Crank Stuffer Input Needed

[SS109]

Well, it finally happened to me. Went to go ride Sunday morning, hit the starter button, and thud. Thought my starter might have taken a dump until I pulled out the kicker and it was locked as well so I knew the crank stuffer bolt came out.

Anyway, the stuffer itself appears to be broken into two pieces. I tried removing the loose piece but it appears that part of the recessed area for the bolt is still on the broken piece and will not allow it to come out. Questions... can I just install another bolt with loctite and it will retain the separated piece? If not, can the stuffer be replaced with the crank assembled and in the engine?

Oh, here's a quick vid of what I'm talking about...

 

[gasgasman]

The crank stuffer needs to be replaced.
It can be done in the bike , just a pain.
You will need to shorten a torx bit to fit the crank stuffer bolts..

 

[SS109]

Mine is just a standard allen wrench. Hope I can track down the correct one locally as they aren't listed on the CPD website.

Question, which loctite is everyone using when installing these bolts, the medium blue?

 

[SS109]

Ok, this being done in the bike is impossible unless you have some specialized tools for doing it. There is just no way to hold the allen key and also not run in to inference with the rod for the "middle" screw. Looks like the engine will be coming apart so I can get access. Ugh.

 

[SS109]

Ok, for future people searching for info on this. This is what I learned on fixing this problem on my 2011 EC250R.

If you have this problem you WILL have to split the cases. There is just no way to reach the middle screw(s) of the stuffer(s) due to the case and the rod not allowing enough room. You only need to disassemble the left (shifter) side of the case (and top end but I figure that's a given) and the clutch side can remain fully assembled. On this year engine the crank bearing is pressed in the case so you will need a case splitter.

The screws are allen recessed socket head in M6-1.0. Standard hardware store screws will work but you cannot get the correct length so you will need to buy a 25mm long one (20mm is too short) and grind it down to match the factory ones. The length is very important so you have the proper amount of thread engagement but not so long it's sticking through the other side of the crank. I threaded on a threading die before grinding to make cleaning up the threads easy. The allen wrench needed is a 4mm and the end length will need to be ground down until only about 3mm of straight length remains to fit between the crank halves and still be able to remove the screws. The longer the handle end the better, IMO, but a minimum of 90mm (3.5") will be needed.

The crank stuffers are meant to be installed when the crank is apart so the new stuffer can NOT be installed as is. The opening where it wraps around the crank pin area is too small to slide on and it does not really flex. My fix, I trimmed off each side of the opening until I could just barely squeeze it on when tapping it with my rubber mallet.

You will need to rotate the stuffer around to where you can slide each screw into it's respective hole and then move to the next one. Make sure not to forget to install the screws with some medium strength loctite on them! I strongly recommend if you are in there for one side then you should remove the screws from the other side and loctite them as well. I had one screw on the undamaged side that wasn't even finger tight!

I hope this helps any of you that might find yourself in the same situation.

 

[Anders]

When a similar thing happened to my 2015 EC200 a few years back (the stuffer was intact, but a screw had become undone and locked up the crank) I chose to split the engine and also replace the buttom end (cank pin, bearing and rod) just to be on the safe side.
Has done approx 150 hours since whitout any problems.

 

[Wbdisco]

Thanks for the write up, but hopefully I won’t have to use it

 

[SS109]

My latest vid and I discuss my experience with this issue.