Cam & Gov Problems

[akghound]

Well the governor on my engine was not working as it should. As usual for me I waited to fix it for a while thinking it would just heal itself  yeah right. After all it is only abut a year old. Anyway I find the pins that hold the weights in place are out of alignment and a couple teeth are broken on the gear.



No problem I thought. I have a gear and governor left over from one of the other broken cams. When I took each one apart I found every cam gear taper-pin broken and none of the holes lined up in any combination of gear to shaft. 
My family was down sick and I needed heat and power right away so I ended up drilling the best fit straight through and put in a bolt for the pin.
I guess that is what DYI sometimes is about. Doing what we have to do to get going when things don't work out exactly like they should.
So here is my question; Are these tapered pins standard pins that can be bought locally? What are they called by the counter man in the parts house? When I tried to explain what I needed he was totally lost and before I was done so was I.
Thanks .... Ken Gardner

[veggie]

Good improvisation. That's right, when the chips are down, just get it running until the crisis is over.
As for the parts....
You might try these guys. They may have it in stock.

1] http://www.generatorsales.com/order/lister-parts.asp

2] Eco Diesel Solutions (Troy)    http://www.ecodieselcanada.com

Good luck,
Veggie

[Crofter]

I think the tapered pin is not as common a thing so many modern industrial supplys might not have them. gunsmith supply houses would be a better try. I have not looked to see if Brownells from Montezuma Iowa are still in business but they used to have them. I would turn something off in the lathe or if stuck, file a taper pin or drill straight through and rivet head a tight fit pin. It is a little difficult to get a real tight bolt fit and it is important on something like that which is getting constant reversal of loading. There is something on one of the forums on a fix for governor flyweight pivot pins.

[BruceM]

Sorry for your governor crash, Ken.  What a frustration-  I guess in Rajkot the cam/governor assembly is a one of a kind assembly like an old flintlock.  A direct electronic governor (remove mechanical)  is looking better all the time!

[JohnF]

Ken;

Last time I checked McMaster-Carr had some taper pins in stock - you will need to cut them.  Yes, the Indians don't know how to drill a hole in the middle of a piece of round stock.  I'm working on getting a good replacement twin cam made in North America, it iwll be more expensive but will last the life of your engine.

[Apogee]

Looking at the pic, you had better also check the teeth on your bronze timing gear as it is softer than the iron gear that is missing teeth...

I second McMaster as a source.

Good luck!

Steve

[Ronmar]

When I had problems removing the camshaft end/thrust cap pin, I had to drill it out.  I found taper pins at my local hardware store in the hillman fasteners selection.  Most larger hardware stores have an isle of these small drawred parts.  Unfortunately the largest in this particular selection was a little too small.  A local machine shop also had an assortment, but they were all to big...  In my case, being the end cap is only thrust loaded, I drilled and reamed the whole assembly for a 5/16" shoulder bolt...

[XYZER]

http://www.mcmaster.com/#taper-pins/=4j77l1

http://www.mcmaster.com/#taper-pin-reamers/=4j7863

[akghound]

Well wouldn't ya know it. Colder then all get out, middle of winter the darkest time of the year and the generator engine goes down.  Appears to be a broken cam shaft or gear. The engine turns over ok but the valve train doesn't move. Went down the same time the sun did so I haven't taken it apart yet. I think I may be done with this engine. This is the forth or fifth cam to fail. I can't help but think that some how my bolted up gear failed. Will see in the morning.
Ken Gardner

[Apogee]

Bummer Ken!

I would suggest that if you've gone through that many cams perhaps you have a different problem that is causing the failure.

Is this a single or twin?  What size and brand?

Are you running one of the offset bolts on the idler gear to set the gear backlash?

Have you run oil to the sleeve bearing at the far end of the cam?  If the far end is binding up over time, it will break camshafts.

Finally, it is my understanding that the pins on the cam gear are often drilled off center and pounded in when installed.  This creates a stress riser that eventually causes the cam to crack and fail.

There is not much load on that cam in a single, hence I'd be looking for other causes.  The twins are known to eat cams, but even then I'd be looking for the root cause.  Listeroid cams are not under anywhere the stress that a cam in a V8 is and they last for hundreds of thousands of miles.

I know it's discouraging, but don't give up.

Regards,

Steve

[BruceM]

So sorry, Ken. After all that recent rebuild work it's gotta hurt. I hope you can get it sorted out and fixed, finally.

Bruce

[akghound]

Mistaken diagnoses
Guess what? Not the cam.
The gear on the crankshaft does not turn. The crank just turns inside of it.
With all my cam problems I just surmised that was the culprit.
So now I am off on another adventure.
Ken Gardner

[Apogee]

With as many cams as you've broken, and now this gear find, I'm still wondering if the cams are binding up...

Seems like it might be taking too much force to turn them.  They should turn pretty easily.

I remember reading someplace a comment from one of the Listeroid builders in India regarding drilling the blind hole for the far end of the cam as "an act of god" or something like that...  Perhaps yours wasn't drilled correctly?

Just a thought.

Good luck!

Steve