Wrist Pin Bearing Question / PTO Question

[PWC4ME]

I have a 717 engine out of a 1996 Sea Doo GTi that I have been working on. I have 2 questions:

1) How do you remove the PTO from the crankshaft?

2) On the wrist pin (gudeon pin) all of the needle bearings are loose. How in the world do you put it back together? Have worked on 2-cycle motorcycles before and they always had caged needle bearings for the top end. Seemed easier and made better sense.

Thanks in advance.

[dsolie]

Re: Wrist Pin Bearing Question / PTO Question

1) is the crank in or out of the motor? If it's in, then you need to lock the crank (there is a tool for doing this that bolts where the starter goes). How I do it, if the jugs are off (and some people will whine, but it works). I put an old driveshaft through the pin ends on the crank (where the wrist pin goes). That locks it down. If the jugs are still on, I put some rope in the sparkplug hole (about 8" of rope). When the cyl comes up, it will lock it up. You need the impeller tool, a 3'+ breaker bar and a propane torch. Heat the snot out of the pto, especially where the crank snout is (where it flares out). When I say heat, I mean like 5-10 minutes of continuous flame. That sucker should be glowing. Put the impeller tool in the PTO and use the breaker bar and break it loose. Spin it the rest of the way and make sure you don't touch it, she will be HOT.

2) You don't... You get new wrist pin bearings.

[PWC4ME]

Re: Wrist Pin Bearing Question / PTO Question

Thank you Dan. The jugs are off (that's the way I discovered that the needle bearings are loose, not caged) and the engine is out of the ski. I guess I could slip one of the jugs back on and use the rope trick. Wish me luck there! In regards to the wrist pin bearing, when looking through the parts manual and the service manual it talks about and shows the individual needles, but says there is a plastic ring that holds it together for assembly. But looking at the SBT site for a newer model that uses the 717 motor (2001 GTI), it has the caged needle bearing I am familar with from my motorcycling days. Guess that is an updated part that is good for the older motors as well.

[dsolie]

Re: Wrist Pin Bearing Question / PTO Question

OEM has always used non-caged bearings except in the 657x and 951-RXX motors. You can order caged bearings from SBT, just verify that the OEM wrist pin is the same diameter as the SBT wrist pin.

The plastic thingy for the non-caged. The OEM bearings come in a cage, of sorts. It's more of a shield to help installation. You then literally break the shield off the bearing... You can re-use the shield, if you are lucky.... but it's a pain in the a**!

[PWC4ME]

Re: Wrist Pin Bearing Question / PTO Question

I think I will go with the caged replacement. Probably the best $30 I could spend.