flexplate to crank GAP?

[Fordum]

Just build a bracket to go across the front of the engine with a shaft pointing in at the Harmonic Balancer nut.
Put a thrust type ball bearing on the shaft pressing against the end of the crank to hold it back.

Check the bearing every 20K or so or after every deep water crossing. and just keep driving it.

I did that to the fan motor on an old window air conditioning motor that a guy gave me.
He gave it to me because the motor would not run.
If you spun it, it was fine. But when you put power to it, the thrust washers were worn out, and the armature would run out forward and bind.
The blades were frozen on the shaft, so I could not get it off to fix it.

Punched a dimple in the center of the inside shaft, drilled a deeper dimple and stuck in a large ball bearing ball out of an old Ford transmission.
Mounted a flat bar across the end with a section bent in to press against the ball.
Little light oil, and that thing ran for 7 more years.

 

[wasted wages]

Just build a bracket to go across the front of the engine with a shaft pointing in at the Harmonic Balancer nut.
Put a thrust type ball bearing on the shaft pressing against the end of the crank to hold it back.

Check the bearing every 20K or so or after every deep water crossing. and just keep driving it.

I did that to the fan motor on an old window air conditioning motor that a guy gave me.
He gave it to me because the motor would not run.
If you spun it, it was fine. But when you put power to it, the thrust washers were worn out, and the armature would run out forward and bind.
The blades were frozen on the shaft, so I could not get it off to fix it.

Punched a dimple in the center of the inside shaft, drilled a deeper dimple and stuck in a large ball bearing ball out of an old Ford transmission.
Mounted a flat bar across the end with a section bent in to press against the ball.
Little light oil, and that thing ran for 7 more years.

Fordum......
Your really Red Green in disguise aren't ya.....

 

[dremu]

Fordum......
Your really Red Green in disguise aren't ya.....

Can't be. Too far south for badgers, and no duct tape was involved.

-- A

 

[imiceman44]

It's funny I was thinking about ways I could support the crank and you are giving me ideas. I guess I am not the only one that likes to limp things for longer using easy fixes.
Although I also have an engine ready to go in it's place but changing engines is much more work.

Just build a bracket to go across the front of the engine with a shaft pointing in at the Harmonic Balancer nut.
Put a thrust type ball bearing on the shaft pressing against the end of the crank to hold it back.

Check the bearing every 20K or so or after every deep water crossing. and just keep driving it.

I did that to the fan motor on an old window air conditioning motor that a guy gave me.
He gave it to me because the motor would not run.
If you spun it, it was fine. But when you put power to it, the thrust washers were worn out, and the armature would run out forward and bind.
The blades were frozen on the shaft, so I could not get it off to fix it.

Punched a dimple in the center of the inside shaft, drilled a deeper dimple and stuck in a large ball bearing ball out of an old Ford transmission.
Mounted a flat bar across the end with a section bent in to press against the ball.
Little light oil, and that thing ran for 7 more years.

 

[Fordum]

That is one of those ideas that I threw out as a funny, but at the same time, I did some of the engineering in my head, and it should work.
It certainly did on that fan motor.
The bracket has to be mounted to the block to make sure it moves with it as the motor mounts flex.

The part that supplies the pressure between the bracket and the crank will see most of the load axially.
And it will need to be adjustable for load and wear. Threaded shaft with a lock nut would do it.

However it will need a small amount of flex in the radial dimension.
Even if you put the load point in the exact center of the shaft, which is critical, there may be a tiny amount of wobble from wear in the mains.
A hard rubber mount should do it.

I know its possible to mount something there, because there are thousands of big trucks running around with hydraulic pumps running off the end of the crank.
Of course, they do not supply any axial load to the shaft.