Listeroid Lube points - did I miss any ?

[xyzer]

Mike,
My first generator head rib pulley from utterpower was a pain to get it to settle in and not ride off the ribs! It did not have a good rim on the edges of the pulley like they do now that keeps any minor misalignment in check.  If it were me I would scrap the groove idea and run on a flat part of the flywheel. The flywheel does not have a rim to keep the belt from jumping. In a perfect world it would do fine if you got it just perfect. But the day you thought it needed to be tighter or looser you would loose perfect and start all over. I would not hesitate moving the head or if you have room the gen pulley or both to get it to run on a smooth part of the flywheel.
Learning from the Utterpower pulley improvement on his pulleys I assembled this pulley monster and it would have been a super pain keeping belts on it. Hard to get it all perfect! I put a hefty rim on the outer edges of the pulleys to keep the belt on long enough to adjust and re-weld things until I was satisfied.

Good Luck!
Dave

[38ac]

Until these posts I didn't realize tracking was a problem. My 6/1 belt runs on a flat flywheel and the generator pulley just has grooves for the belt cut into a flat face, no rims anywhere. Isnt lined up all that precisely either.  As somebody else said my flywheel has untouched paint between the narrow rib marks, it  never moves

[xyzer]

38,
I believe Mike also has the grooves cut on his flywheel for the serpentine belt. I initially had the same sort of problem on the generator pulley like yours until I got it in the ballpark and it hasn't appeared again. It may have been to loose and when loaded would get enough slack to crawl off if slightly misaligned.  I would not have mentioned it but for the fact he is having fits with it running out of the grooves on the flywheel. The automotive pulleys I have seen have the outer shoulders to help keep things in place and they have the advantage of machining all of the surface true and perpendicular to each other. When we weld up a frame and mount the generator and motor we really don't know how square and true we have things and any twist in the alignment will be hard to detect. If I was after unattended reliability and an issue like that was haunting me I would go with what works and proven and loose the grooves on the flywheel. Maybe swap flywheels side to side and not have that issue to contend with. Just thinkin..........
Dave

[38ac]

Hope I didnt come across like I was in disbelief about the tracking troubles. I was worried about it when I machined my generator pulley. Those grooves sure didt look very deep for being the only thing keeping the belt on the pulleys     My engine and head are munted on a cart made of wood and the slide for the head is made of wood too, nothing precise about it It is visably mis-alined and I was going to try to get it better  but I'm not fooling with it now after reading what some have went through.

[Tom]

Mike can't swap flywheels because he has the fancy electric start 'roid and the flywheel with the ring gear has bosses cast in it to mount the gear. But he can move the alternator pulley out farther on the shaft and run the belt outside the flywheel groves. It was setup with that option in mind.

Another thought Mike, and I should have covered this when I was there. Your engine could be moving around on the adjustment slots that were made for it. There is a lot of torque on the 1/2" mounting bolts. You might consider having Roger weld up the slots and then drill 1/2" holes, square to the frame, for mounting the engine with no slop. Use some grade 5 bolts and torque them well.

[Combustor]

           Your alternator can probably run in either direction. Can you turn it left to right and align it with the un-grooved flywheel? Just a thought.  Combustor.

[mike90045]

Back from a long weekend trip to Eugene, OR.   Currently, the belt is on half the flywheel grooves, and half on the rim of the alternator pulley.  Looks weird, but seems stable.   My first thought is to use bondo on the flywheel, and make the grooves vanish, and see where the belt wants to track. Sort of what I was doing with the wide tape, and trying to crown the flywheel, and move the alternator pulley to where the belt is happy.   I don't think the engine is shifting on it's mounts, I bought some square taper washers to put on the backside of the I beam, so I could get good torque on the bolts, and more friction on the I beam. And I see no evidence of the engine having moved at all.

I don't know if I can flip the alternator around to use the other flywheel, the mount is welded on, and the alternator bolts are trapped under the welded frame area.   And that would put a belt right next to where I have to adjust the fuel rack, and reach over to the de-compressor.  A bare flywheel might not snag me, but the fabric/rubber belt may catch me. That is the last option. New topic for new issue (slobber).

[Tom]

Mike the easiest thing to try is to move the alt pulley about 1/8" in the direction the belt wants to go. Or just move the pulley out far enough on the alt shaft to run on the smooth part of your flywheel.

[mike90045]

After several days idle, how long does it take oil to drain out of the lower rod bearing (where the dipper is, and the 2 oil holes)?  Do I need to pull the crank cover every day before starting, and pre-oil it, or will the bearing hold oil for 2 or 5 days before it all drains out ?

[xyzer]

I have never pre-lubed the rod bearing if that is what you are asking.

[ronmar]

Like most every other engine, the rod bearings will retain a little bit of oil in the bearing gap.  Not a bad idea to pre-lube, especially if it has set for a while.  Large diesels do , I crank my tractor with the compression release off to pressurize the crank before I add compression loads to the crank and rod bearings...

If you install "THROB" (THe Ronmar Oil Bomb, Pattent pending:)) prelube system, pre-lube can be done simply be positioning the flywheel at a particular mark and administering a shot of compressed air to a port.  The airflow will violently blow oil from the lower sump all up into the engine case and piston, lubricating both rod bearings, cam and governor lobes and bearings, with that oil draining down and completely topping off the upper sump before you ever crank the engine...   

[BruceM]

I love the THROB acronym, Ron.  Good approach for a rarely started engine, too.

[mike90045]

...If you install "THROB" (THe Ronmar Oil Bomb, Pattent pending:)) prelube system, pre-lube can be done simply be positioning the flywheel at a particular mark and administering a shot of compressed air to a port. ....

I was actually thinking of that earlier today, but could not find where it was discussed.    And how to not launch the residue from the sump into the whole system.

[BruceM]

There is no residue in a Metro (sloped, single) sump- it's all in suspension when the engine is running anyway.

[ronmar]

The air pipe opening is only placed just below the surface level of the lower sump.  Any crud should have settled down near the bottom, you know where the oil pump pickup is:).  This should really be the case if the engine has set a while.  It might also be an indication of lower sump oil level.  It will sound different when it isn't shooting any oil, or dosn't shoot oil for as long.  If you have an air gun, attach a long pipe to it and put a cup or two of oil in a clear gallon jug.  Stick the airpipe down into the oil and give it a shot.  A rag loosely over the opening is advisable:)  Bending the airpipe end or drilling a hole in the side of the pipe so you can direct the airstream up thru the oil really enhances the effect.  Basically it will look like a bomb went off inside the jug, hence the name...