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Crank gallery ball removal

G

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Feb 24, 2004
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zompton
Definitely a must do if you are doing a complete rebuild. I had it done on my last engine rebuild. BEFORE balancing the crank/ flywheel together.
 
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prove_it

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Jul 3, 2008
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Sioux Falls, SD
Drill it out with skill, patience, and understanding how to drill out something like this. I.E. Don't just take any ol drill bit and go to town.
 

GSTwithPSI

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Jan 1, 2012
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3,460
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SoCal
From what I understand, the ball itself traps crap that can dislodge during operation and f*** sh*t up. The balls have always been removed on every legit remand crank I've ever seen, so I'd guess even a hot tank doesn't get the job done.
 
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prove_it

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It's a tiny little space that even a hot tank cleaning won't reach. It will remove some, but not ALL the junk.
 

89Patches

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Jan 30, 2013
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Ontario Canada
Normally I let the crank sit in the hot tank for 1-2 days then blast hot water through the oil galleys. And to finish I use varsol to make sure nothing is left behind, both water and varsol are pressurized to 160psi. The hot tank doesn't really remove everything, it just breaks and or loosens crap that gets removed when cleaning. Would be interesting to clean a 4G crank like how I do, then remove the ball to see if I got everything.
 

prove_it

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I bet you do. Bogus hot tanks and cleans them and has pulled the balls to find more junk. It's a deep recess back behind the ball. Hard to get cleaner to it. Only reason oil gets back there is from the centrifugal force of the crank pushing it outwards.
 

G

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I'd be interested to see if that gunk is ferrous at all.
 

prove_it

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From what I understand its crud that falls out of suspension in the oil. the force of the crank separates it out and pushes it towards the ball.
 

ApexHunter

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Apr 25, 2007
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Yeah this is a pretty important step. As mentioned, it's the only way to ensure you got all the crud out of there. f***, hot tanking without doing this can even make things worse, as you could loosen up that which has been laying dormant, only to have it work its way out and then wreak havoc.
 

prove_it

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^Exactly.

Also goes with not pulling out the oil gallery plugs in the head when cleaning it. I pull them out, and use a gun cleaning kit to get all the head oil passages cleaned up.
 

89Mirageman

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Jul 5, 2006
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2,502
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Stantonsburg, NC
Prove it, what size socket do you use for that and how in the hell do you break them loose, heat? I found somewhere it uses a 5.5 mm but ordered one and its too big.
 

ApexHunter

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Apr 25, 2007
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Marysville, WA
I used rifle brushes as well to clean the head galleries. I hot tanked it, went at it with some solvents, repeat. I remember being shocked at what had been living in there. I don't recall the size of those plugs, but i didn't really have much trouble getting them out. Any stubborn ones saw some heat from the oxyacetylene torch and paraffin wax. Wish i could be more specific but it's been 6-7 years.
 
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prove_it

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Heat and an impact 5mm hex socket. Slow and careful, they can be hard.
 

G

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Feb 24, 2004
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8,896
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zompton
Cleaning out those head gallery's also helps with lifter tick.
 

donniekak

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Jan 1, 2009
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748
Location
surprise az
I use a tig and short piece of filler rod to pull them out. Zap a piece of rod onto the ball and pull it out with vice grips.
 
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