RCU Forums - Help disassembling the crank cage on an RCV 90SP

OK - I figured it out.

Use at your own risk.

Here is how you do it.

1 - Remove the crank carrier from the engine.

2 - Remove the Starter Screw. To do this I used my Black & Decker Workmate to clamp the crank balance in the wood vise and the correct size allen wrench. The screw came out without any issues.

3 - Replace the Starter Screw with a 6mm bolt that is about 25mm to 30mm long. Make sure you screw the 6mm bolt all the way down until it bottoms out on the end of the crank. The reason you want it to bottom out is you will use this bolt to push the crank out of the crank carrier and you don't want to put pressure on the threads.

4- Cut a hole in a piece of hard wood so the round part of the crank carrier will fit snugly. The ears, where the 4 bolt holes in the carrier, will rest on the top of the hard wood.
Make sure the hard wood is thick enough for the crank to be pressed out of the bottom. You will need at least twice the height of the crank carrier to be safe. I used another piece of hard wood with a larger hole to make enough room for the crank to be pressed out.

5 - Next you may be able to use a drill press to use as a press to push the crank down unless you are lucky enough to have a light press. I used my Workmate to get it started but the gear would not come loose. I had to take a piece of hardwood and a small sledge to break the gear loose.

Watch all the pieces when it comes loose. There are quite a few. See attached photo of my disassembly. I did not remove the top bearing in the carrier but it should be easy to do. Use snapring pliers to remove the snapring and then tap out the bearing with a dowel. If the bearing is tight then try using the heating trick by heating up the aluminum and then tapping out the bearing. There is a good video on Youtube on how to replace a bearing on a normal glow engine that is a good example to follow. Just search youtube for RC bearing replace or something like that.

To assemble:

Prep:
Get some loctite to use on the key for the gear. Be careful not to get any on the bearings.

If you are changing the bearings make sure to get the bearing installed on the bottom of the crank first before installing the crank in the crank carriage.

Also make sure the top bearing is already in place and the snapring is also in place.

1 - Position all the parts together in the crank cage.

2 - Make sure all the parts are aligned and then take a tooth pick or something similar to dab a bit of loctite on the key and slot where the key goes into the crank to help it stay put.

3 - Make sure you have a piece of hardwood with a smaller hole cut so just the upside down top of the crank carrier will fit into it. Make sure the ears, where the 4 bolt holes of the crank carrier, rest level on the wood. If it is not level or even with the press you may have issues. This is where some experience pressing things together helps.

4 - Then press away but cautiously. I used a piece of hardwood and my small sledge to get it back together since I did not have access to a press.

Good luck.

Again - Use at your own risk. This procedure worked fine for me.