Crunchy Clunky! Temporary name for the 225dx... :(

[toki]

So I bought this beauty a few weeks ago. seemed to run really good and ride fine. got it home and ed on it a bit in the woods and it developed a LOUD clunking from the bottom end. horribly loud. so loud i pushed it back, threw it in the truck, and went home. It didnt seem to be coming from the crank it seemed further back. I removed both clutches and found the primary was looooooose. The nut holding it on was finger tight. I measured, cleaned, torqued everything up and gave it a ride. same clunk. no bad sounds in neutral, rarely clunks in first, a little in second, horrible in 3rd+.

SOOOOOOOooo... sunday night I removed the swingarm expecting to find a bad U joint. U joint was fine. Grrrrrrrr. I sat there for probably 45 minutes looking at the rearend and the U joints before i actually spun the damn output/middle gear assembly a full turn. CLUNK. :O! Off with the cover! And here is what I found.



Crunchy... OK now that thats out of the way and I know the issue.... I have a few questions. Its obvious someone was in this engine before. The secondary clutch is brand new, all the screws (WHY use philips screw heads?!) are dorked up, and its "missing" all of the shims from the middle drive area. I think!?



yamaha lists 3 parts for these shims

24W-17537-30-00 SHIM, THRUST (0.2T)
24W-17537-50-00 SHIM, THRUST (0.4T)
24W-17537-40-00 SHIM, THRUST (0.3T)

Im also having problems navigating my manual regarding anything to do with the shims.

so.

shims? what? where? how to measure clearances and all????
gears! am i screwed to only using 225dx gears? or will others fit if i use my shaft and swap the gears around?
GRRR

[Jmoozy27]

Those shims are pretty important for proper reassembly. I have done a few of the honda rear ends and when you take it apart you are supposed to note which side each shim came from and make sure they go back In the way they came out.

[toki]

I have to figure out what shims i need now lol... i suppose order new gears, slap it all back together and measure somehow?..... sadly someone was obviously in there, replaced the gears, but tossed the shims and now its not going to be moving for a few weeks. HOW do i measure to figure out what i need???? ive been surfing my manual for a few hours now. it mentions nothing about the shims even.

[Jmoozy27]

On the BR diffs, you measure the amount of play in the motion of the ring & pinion.

[jolson185]

Was the circlip in the groove properly around the bearing? If not that will destroy stuff fast.

[toki]

Circlip? Where?! Lol... Uhhhh.

I ordered new middle gears. Not any shims yet.

[toki]

Attachment 213449
so my manual has failed me AGAIN. POS Clymer... it mentions the circlips need to be in place for ALL of the transmission components. zero info or pictures. then I run into this while looking for some clips. I assume that the circlips are 2 pieces and go around the bearing. I found 1 in the cover, nothing was in in the grove on the case other than some sealant that oozed in from the previous repair. My brain says "2 pieces to make 1 clip!" why does one picture show half of a clip and the other show a completely round 1 piece circlip??? and WHERE can i find a factory service manual?! this clymer is pissing me off lol.

[toki]

DONE. sorta. just gotta top off the oil and throw the tires back on for a test ride...

in hindsight... What A Nightmare! I don't know why that kicked my ass so bad but damn. It's been blown up in my shop for over 2 weeks now. I wanted it OUT OF THE WAY DAMNIT! Just did a 5 hour thrash trying to shim that damn middle gear and throw it all together. If anyone ever needs any tips...

#1 There is an expansion spacer on the middle gear shaft assembly between 2 thick washers. FOLLOW THE MANUAL. If you over torque the nut the bolts the yoke to the assembly and holds everything together you will crush the spacer. this will then suck the whole shaft outwards making it impossible to shim the gears, or even use it. if you don't have a lathe or you cant get funky with a bench grinder you will be SOL till you get a new spacer

#2 gear mesh and shims. Read about all kinds of gears and whatnot. do not leave the shims out or just run what ya brung. there are numbers on the gears that correspond with their sizes. I never did figure out how to decipher them tho. get some gear marking compound and try and guess on what you might need for shims.

#3 installing the swingarm with the shaft boot attached to the swingarm is damn near impossible. put the boot on the engine and then install the swingarm.

#3.5 installing the swingarm is a because you obviously have try and line up the drive shaft with the u joint while lifting all that mess up. here is what I did. I had the while bike 3 inches off the ground before i even took the tires off. I set the frame and front tire on a crate and some blocks. when reassembling I put the swingarm on my floor jack, put the u joint so it was "level" in on of its orientations and had the rear yoke pointing down, probably at like a 45 degree angle. then i slid the swingarm under, picked the front of it up to about a 45 and started jacking it up. once sorta lined up I pushed it all forward a little more while holding the front up, and spinning the axle to help the splines go together. with only 2 hands. ugh. then pop in the swingarm bolt/stud/things.

#4 swearing helps.