Questions on clutch maintenance

[creia]

My son and I are doing our first clutch preventive maintenance on a used mini he bought last weekend. It is a "Maxi-Torque" 3/4" shaft, 12- tooth, mounted on a Tecumseh OHH60 6HP engine. It seems to have reasonably good performance, and I have not noted anything particularly amiss, however I have nothing to compare it to. We opened it up, blew it out with compressed air, wiped off the shoes and the inside of the bell housing, and lubed the clutch bushing. Anything else that I should be looking for? I noticed that the shoes are not perfectly flat/smooth, and do have some slight unevenness and ridges to them. In addition, the texture in some areas is smoother and shinier. Is that an indication of uneven wear? How much is allowable and to be expected?
Thank you for your help to this newbie...:wink:

 

[Strigoi]

i just run them until they break/make nasty noises and then replace them. Max Torque ones are cheap so it's not really worth the hassle to me to maintain them. i will lube the bushing if i have it off the engine for some reason though.

the clutch i have now, that's a totally different story. hahahaha replacing that thing due to being lazy.

 

[creia]

Thanks Strigoi for the reply. So, no special concerns about (what appears to be) some uneven wear? Also, I noticed that this clutch has TWO locations for set screws to secure the clutch to the engine crankshaft (one at the keyway and one is not). Am I supposed to use set screws at BOTH locations? Finally, when using set screws, is there any reason to install a bolt and washer at the end of the crankshaft as well for "extra measure"? (or is that un-needed?)

 

[Dudlydoodleright]

If your key is captive and can't go anywere then use the bolt and washer to hold the clutch on. It is much more reliable and dosn't burr anything. Also one rooky move on lubing is to lube the wrong place it goes on the outside of the clutch shaft not the motor crank shaft-pull the bell off the clutch and that's the shaft you lube. So if you can put the clutch on and with the bolt and washer the key is trapped and can't come out don't use the set screws.

 

[Strigoi]

if you have a key there's no need to run the set screws if you have a bolt/washer in the end. the key will keep it from spinning and the bolt/washer will hold it on the shaft.

i should probably mention almost all my riding is done on pavement so i'm not really getting dirt/mud/water on the clutch at all.

 

[MRHville]

Question:

What if you do not have enough room at the end of shaft for nut/bolt? Should you use a clutch collar?

Just got a 5hp fun power and clutch barely fits on with no room at end for nut and bolt.

 

[creia]

Again,
Thank you to all who have replied.
Dudlydoodleright: Not sure what you mean by the key being "captive"? On this Tecumseh motor, the keyway is the entire length of the exterior driveshaft, and my key is about 1" long. I noticed prior to removing the clutch that w/o the setscrews the clutch could slide side-to-side, although the crankbolt kept it from coming off the end.. I did not think that sliding back and forth on the driveshaft was a good thing?::doah: