Drive shaft plug

[4urmom]

I just had my wear ring replaced (SBT part) and i noticed that the drive shaft plug is not flushed up against the the drive shaft stop, i noticed with the new wear ring installed it did sick out a little about 1/4" hence which is probably why it's not flushed, Is this ok?

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

There should be a rubber bumper on either end of the drive shaft, to keep the shaft centered in the PTO splines. Did the service shop replace both these bumpers? If one is missing in the PTO, the drive shaft might move too far forward thus may not be centered well into the PTO splines for complete engagement.

 

[4urmom]

Sportster, The drive shaft wasn't removed just the jet pump and i removed it. When i removed the jet pump i did not see any bumper between the shaft and the impeller when i pulled it out. This cant be good!!! if not installed can this screw something up? Thanks

 

[Coastiejoe]

Without it, it can allow the drive shaft to travel back and forth and wear the splines at a faster rate. The bumpers help keep things loaded, which will help the life of all of the drive line components.


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[4urmom]

Without it, it can allow the drive shaft to travel back and forth and wear the splines at a faster rate. The bumpers help keep things loaded, which will help the life of all of the drive line components.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

AHH!!! Makes sense. Thank you coastiejoe.:thumbsup:

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

Sportster, The drive shaft wasn't removed just the jet pump and i removed it. When i removed the jet pump i did not see any bumper between the shaft and the impeller when i pulled it out. This cant be good!!! if not installed can this screw something up? Thanks

There's a hole in both ends of the drive shaft, a rubber bumper is supposed to be inserted into these two holes to keep the drive shaft fully engaged with the splines. Based on the photo it's possible your drive shaft is too far forward into the PTO? Did you already pump grease into the PTO and watch the drive shaft move aftward?

Is it possible the rear bumper fell out of the hole in the drive shaft and is stuck inside impeller sideways?

 

[4urmom]

There's a hole in both ends of the drive shaft, a rubber bumper is supposed to be inserted into these two holes to keep the drive shaft fully engaged with the splines. Based on the photo it's possible your drive shaft is too far forward into the PTO? Did you already pump grease into the PTO and watch the drive shaft move aftward?

Is it possible the rear bumper fell out of the hole in the drive shaft and is stuck inside impeller sideways?

Sportster, i just went outside to take another look and now i understand the bumpers you speak of, i had to "google" it lol. please bare with me as i'm still learning on how to fix these machines. So, it's making sense to me now, It has to be because of the aftermarket wear ring that was put in that i noticed it was sticking out about 1/4" so which means the drive shaft stop would be about 1/4" away from the stop. I have not pumped any grease into the PTO and i know for sure that there was no hole in the drive shaft which means the bumper was still in (i figured it was a solid end) as i was installing the jet pump. I took off the PTO cover and tried to slide the shaft back and forth and could not move it, i'm thinking a 1/4" of play can't hurt?

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

Maybe you just need some grease in the PTO spline to lube the spline and push the shaft fully back into the impeller spline till that bumper bottoms in the spline. Stop pumping grease once the shaft stops moving aftward or doesn't move after several pumps and/or if you see the PTO/shaft grease boot expand, otherwise it could burst like a baloon from too much internal grease pressure.

The black plastic collar on the drive shaft just in front of the impeller is supposed to keep the grease inside the impeller splines and keep the sand/dirt out of the impeller splines. If you replaced it the new one might be shorter than the original?

When I pump grease into my PTO spline, I usually can see the drive shaft move aftward slightly, sometimes almost 1/4" but usually a little less. I pump a few pumps into the PTO spline about twice per season and I stop pumping immediately when the drive shaft stops moving aftward toward the impeller.

So maybe in this case your PTO spline just needs a little grease to push the drive shaft aftward into the impeller spline?

A few things are important I think in this case, hopefully the splines should be fully engaged (drive shaft isn't too far forward or backward) and the splines need to have grease lubricant. It seems pumping some small amount of grease into my PTO spline tends to push the drive shaft aftward toward the impeller, this tells me the PTO spline was not full. If the drive shaft no longer moves aftward while pumping grease into the PTO spline, then I assume the spline is full and the drive shaft is fully seated into the impeller splines. This is the goal.
The purpose of the bumpers is to keep the drive shaft from moving too far in either direction and provide some cushion so the shaft isn't jammed too far into one end of the female spline where the end of the shaft can bind on the metallic surfaces, and the splines remain fully engaged along their length. For instance, if the drive shaft moves too far forward the splines inside the PTO might only be partially engaged, thus the coupling is weaker and might be prone to stripping the partially engaged splines.

So if your impeller bumper is in place, I think you can just pump some grease into the PTO until the drive shaft stops moving aftward. That's as far as the shaft will go b/c it's fully seated into the impeller at that point and both ends of the shaft splines should be fully engaged lengthwise. Then try adding a slight amount more following the first hour or so of operation, using the same criteria (drive shaft stops or won't move aftward). Look at the male splines, none should be exposed outside the female splines.

Explanation:
If the drive shaft moves too far forward into the PTO, or backward into the impeller (maybe missing rubber bumpers allows this), the splines might not be fully engaged and thus the strength of the spline coupling will be less able to handle engine torque than intended (splines could strip near the end of internal spline due to partial engagement).

So, your PTO spline needs grease occasionally to avoid running dry splines and increasing rate of wear.

Can you move the plastic impeller collar back and forth on the shaft away from the impeller, or is it well inserted against the impeller to keep the grease from washing out? That's why it's there, hopefully the grease in the impeller spline doesn't all wash away or become contaminated with abrasive sand.

drive shaft splines will wear from lack of grease or if the splines aren't fully engaged (location of shaft is incorrect), the black plastic collar on the shaft at the impeller helps to keep the grease in the impeller splines and dirt out.

So I dunno if there's a problem necessarily, maybe some additional grease in the PTO spline zert might help shove the shaft rearward into the impeller spline and close the gap you noticed between the plastic impeller collar and flange on the shaft.

I cannot move my shaft back and forth, the grease in the splines makes this difficult due to viscosity and hydraulic pressure. The shaft does typically move aftward while pumping some small volume of grease into the PTO, until the shaft rubber bumper bottoms into the impeller and stops moving.

 

[4urmom]

Maybe you just need some grease in the PTO spline to lube the spline and push the shaft fully back into the impeller spline till that bumper bottoms in the spline. Stop pumping grease once the shaft stops moving aftward or doesn't move after several pumps and/or if you see the PTO/shaft grease boot expand, otherwise it could burst like a baloon from too much internal grease pressure.

The black plastic collar on the drive shaft just in front of the impeller is supposed to keep the grease inside the impeller splines and keep the sand/dirt out of the impeller splines. If you replaced it the new one might be shorter than the original?

When I pump grease into my PTO spline, I usually can see the drive shaft move aftward slightly, sometimes almost 1/4" but usually a little less. I pump a few pumps into the PTO spline about twice per season and I stop pumping immediately when the drive shaft stops moving aftward toward the impeller.

So maybe in this case your PTO spline just needs a little grease to push the drive shaft aftward into the impeller spline?

A few things are important I think in this case, hopefully the splines should be fully engaged (drive shaft isn't too far forward or backward) and the splines need to have grease lubricant. It seems pumping some small amount of grease into my PTO spline tends to push the drive shaft aftward toward the impeller, this tells me the PTO spline was not full. If the drive shaft no longer moves aftward while pumping grease into the PTO spline, then I assume the spline is full and the drive shaft is fully seated into the impeller splines. This is the goal.
The purpose of the bumpers is to keep the drive shaft from moving too far in either direction and provide some cushion so the shaft isn't jammed too far into one end of the female spline where the end of the shaft can bind on the metallic surfaces, and the splines remain fully engaged along their length. For instance, if the drive shaft moves too far forward the splines inside the PTO might only be partially engaged, thus the coupling is weaker and might be prone to stripping the partially engaged splines.

So if your impeller bumper is in place, I think you can just pump some grease into the PTO until the drive shaft stops moving aftward. That's as far as the shaft will go b/c it's fully seated into the impeller at that point and both ends of the shaft splines should be fully engaged lengthwise. Then try adding a slight amount more following the first hour or so of operation, using the same criteria (drive shaft stops or won't move aftward). Look at the male splines, none should be exposed outside the female splines.

Explanation:
If the drive shaft moves too far forward into the PTO, or backward into the impeller (maybe missing rubber bumpers allows this), the splines might not be fully engaged and thus the strength of the spline coupling will be less able to handle engine torque than intended (splines could strip near the end of internal spline due to partial engagement).

So, your PTO spline needs grease occasionally to avoid running dry splines and increasing rate of wear.

Can you move the plastic impeller collar back and forth on the shaft away from the impeller, or is it well inserted against the impeller to keep the grease from washing out? That's why it's there, hopefully the grease in the impeller spline doesn't all wash away or become contaminated with abrasive sand.

drive shaft splines will wear from lack of grease or if the splines aren't fully engaged (location of shaft is incorrect), the black plastic collar on the shaft at the impeller helps to keep the grease in the impeller splines and dirt out.

So I dunno if there's a problem necessarily, maybe some additional grease in the PTO spline zert might help shove the shaft rearward into the impeller spline and close the gap you noticed between the plastic impeller collar and flange on the shaft.

I cannot move my shaft back and forth, the grease in the splines makes this difficult due to viscosity and hydraulic pressure. The shaft does typically move aftward while pumping some small volume of grease into the PTO, until the shaft rubber bumper bottoms into the impeller and stops moving.

Thanks sportster i will pump grease as you said and see if it moves towards the impeller.:cheers: