Jlo R 297 - shaft wobble :( spec ??

[swfleur]

Hello Jlo gurus - I'm rebuilding the 300 Attex I bought and could not get the dang engine to fire up at all - I have spark and compression and even put some fuel into the engine - only got one pop -

So I went through the carb and cleaned it up and adjusted the needle pop off setting - put carb back on and still no fire in the hole - It seems to be getting fuel because I can wet the plug if I choke it and I can see the fuel getting in there when I throttle and hit the starter - just to be sure I put some gas right into the spark plug hole and still - not even a pop of fire

Oh Well - the machine is new to me so I might as well go through the engine now just to be sure ( crank seals and rings or at least inspect for damage )

Sure enough the crank seals are tore up but all else looks good - sorry for the extra info but here we go - when it was turning over with the starter or pull cord - I saw a distinct wobble at pulley and at flywheel side - not awful but noticeable -

put the crank shaft on my lathe just to check if its bent or off - I found that the shaft is out of true center by .060 " ( approx 1/16 " ) Indeed - it has a wobble : (

I'm wondering if this is normal on these Jlo's and / or if its fixable ? Maybe the seal is getting damaged by this shaft wobble and if so - no sense in putting new seals in until I fix the wobble or get a new crank - I did see some cranks for my machine on Ebay and I will buy if needed but - just wondering if any one else has dealt with the dreaded ol shaft wobble ( sounds like an erectile dysfunction problem when I say it like that

Attached are some pics of the crank and engine disassembled

Any advice would be awesome - please and thanks

[swfleur]

Anyone have advice on the Jlo engine shaft - seems to have some wobble

Jlo R 297 - shaft wobble -

Hello Jlo gurus - I'm rebuilding the 300 Attex I bought and could not get the dang engine to fire up at all - I have spark and compression and even put some fuel into the engine - only got one pop -

So I went through the carb and cleaned it up and adjusted the needle pop off setting - put carb back on and still no fire in the hole - It seems to be getting fuel because I can wet the plug if I choke it and I can see the fuel getting in there when I throttle and hit the starter - just to be sure I put some gas right into the spark plug hole and still - not even a pop of fire

Oh Well - the machine is new to me so I might as well go through the engine now just to be sure ( crank seals and rings or at least inspect for damage )

Sure enough the crank seals are tore up but all else looks good - sorry for the extra info but here we go - when it was turning over with the starter or pull cord - I saw a distinct wobble at pulley and at flywheel side - not awful but noticeable -

put the crank shaft on my lathe just to check if its bent or off - I found that the shaft is out of true center by .060 " ( approx 1/16 " ) Indeed - it has a wobble : (

I'm wondering if this is normal on these Jlo's and / or if its fixable ? Maybe the seal is getting damaged by this shaft wobble and if so - no sense in putting new seals in until I fix the wobble or get a new crank - I did see some cranks for my machine on Ebay and I will buy if needed but - just wondering if any one else has dealt with the dreaded ol shaft wobble ( sounds like an erectile dysfunction problem when I say it like that

Attached are some pics of the crank and engine disassembled

Any advice would be awesome - please and thanks

[Don]

SW- The crank is pressed together and most likely something has shifted to let the PTO end wobble. I'm not sure of the spec for runout, but I'm pretty sure .060" is pretty darn much. I have a couple JLO singles that you may be able to use the crank from if you can't get yours trued up. I guess the only choices you have are a different crank, send that one to a two-stroke rebuilder, or try it yourself. I can't recommend this, but I have straightened one out myself with a brass hammer. It was a twin, but the idea is the same. I had the crank out and set up on blocks of wood under the bearings, slowly turned it to the high side of runout and "tapped" it on the end of the crank with the hammer. The pistons & rods will fly around but a blanket holds them down pretty well. It took a few tries but I got it true within a couple thousanths. The engine is still being used in a race machine (won't say which one) and runs great. I may have just gotten really lucky, but had nothing to lose and figured it was worth a try. What you do is up to you!

Good luck
Don

[swfleur]

Thanks Don for the info - I wondered if I could beat the dam thing back to straight I will try that - I appreciate the sanity check - I figured .060 was a bit much - especially since its so dam obvious when it was turning over -

The Tillotson carbs seem to get a bad name from what I've read - but I had an old snowmobile that never seemed to have an issue and it's got the same carb - any suggestions on the carb or fule and lack of combustion? I was suprised that I couldnt even get it to fire up when I put fuel in the jug - truth be told - I lit the dam thing on fire when I tested for spark against the engine ground with the plug hanging by spark plug - Wish someone would have had that on film - me slapping at the fire with a nice oily rag ahhh - good times - thankfully I had a beer going and shook it up and sprayed my engine down to put out the fire - I promised I wouldn't share that story but it was just too funny not to share -