Need Perm Woodruff Key Fix. Popped out twice in 6 miles

Well my woodruff key popped out again. It popped out the first time after 5 miles. I fixed it and now it popped out after 1 mile.

It has to be comming out behind the small gear. It cant come out of the front. The small gear goes back to where the shaft is just a wee bit bigger in diameter and stops at the stop. The woodruff key goes back further than the larger diameter on the shaft. I am thinking file down the inner diameter of the back edge of my small gear so it sits back about 1 to 2 16ths. maybe even 1/8 further on the shaft and hopefully that will give the key more coverage so it wont back out. There is room for the gear to go back further and it actually sticks out about 1/8 more than the large clutch gear anyways.

Before I file it I would like your input! I have learned to wait for help and ideas to arrive! You guys are full of good info. Hopefully we can get a perm fix that others can use if needed.

Any ideas?

Mr Woodruff and his key can kiss my ace! Im going to win this war.

Strange that it's doing that because that's the idea of the half round key as opposed to a straight key, it can't come out when the gear is on, in other words there shouldn't be room for the key to slip out once the gear is on.

The only thing I can think of is the keyway is cut too far down on the shaft leaving more then half of the key exposed when the gear is on.

You could try a little dot of super glue in the keyway then drop in the key just make sure any glue that wicks out onto the shaft is cleaned up before you install the gear.

Or fill the keyway in with a little JB weld so it can't backup that far.

sounds to me like you arent putting the gear all the way on allowing space in the cut to be exposed and therefore letting the keyjump out try tapping the gear on gently so both gears line up, later frank

I thought about JB weld, im not sure super glue would hold. My concern is it gets pretty hot and this might fail.

I am pretty sure I had the gear on all the way to the stop point and as tight as I could get it.

I belive the gear is hardened so I doubt a file will do much. I am still thinking about having the inner diameter of the gear machined to make it about 1/8 deeper and about 1/16th or 2 wider to fit the gear a bit deeper.

Please keep the suggestions comming! Thanks!

Reel,

On every engine I've disassembled the end of the key is very close to the inner bearing race. This makes the key sit slightly tilted. If you're real careful, you can slide the gear on without rolling the key out of the slot.

The key isn't coming out while the engine is running...

The fix:

File one end of the key, (the end that will face the bearing), so that the key rests in the slot with the top face parallel to the shaft.

This way the key will not try to roll out of the slot while installing the gear.

Jim

Jim thanks for your help. Im not sure if I understand everything you wrote.

Both times my key came out I was under way and the motor was running.
When I reinstalled the gear it wanted to roll out towards the back but after carefully putting it on, it was on correctly.

Im not sure how you file the key. Do you have any pics? Do you think if I make my gear fit down another 1/8 it will keep the key in place?

Reel

Another thing you could do is switch to C/F clutch..(Automatic)

No key...Tapered shaft on clutch...POPS

Jb weld would do fine with the heat. I wouldn't use jb weld for anything regarding structural integrity. But it would work well in this instance if it is indeed cut to far back. Simply clean the area well with something that cuts grease. The apply a very small amount in the crevice, then use a card or something to smooth it out flat. There won't be a ton of pressure on it and it should work fine. Your choice for sure but I know it would hold up to the heat.

Thanks again guys. Well not one for waiting, I broke out the Dremel tool and some Guiness. I carefully shaved off some of the inner diameter of the small gear and it slid on about 1/8 " further. Made absoutley sure the key was positioned correctly before and after the gear was installed. Then I put on the spider crush washer thingy and screw and tightened it down tighter than fort knox. I took my big ace hammer and small screw driver and bent the teeth in on the spider washer thing so there was no play between the small gear and the screw.


Since not too much Guiness at this point I ran the mess out of it. So far so good!

Now I gotta figure out how to increase me idle!