[MF10Ryan]

Dad and I planned on getting a couple of tractors out and plows looked at (even tho the snow is still 4" deep) so we are ready for PA Plow Day.

I went to start my 10 and there was this awful grinding noise and I couldn't get the key off fast enough.

Dad just looked at me and said "That's awful, those bearings only lasted 46 years"
We have been hearing a little bit of noise from the starter for a while now, but it got much worse this morning.

As we were just about to take the end caps off, dad stoped, turned around about 3 times, and said "Wait... where's the chalk?" So we scavenged around until we found it and i asked him if we were going to use the chalk to mark the pegs. He smiled as he turned to me and said "Yes, yes we are."

After we got the End cap off, we looked in and saw a big ol' clump of yellow grease, The first thought that popped into my head was "Ear-Wax"... and he told me it was NOT ear-wax, but Old, Dry Grease.

Now that we have the definition of Old Grease in my "Mental-Thesaurus", we continued with our Project. I was just about to pull the casing off while his head was turned, (Talking to Grandpa) And just as I was about to lift, he turned around and 'Chanted' ''Hold on there 'Buck-A-Roo!", so i stopped and I asked him what I was doing wrong, and he said that we needed to put something in there to hold the brushes back, or else it would be a pain in the "Rump" to get back on.

Time for the other end-cap! So I try to pull if off and, well i couldn't so Dad took it from me and flopped it into the vise and told me to grab a big hammer. Me, Being the "Smart-Sacastic" guy I am, (I get this trait from my father...) and I grabbed, What we call the "I love you" hammer. And he sighed, and i proceeded. he told me to actually hit it so i did, and we finally got it out of the cap.

Here I was just taking of the Oil-holder "Thingy" and Dad, afterwards was about to do something with the cap and I said "Woah woah woah!! Stop and bring it here, Please!" so he did so, and i took a flat-blade and lifted up, what seemed to be invisible, a Small little Gasket. With the same "I'm proud of you kid" face he had on earlier, he looked at me and nodded with approval.

The bearing that grandpa got for us fit like a Glove in the Front-cap, so we made it fit like a glove that was about... 1.5 sizes too big, by Pushing the metal inward from the ... Well, Metal with a punch and the "Good Ol', I love you" hammer. (bearing numbers in Dad's post #7 below)

Even though the tool Captured in photo isn't the "Quite right" tool to use, we had it and it was already dirty, so why not use it to "Clean" something, that wasn't "Quite clean".

So, this is one of the bearings grandpa got for us, and it was already Exposed on one side, Dad picked it up and spun it, oh, well about 3 times, and then the other peice of tin fell off, "Well, we're not gonna' use that!" Dad said, so grandpa tried, same thing. all-in-all, we got another bearing.

This is a picture to the piece Mo.#, it reads: "193990" and there is also stamping to the right of it. This said: "5-HD".

Well, in the end i was glad to spend some time with Dad, and at the same time Fix my tractor's Starter. Goodness me I was Pretty Frightened at first, but then i learned that a little elbow grease and Sweat(more like "Sweat-sicles") isn't a bad thing in trying to fix stuff...

 

[tractorgarden]

Atta-Boy Ryan! :thumbs:

 

[LTD]

Excellent writeup Ryan :thumbs: Looks like you had a fun day. I haven't had to tear apart a starter yet(knock on wood).

 

[DH1]

Good Stuff, it'll be as good as new in no time. :thumbs:

 

[MF10Ryan]

Actually, Dad just corrected me. I didnt realize he took a pic of the bearing that was bad.

I thought this was one of the ones we found on the shelf, it ends up being the junker.

Rats, He was right again. LOL

 

[Ryan313]

Thanks for a good write up! I am dreading the day I have to take apart a starter for the first time...

 

[MH81]

Actually, Dad just corrected me. I didnt realize he took a pic of the bearing that was bad.

I thought this was one of the ones we found on the shelf, it ends up being the junker.

Rats, He was right again. LOL

Goofball. I just told you that so you'd know.

Anyways, proud of my kid today, with a minimum of "guidance" he did this more or less himself.

If anyone has this gen unit, the bearings are # 6203, They make open sided and sealed in a -r (rubber) or -z (metal) sides. The ones we happened to have on the shelf were not matched pair. One was labled 6203-ee-j30 GM Fan Bearing and the other was 508069 clutch bearing for FD-JD-MF, both had 6203 stamped on it once out of the package.

The weird thing was the OEM were open frame on one side like you should be able to lube them... but none of the drill-outs were opened at the factory. No way to get the lube in there.

We went with the sealed ones. Should be good for another 40+ yrs. It's amazing how much quieter the tractor is.

Thanks for a nice afternoon Ryan, I had fun too.

One more addendum,

in this pic:

You will see the small black lines between the contacts on the armature where the brushes ride. I always was taught to carefully run a broken hacksaw blade up thru them to make sure there isn't any foreign (conductive) material shorting 2 together. Just dont pull toward the armature in case you slip... you'll do damage to the coatings and that's generally a bad thing.

I was also taught to burnish the copper contacts a little and only true them with a file when changing brushes.

 

[backwoods]

glad to hear that ya got is fixed. and he got a lesson on how to rebuild a starter/gen

 

[JD DANNELS]

Nice write up Ryan! I was probably about the same age as you when my dad taught me how to rebuild a generator.
Enjoy the time working with your dad, memories are timeless.

 

[HowardsMF155]

Way to go! I know I always enjoyed working with my Dad.

 

[Moosetales]

Great thread. Thanks for the detailed explanation as well as the pics. Love to see father, son and grandfather all in on a rebuild.

 

[JRJ]

This story just goes to show that a starter nor an alternator is that hard to work on, get the tools out and hands dirty and do the job. I never had anyone to show me this kind of stuff for my father was not the type that worked on motors, so I learned by watching others, asking quesition and getting my hands dirty and a unlce that I really loved that my hero and mentor.

Dick

 

[NUTNDUN]

Great write up. You are doing a great job Ryan and I am sure you already know your dad is proud of ya as we are too. I am sure it made a world of difference. I think the bearings in my starter on my 12 need done.