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Dealing with failed alternator on my Ural sidecar rig - getting at the bits
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As I wrote before when the 35 amp alternator, aka RPOC (Russian Piece of Cr*p) Grenade, I had to decided whether to have Natasha; my 1996 Ural Sportsman, trailered to Linden Engineering so they could remove the front cover and replace the timing gears and alternator or fix it myself.
I had tried to remove the front cover without success due to the two top screws holding it onto the main engine case. They were simply on too tight and my flat tip screwdrivers, couple with the ackward angles caused by the front wheel and its forks had almost made me give up and send it to the shop.
On the day after I'd "given up", the weather was bad(I still rode to/from work though) with freezing fog and occasional snow that didn't stick to the roads. Linden had arranged for a tow truck company to get my Ural. They called me and asked if they could do it tomorrow since the weather was so bad and their truck was undergoing some clutch work. I asked what the cost would be, was told $130.
Being the cheap guy that I am, this cost gave me pause and motivated me to try and remove the dang rpoc screws again tonight. Phil, the previous owner, had mentioned that perhaps an impact driver would do the trick. I mentioned this to Andre, my Russian friend from when I worked a contract with UAL, and he surprised me when he showed up at my house with an impact driver that he had picked up at the auto parts store! I had just been expecting Andre to show up with screw extractors, you see. The cost was $14 and I am here to tell you, worth many times that amount!
Here's what an impact driver looks like, this one is from Sears. A wonderful tool!
Success! The cover is off!
Check out all the metal shavings at the bottom edge!We had a heck of a time removing the cam gear and shaft. We thought all we had to do is clear the push rods from applying pressure on the cam gear's lobes. So we removed the rocker arm assemblies and removed the push rods on the left side and extended out the ones on the right as shown below:
This however did not do the trick. There was still something hanging up the cam shaft lobes.
Then, by using the great instructions and photos on Bill Glaser's Unofficial Ural Motorcycle Service Manual website, Andre and I were able to figure out the next steps in order to remove the cam gear. This is the large gear in the picture above. Had I been smart, I would have looked at the link beforehand and done it in the order shown, saved us a bunch of time!
We ended up having to, in order: (note, I am probably not using the right names, refer to the pictures)
1. Loosen the rocker arm assemblies on both sides of the motorcycle and remove them.
2. Once the rocker arm assemblies were removed, we removed the push rods on the left and extended them on the right. (See above picture)
3. Remove the left side exhaust pipe from the left jug, which freed up the jug. You need the special pin wrench from the Ural toolkit to do this. Once loose, just tap the u-shaped exhaust pipe with a hammer till it comes off the jug. (use a rubber mallet for such jobs)
4. Pull the left jug enough so that its base cleared the engine case and the tappets were exposed behind the cylinder and cylinder heads (within which the push rods travel).
The left jug, once freed from the exhaust pipe, slid outward easily, note the tappets which were now free to move out of the way of the cam gear's lobes.Now, to order replacement timing gears. The ones on the motorcycle were truly damaged.
All that remains to be pulled is the crank gear, shown in place above. It's seemingly undamaged but will compare against the new one to make sure.
Here's a closeup view of the tappets (small metal tube within the round openings), the cylinders and cylinder heads mate up to them and the push rods are the actual contact on the tappets.
Here's the removed cam gear and shaft, to the left and right of it are the rocker arm assemblies, the small gear to the right is the oil pump gear that came off the opening on top of the engine, the cover for the oil pump gear is the big round cover at the base and to the right of the end of the cam gear shaft.
Just look at how the alternator's gear wore down the cam gear's teeth!
Another view of the left jug, pulled clear of the engine case, that round opening on top is where the oil pump gear goes into.Next, cleaning up the damage and preparing the Ural for the new timing gears.
Previously: Getting through a failed alternator on my Ural Sidecar Rig
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