What's the best way to remove a flywheel?

[davidwyby]

So here I am figuring I’m gonna break something before I get it off, tapping and oiling and heating and tightening...finally it occurred to me to flip it over and tap on the back of the puller bar that I luckily left long and overhung the flywheel...popped right off.

 

[Mastermind]

So here I am figuring I’m gonna break something before I get it off, tapping and oiling and heating and tightening...finally it occurred to me to flip it over and tap on the back of the puller bar that I luckily left long and overhung the flywheel...popped right off.

View attachment 272113

Some of those older Huskys are really stuck.

 

[Stump Shot]

Some of those older Huskys are really stuck.

The old style 281/288/394/395 flywheels are a booger to remove. I finally broke down and bought the big puller from Husqvarna just for them.

 

[deye223]

What's the best way to remove a flywheel? I generally avoid it when I can, but beating on a crankshaft 50 times to knock loose a flywheel is ridiculous. I don't like putting a hammer to precision machinery.

No I have not read the entire thread but with me it's with the proper tool period.

 

[MustangMike]

No I have not read the entire thread but with me it's with the proper tool period.

Yea, the HAMMER, right???

 

[deye223]

Yea, the HAMMER, right???

Just as long as it's the fuggen biggest one you've got block splitter will do it

 

[countryhog]

We used to treat the new guy to red lock-tite in his locker padlock , at a steam plant I worked in. Time for the universal key!

I assume you sent him to get a bucket of steam so you could loctite his lock

 

[kanscruzer]

12 point impact sockets should be against the law

 

[Lightning Performance]

Sometime just a tall nut like a Ubolt and good sharp rap with a brass hammer while your holding the motor by the flywheel seems to always pops them right off. You will need giant hands. Loosen the nut 1/4 turn from tight. Sharp light raps work best.
Currently I'm using a four or five ounce ball peen with a steel crank tool made just for this purpose.

 

[kanscruzer]

Um....try removing them after running a 40 then a 60.
The 40 is not so bad. The 60 is a pia to remove. I greased the threads. It helps

Try a quality six point shallow socket half inch drive. Set the ratchet head or breaker bar on a wood pillow block. Pull gentle on the pipe handle or breaker bar.

12 point impact sockets should be outlawed, unless you have a 12 point nut/bolt,,,,, or you hate the guy

 

[Vintage Engine Repairs]

The correct puller

 

[Al Smith]

Sometimes you have to get creative .Of course it's helpful if you have access to a milling machine and a lathe plus know how to use them .It's not helpful to pound away on the crankshaft stub with a BFH .

 

[MustangMike]

I don't have a lathe or milling machine ... but I do have a hammer!

I guess sometimes you just have to go with what you have got ... just never leave common sense out of the equation and you will usually be OK.

I have assembled a lot of AM 660 cases with nothing more than a (HF) heat gun a hammer, and so far they are all still running.

I use my flywheel puller when I can, but it does not fit everything. When re-installing the flywheel, the most important thing seems to be making sure it is clean ... I use brake cleaner on both surfaces (thanks for that tip Randy).

Also, using the knowledge learned from sites like this is invaluable! If you had to learn it all on your own, you would not learn this much in a lifetime!

 

[Wood Doctor]

Sometimes removing the clutch is worse than removing the flywheel. I just ran into this on an MS660. It must have been installed with a torque wrench set way to high and time did the rest. A piston block would have ruined the top end and two wrenches (one for the clutch and the other for the flywheel) also failed. So did Liquid Wrench. I gave up.

 

[MustangMike]

The clutches (as I'm sure you know) are reverse thread and often get tighter over time.

Often the only way to remove it is with an impact wrench.

I have stripped flywheel nuts by trying to use them to hold the crank still. Best to block the piston with something that is not too hard.

 

[trooney]

I had a clutch that wouldnt come off with an impact gun no matter what I did. I do not recommend it, but had to heat it CHERRY RED and then put my impact to it. It worked on about the 3rd try. I just let it cool naturally.

 

[Al Smith]

Problem I've seen on Stihl clutches is they don't have enough "nut " to get on .A standard 6 point socket has a bit of a chamfer to make it easier to engage which doesn't provide enough "purchase " .I have oodles of deep black iron impact sockets and just ground the face flat with a belt sander .At the moment however I have no idea where it might be at .I'm not real tidy .

 

[Al Smith]

Problem with an impact wrench depends on the model plus the air pressure they run on .At the house where I usually work on saws I have is about 100 PSI from a single stage Craftsman compressor .At my shop,22 miles away I have a two stage built from junk dumping into tw0 60 gallon tanks and set to go on around 135 and off at around 155 PSI .Makes a difference .Then again the impacts are not the greatest .Old half worn out production units I got on a scrap pass from work .I had a good at one time but the mother of my children seems to have relieved me of that over 30 years ago due to legal thing called a divorce .

 

[MustangMike]

My 18V 1/2 drive battery powered DeWalt seems to work well on this stuff.

I think it is the only cordless hand tool I don't also have in 20V. (Although I'm sure the 20V would be better).

Since I have not ground any of my sockets (yet), I often use a 12 pt (instead of a 6 pt) to get a better purchase on those shallow nuts.

 

[Yukon Stihl]

Problem with an impact wrench depends on the model plus the air pressure they run on .At the house where I usually work on saws I have is about 100 PSI from a single stage Craftsman compressor .At my shop,22 miles away I have a two stage built from junk dumping into tw0 60 gallon tanks and set to go on around 135 and off at around 155 PSI .Makes a difference .Then again the impacts are not the greatest .Old half worn out production units I got on a scrap pass from work .I had a good at one time but the mother of my children seems to have relieved me of that over 30 years ago due to legal thing called a divorce .

Sounds like my divorce she was a half wore out unit heading for the scrap heap...