starter jack shaft

[Omarttentmaker]

I asked this question on the panhead and flathead site and haven't gotten a response. When I took this project apart there was no small thrust washer located in the starter gear housing that goes between the starter gear and the housing. Found one and installed it. Fast forward two or three months, and I went to put the primary cover on to find that that jack shaft stuck out too far. I layed a straight-edge across the flange on the jackshaft nut and the gap between that surface and the face of the inner primary is about .04". The large thrust washer that goes on that nut measures .08". Coincidentally. the small thrust washer that I put in measures .124". Unless somebody can tell me why that washer would created the interference, I'm thinking I'm just gonna remove the inner thrust washer. And yes, the jack shaft is the early short one, and I do have th3e oil deflector plate that goes between the gear housing and the mounting face on the inner primary.

[joe fxs fxr]

What year is your bike? The parts manual I have shows that thrust washer as 65-71 only.

[Omarttentmaker]

What year is your bike? The parts manual I have shows that thrust washer as 65-71 only.

'68 ElectraGlide

[dukekleman]

Omarttentmaker,

I have experience fixing the issues you are having.
The problem I have found is people mix matching used parts.
There are multiple year group pieces you can mis-match which causes starter drive issues.
Here's the most probable causes of incorrect Parts causing your problem. You'll have to do the research on each of the items I'll list to locate which one it ones are at fault.
A) Starter housing
B) Shift collar
C) Starter shaft ( I know you already checked this)

Hope this helps,
Duke Kleman

[Omarttentmaker]

I was unaware of any differences in the shift collar or the starter housing. Both of those would be sorta tough to chase down. Upon further review, I may be able to thin the thrust washer down (maybe by half), and relieve the inside of the starter gear housing if the needle bearing is pressed far enough into the hole to allow me to take some stock off the back wall of the housing. My thought is the thrust washer is rather thick, and for the service it performs and the fact that there really isn't much of a "wear factor" in the spot where it is, altering the parts in this manner would fit the bill for my dilemma. Thanks for the input.....

[Omarttentmaker]

Did some measuring this morning. It appears that the jack shaft assembly ( nut, gear and both thrust washers assembled on the shaft) is .110" too long. If the shoulder on the starter shaft nut is soft, I'm gonna remove .06" off the small thrust washer, .04" off the shoulder of the nut, and .02" off the face of the large thrust washer. That'll give me .01" axial clearance. If the nut can't be machined, I will counterbore the inside face of the housing .100" deep to accept the small washer, and remove .02" from the large washer to make up .120" total removal. wish me luck!

[Omarttentmaker]

Think I'll have to take the primary cover gasket into consideration also. The ones I have measure .03" thick. Not sure how much one will compress. If I say the gasket compresses .005, then I'll take .09" instead of .120", and end up with .005" axial play. If the gasket doesn't compress quite that much, it'll only add a little to the axial play. think I can live with that.