Ironhead Chasing a generator noise

[ryder rick]

69 Ironhead making the bad noise at the left side of the generator. No problem pop off the generator to replace the bearing.

Open up the gen and can see nothing wrong with it! Generator gear is OEM and tight. Spins smooth no noises.

This leads me to look further into the cam chest, no debris and no problems found other than missing the leather washer with the 1911 part #.

Trusting in the MoCo I procure a washer to install. But before I pull the cam cover it would be prudent to check the endplay on the idler gear. I measure less than .030" endplay.

Now the fun begins, the leather washer measures .080" (for those of you who were smoking dope in math class) that is a negative end play number in the neighborhood of .050". I figure that if I assemble it like that something is going to turn blue.

As I recall the washers are phenolic not leather. (Reddish brown resin with fiber reenforcement)

What is the function of the washer, and is it the likely cause of the noise?

They don't call me Ironhead Rick just because I'm hard headed

[bustert]

man just had this issue on my 74ch less than a week ago. it turned out to be not the genny at all but the primary.
my son had the machine for awhile since i hardly ride and man he does not keep it up like it deserves. i pulled the inspection plug and the is a ton of slack, had a new shoe installed not long back so it is either shinola, adjustment slacked off or the chain is fixing to go, haven't pulled the cover yet.
did the same thing with the genny, even feeling it in the needle bearing end.
as far as the washer goes, here is what i think it to be since i see this in industrial engines, just not composite material. the gear is an idler and carries no load per say, aka, no spring pressure or such. gear trains will shift depending upon direction of travel or changes in speed, this can created flutter, so i think the washer is there to dampen it to some degree. on industrial engines, you will find a thrust bearing.
i did not pull the cam case but i did check the idler for slack through the hole and it was nice and snug.

[Iron Mike]

I believe the washer is a gasket for oil control. Look at the ID of the gear from both sides. Tapered hole...

[bustert]

the idler shaft is a press fit to the gear and can be changed but as far as taper, cannot be. if it were, the fsm would be specific about its installation.
i know for sure the one in my 74ch is not.
however, oil control is not a far fetched idea. it is possible for it to act as a dam to retain oil sorta like the washer on the main shaft output bearing. in this case, it is stopped so it does not act like a centrifuge and spin oil off.

[Iron Mike]

Look at that gear a little closer.
I believe the manual states orientation as well.

[bustert]

all the fsm mentions is that IF the shaft is pitted, same as the cams, it can be pressed out and the cams changed out. it does not go into detail on the operation of doing so.
the mounting stud is straight so if there is a taper, will be a nasty fit.
are we talking about the same gear?? generator idler?

[DR DICK]

Originally Posted by ryder rick

69 Ironhead making the bad noise at the left side of the generator. No problem pop off the generator to replace the bearing.

Open up the gen and can see nothing wrong with it! Generator gear is OEM and tight. Spins smooth no noises.

This leads me to look further into the cam chest, no debris and no problems found other than missing the leather washer with the 1911 part #.

Trusting in the MoCo I procure a washer to install. But before I pull the cam cover it would be prudent to check the endplay on the idler gear. I measure less than .030" endplay.

Now the fun begins, the leather washer measures .080" (for those of you who were smoking dope in math class) that is a negative end play number in the neighborhood of .050". I figure that if I assemble it like that something is going to turn blue.

As I recall the washers are phenolic not leather. (Reddish brown resin with fiber reenforcement)

What is the function of the washer, and is it the likely cause of the noise?

They don't call me Ironhead Rick just because I'm hard headed

pull the arm from the gen.
reassm gen less arm.
reinstall 'skeleton' gen.



you got it from here, right?

[ryder rick]

Good Idea to run it without the generator.

To make sure the noise is the generator and not coming from somewhere else.

[randy3934]

I've run them without the generator, duct tape over the mount hole.

[brucstoudt]

couldn't you just remove the generator drive gear to accomplish the same thing?no disassembling the generator required like that.