220 Crank install

[Jacobtm]

Rebuilding my 1998 220. I tried to sweat the crank in but I don’t think the bearing got hot enough and it didn’t go all the way in. I have a puller but no adapter that fits right side of the crank. Does anyone know what thread pitch the crank is? I think its m16x1.25 but cant find a nut anywhere. Im tempted to push the crank back out and try to sweat it in again but Im worried the bearing might still come out with the crank even though it is not all the way in and I dont have a separator. Any ideas?

[bufftester]

Crank installer/Puller tool is the best way to do it and poses the least risk to the crank. Short of that you really are stuck with pulling it and hoping the bearing doesn't come off as well.

[Jacobtm]

Posted a little too soon. I had ordered some nuts off amazon but wasn’t sure if they would work with the puller. They came in and worked great. Freshly rebuilt crank installed hopefully can get the rest of it together this week.

[billie_morini]

Jacobtm, whew! Thank goodness!

[bufftester]

The right tool really does make all the difference

[kdxdazz]

You may already know this but once all together it's important to relieve the side loading on the bearings
It's been talked about a few times and sometimes gets confused with centering the crank
Once together there will be side load on the bearings, although centering the crank is not crucial, the only way to relieve the side load is moving the crank towards the centre, you can use a crank puller if you have it or the service manual states a light tap with a soft hammer and a wedge put in the crank webs to stop it going out of true, I did it both ways on my 3 kdx's, pulled the crank roughly to centre then a few taps either side with a nylon hammer
Once that side load is relieved you can really feel the crank free up and move easily

[billie_morini]

You may already know this but once all together it's important to relieve the side loading on the bearings
It's been talked about a few times and sometimes gets confused with centering the crank
Once together there will be side load on the bearings, although centering the crank is not crucial, the only way to relieve the side load is moving the crank towards the centre, you can use a crank puller if you have it or the service manual states a light tap with a soft hammer and a wedge put in the crank webs to stop it going out of true, I did it both ways on my 3 kdx's, pulled the crank roughly to centre then a few taps either side with a nylon hammer
Once that side load is relieved you can really feel the crank free up and move easily

Wow, this is really important to know! Thank you, kdxazz.

[kdxdazz]

If you ever follow chuck.harder videos on YouTube he has a few videos on a factory recall by TM for failed main bearings caused by side load on the bearings
On our kdx bearings it may become even more important as we don't have access to hydraulic presses, we usually use the heat and freeze method and this creates additional side load once all the temperatures have equalised

[billie_morini]

Ah-so, even more good stuff from kdxazz!

[Jacobtm]

You may already know this but once all together it's important to relieve the side loading on the bearings
It's been talked about a few times and sometimes gets confused with centering the crank
Once together there will be side load on the bearings, although centering the crank is not crucial, the only way to relieve the side load is moving the crank towards the centre, you can use a crank puller if you have it or the service manual states a light tap with a soft hammer and a wedge put in the crank webs to stop it going out of true, I did it both ways on my 3 kdx's, pulled the crank roughly to centre then a few taps either side with a nylon hammer
Once that side load is relieved you can really feel the crank free up and move easily

Dang it I didn’t really do this. I used the puller to put the halves together but not sure if I pulled it enough to the left side once they were together. crank seemed to move free. I put the top end all together yesterday. Do you think I should try to use the puller on the flywheel side to pull in just a hair? I wont be able to see its location since the top end is on now.

[Chuck78]

If you ever follow chuck.harder videos on YouTube he has a few videos on a factory recall by TM for failed main bearings caused by side load on the bearings
On our kdx bearings it may become even more important as we don't have access to hydraulic presses, we usually use the heat and freeze method and this creates additional side load once all the temperatures have equalised

Here's a few pertinent topics from Chuck Harder @ True Tech:

https://youtube.com/shorts/ptrrsBtOE6k? ... bC4kABym4Z


https://youtube.com/shorts/PDJepCJ2dwg? ... bx9oz7HDJ8

https://youtube.com/shorts/jssNWTA---A? ... dQjTi8AoRA

https://youtube.com/shorts/QszCgJJZ1TE? ... 5leWPImlr5

https://youtube.com/shorts/HobZG287qh0? ... hDfcRy3F-v

[kdxdazz]

You may already know this but once all together it's important to relieve the side loading on the bearings
It's been talked about a few times and sometimes gets confused with centering the crank
Once together there will be side load on the bearings, although centering the crank is not crucial, the only way to relieve the side load is moving the crank towards the centre, you can use a crank puller if you have it or the service manual states a light tap with a soft hammer and a wedge put in the crank webs to stop it going out of true, I did it both ways on my 3 kdx's, pulled the crank roughly to centre then a few taps either side with a nylon hammer
Once that side load is relieved you can really feel the crank free up and move easily

Dang it I didn’t really do this. I used the puller to put the halves together but not sure if I pulled it enough to the left side once they were together. crank seemed to move free. I put the top end all together yesterday. Do you think I should try to use the puller on the flywheel side to pull in just a hair? I wont be able to see its location since the top end is on now.

You may be ok since you used a puller to put it together rather than heat and freeze method, tough call, using the puller without seeing how far you pulled the crank webs seems tricky
I've personally never used a puller to assemble the cases
I thought it needed to be pulled from the clutch side but it's 7am here in Thailand and just sipping my morning coffee after 1 too many beers last night so my brain is a bit foggy
If it was my engine and my call to make I would give it a few taps with a nylon hammer on the side you think it needs to go, using the heat and freeze method it's the flywheel side from memory
Currently building an nsr150 engine on my kitchen bench so I lost a bit of kdx memory

As posted by chuck78, I think chuck harder produces some of the most knowledgeable videos, I've messaged him personally asking for advice

[Jacobtm]

I ended up taking the jug off and pulling the crank over a hair just to be safe. I also couldn’t remember if I double checked that the rings went in to the cylinder correctly so I got to check that. Got the top buttoned back up and put the engine into the frame. Been about two years since the PO’s faulty top end job grenaded cant wait to get it fired up.

IMG_4267.jpeg (515.54 KiB) Viewed 8705 times

Had to mock up what the plastics were going to look like.

IMG_4266.jpeg (1.42 MiB) Viewed 8705 times

[billie_morini]

Jacob, Getting close! Let us know when she crackles to life!

[Jacobtm]

Got the engine buttoned up and it fired up. Took it for a couple rides around the neighborhood it feels really good. I got a new silencer coming in the one I have is so bent up it had to be zip tied to the frame for testing and a Clarke tank I’m really excited to install. I did a leak down test and it is leaking air from the power valve cover on the right. I’m assuming it’s from the “packing” on the sub valve shaft since I didn’t replace it. Does anyone know where you can purchase that seal seems out of stock everywhere. Does it matter too much if I ride it as is for now?

[billie_morini]

Hurrah, Jacob! Tenacity prevails. The bike is clean and uncoated metal gleams.

I'm optimistic you'll solve the final niggling matter. Hopefully, some of the more experienced KDX forum members will help.

[KDXGarage]

I think leaking there is somewhat common. Someone several months back had a thread on it.