JD GX85 riding mower -- Install flywheel dry or lube? Bendix gear question also.

   / JD GX85 riding mower -- Install flywheel dry or lube? Bendix gear question also. #1  

Gene123

New member
Joined
Apr 21, 2012
Messages
9
Location
Dallas. TX
Tractor
John Deere SRX75, John Deere GX85
Hello friends. John Deere GX85 riding mower with 13 hp Briggs & Stratton engine. FLYWHEEL -- When putting it on, should lube or anti-seize compound be applied to the shaft and hole, or should it go on dry? BENDIX GEAR -- the plastic bendix gear only engages about 2/3 the way. Is this normal, or should it engage 100% into the teeth in the flywheel? Is it better to use a plastic bendix gear, or an aluminum one? The flywheel teeth are aluminum.
 
   / JD GX85 riding mower -- Install flywheel dry or lube? Bendix gear question also. #2  
2/3 is normal from past experience you cannot mix gear material makeup from what came from factory and most all lawnmower gears are plastic the reason being it will tear up before flywheel gears go bad cheaper and much easier to do gear than flywheel
 
   / JD GX85 riding mower -- Install flywheel dry or lube? Bendix gear question also. #3  
I always used lube for 2 reasons: Qne day I may want to remove it and 2, If you whack something hard, you want the flywheel to spin on the shaft, shearing the woodruff key, not shearing the crankshaft or a connecting rod. But you still need to torque it tight. Don't have the spec. If I were doing mine, I'd run it down with the air impact tool and watch the socket. When it quits turning while impacting, give it 2 or 3 more whacks then get off......½" impact tool turned all the way up. On the woodruff, ensure it's perfect, no deformation and have it and the flywheel lined up best you can. It is part of the ignition timing since the magnet that triggers the ignition is on the outside of the flywheel. A couple of degrees at the crankshaft translate to enough distance at the circumference of the flywheel to keep you from starting the engine.

Others may put it on dry, and some manuals may say dry. Well if it's in the manual, it's from the factory and they are talking about new engines, not used ones. On outboard motors this is a real thorn to me. You can't put a dry head gasket on a 20 year old aluminum outboard motor and expect it to work.....too much corrosion of the interface surfaces. On the flywheel, I told you above why I do what I do and after 50+ years of fixin my own, I'm yet to loose one.
 
 
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