Originally Posted by
1QwkSport2.5r
Its not that difficult. If you break something, you're doing something very wrong. The prop driver should come loose easily with a bit of heat and a chunk of hardwood. If the collet doesn't move by hand, stick a thin screwdriver in the slot and pry it open slightly.
Running the engine with that axial play is not good. It will cause the crank to rub the backplate causing wear on the crankpin, rod, and backplate. If the rod/crank moves too much, the rod could be damaged too. This is in addition to damaged bearings due to improper bearing pre-load.
ok, sounds like I have a new engine project. I will replace the bearings while I'm at it. I replaced the piston ring last year and bench ran it only. Ran nice. This is the highly used and abused engine I discussed last year on this forum. I just didn't think about axial play until I got another Fox 45 and compared them side by side.