Hi all, Today, doing some routine maintenance after a couple of months away working I decided I would fit that new Gates fan belt. Not so! :Banghead The four coupling bolts came away easily and so did the cush drive bushes from the coupler. All that looked promising but there was no moving the coupler forward a micron, heat, RP7 all did nothing. Put it all back together and hope the old belt holds for now. I guess the bushes should be a firm fit in the coupler, otherwise how does the coupler stay in place when the spline is free. Yes this machine was exposed to a bit of salt air and was always in the open on the front RHS from what I can tell so that doesn't help. Is it going to be a radiator off job to solve this I wonder?
Those bushes are supposed to be bonded to the coupling! If you put a good quality penetrating oil on the splines & using a long punch, keep tapping the coupling & keep rotating it - sometimes they will come sometimes not. On the real stubborn ones, I usually drop the counterweight & pull the pump bolts & move the coupling with the pump, that is the quickest way. Saves pulling the bonnet & radiators, But, if there is some grass between the radiators, it may be a good excuse to do it that way & give the cores a good clean....... Your choice AUCASE. You could leave the siezed coupling on the shaft & refit those bushes - it will continue to work for quite some time. Hope you didn't put too much heat on that shaft............& be carefull using a prybar to move the coupling - the crankshaft pulleys bend real easy.
When I had to replace the hydraulic pump on my 580sk I decided it's more convenient to get the radiator off, considering I had no extra machines to move the counterweight around. Taking the radiator off isn't such a big job.
AdrianD,using an impact gun, you can pull the 4 bolts that hold the counterweight & 'drop' it to the ground. Time taken - one minute. Now you can easily get to pump mounting bolts using a socket & long extention. To install use the cross brace on the loader frame - chain the counterweight to it & lift it up & fit bolts - no other machine required. If you really wanted, you could lower it the same way, I just drop them as most times I do this the pump has failed & there is no lifting ability. PS - 2 of the pump bolts are unable to be removed with normal socket & extention. I have fabricated a spanner to remove these - cut a 19mm or 3/4" spanner so the ring end is about 2" long & weld an old 1/2" drive socket on the cut off end - works a treat!
The coupler stays in place because the flex bushings are bolted to the crankshaft pulley, which is held to the crankshaft by the big bolt in the center of it. The counterweight can be removed and moved quite easily with a common hydraulic floor jack. just be careful to balance it correctly on the jack and keep your feet away from it in case it falls off. I don't think the rubber bushings are bonded to the coupler because they are in the parts book as being available as individual replacements. Alrman is right on - remove the radiator. It will be much easier to pull the hyd. pump forward enabling you to split the coupling then you can clean the between radiator.
Thanks all. I played a small Oxy flame on the coupler for a minute at at time, it did dry off the RP7 but that is about all, was concerned about the gland in the pump getting warm I noticed the pulley was vulnerable and kept my leverage to the gaps in the coupler and the pulley spacer in its core I might remove the counterweight, as alrman says it looks easy with a floor jack or I might bonnet // radiators // change those oil cooler hoses that are a bit tired looking then take back the pump change the belt and hydraulic oil after the suction strainer is checked - sounds about a good days work Maybe when I go in again the disturbance could have cracked the spline so I'll try to slide it forward first and the rubber bushes with the steel sleeve, as they all were free I think there must be a 'lands' in the coupler as the steel sleeve is proud of the rubber outer by about 1/8" so the rubber faces on the coupler pushing it toward the crankshaft, or at least that is my theory Right now I am refitting all the bucket teeth so will advise on the fan belt area when I get back to it! Cheers
If you can - buy , borrow or rent an engine hoist if you are going to remove the bonnet and radiator. I have done it with both an end loader and an engine hoist. The engine hoist is the fastest and there is not much of a chance of damaging the radiator.
Good tip! I actually put a rope block onto the bucket centre shackle 'D' which was a fair angle for the bonnet. Just how the manual just says to lift it away I am not sure! I managed to change the fan belt in a few minutes with the pump method. Removed the four bolts and bushes from the coupler. Removed the four ½" pump bolts, (see first image of LHS with bolts out) using a ¾" spanner, I found it was possible to swing a spanner quite easily under the radiator and the bolts weren't very tight then were free to wind out by hand as the threads were in good condition. Popped the pump forward about an inch and took away the old cracked belt. Reverse didn't take long. I was a bit daunted by sealing all those hoses, the A/c doesn't matter as it has no gas (radiator has been damaged by gravel // concrete through the front I'd say), but the oil cooler and radiator coolant stayed put. I have a new transmission cooler hose from the charging pump to the radiator as it was de-laminated, I guess due to the heat? I also left the counterweight alone, just backed off the bolts to clear all the 'blue metal' that had fallen in and around it from it's days on QLD-Railways. Right now its raining so things have hit a halt, but I am going to cut back the bonnet indoors then undercoat it for enamel.
REPLACE the idler/tensioner at the same time!!