After having the crankshaft taken out of the crankcase, check as follows:
1. Check crankshaft for bends with dial indicator if bent replace.
Check tapered portion of crankshaft, keyways and threads. Threads can be
restored with a thread die. A rusty taper indicates that flywheel was loose on
it. If keyways, taper, or bearing journals are worn, replace crankshaft.
3. Do not remove bearings from crankshaft unless they are worn or noisy. The
bearing is supposed to rotate smoothly and evenly without any noise. They have
to fit tight on the crankshaft; if you can pull them off with your fingers, the
bearings, and most likely the crankshaft, is worn. If the bearings are worn,
heat discolored, or out of round, they have to be removed with the correct
bearing puller, and new bearings have to be pressed on. We advise to preheat the
bearings on an electric plate up to 3000 F before installing.
A heat discolored bearing often indicates that the crankshaft is bent.
4. Also check the connecting rod for cracks distortion or worn bearing
surfaces (piston side)
On the SOLO engines solid (1-piece) connecting rods are being used, so they
do not
have to split the rod bearing on the crankpin, which is the most stressed
part of the entire crank gear. Therefore, the tension can be evenly distributed
and no care has to be taken putting the rod onto the crankpin.
It is never necessary to remove the rod from the crankshaft. The crankshaft
complete with rod has one part number and comes always already assembled.
