemo said:
I'm waiting for the "ah-ha!" moment but most likely something will finally give and it will pop in place. I'm sure you looked closely so I assume with the lewis pin inserted the splines line up properly. Wouldn't account for the other method you tried, just spit-ballin' again.
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This makes absolutely no sense (engineering wise) ......went back out to the ST . Removed the baseplate measured (again) the end bearing outside diameter , compared it to the broken baseplate bearing which had the gears removed....identical measurements. Tried the ‘gearless’ assembly in and it fitted perfectly (so definitely not a bearing issue. Now for the crazy part....removed the ‘gearless’ baseplate and offered up the new one I’ve been trying to fit for days......twisted the splined tool , AND THE NEW BASEPLATE SLIPPED IN EASILY !!!!!! Go figure.....? Yeeeehaaa
 
Pin was turned to a precision size and gears were perfectly aligned...see post 35....baseplate finally went in easily??? (Using splined tool)
 
Original alternator (28 amp) was REALLY TIGHT coming out so didn’t re fit but measured and compared it to the new baseplate. Sizes were compatible. See post 35 new baseplate just fell in easily with a twist of the splined tool ?????
 
Davemac said:
...twisted the splined tool , AND THE NEW BASEPLATE SLIPPED IN EASILY !!!!!! Go figure.....? Yeeeehaaa
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Maybe you'd applied a bit too much force during the first attempts... when doing mine I was astonished just how easy the spring loaded gears can be tweaked...
(like with those headlight bulb wire looms...)
 
sirbike said:
How wide is the larger section of the split gear?
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It’s around 11mm (bigger than the gap between casings)
sirbike said:
Just to be clear, does the drive assembly advance in further when the split gear is lined up?
It looks like from you picture with the ruler that the wider section of split gear would be partially engaged with the drive gear from the motor when you hit resistance. Therefore something else is stopping it.
Click to expand...
sirbike said:
Just to be clear, does the drive assembly advance in further when the split gear is lined up?
It looks like from you picture with the ruler that the wider section of split gear would be partially engaged with the drive gear from the motor when you hit resistance. Therefore something else is stopping it.
Click to expand...
The drive moves in to about 1mm before the O ring but refused to go in any further. The photo with the rule isn’t mine but see post 35 , problem solved by doing absolutely nothing different ??? Very strange
 
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