Suggestions for removing mounting pin?

[hschumac]

This season started to get some creaking and groaning with the power trim/tilt (going up or down, it makes a loud "thunk thunk thunk"). Greased pivot points and found that it is coming from the pin that holds the actuator to the motor.

The pin is quite corroded so I went ahead and purchased a spare and new plastic bushings to go with it for good measure.

Problem is I cannot seem to remove the pin. It is corroded to an extent, can't tell if that is "anchoring" it or not.

I propped up the foot of the motor to take pressure off the pin, tried the ATF/acetone 50/50 mixture suggested by many on the forum, beat it with a steel pipe and 5lb hammer, tried heating it with a propane torch.

Other suggestions/ideas on getting this thing out?

Head of pin:


End of pin (opposite side) that I was hitting with the pipe and hammer:

[seahouse]

A photo of the new pin that's going in might give a clue. (Shoulders, holes, grooves, etc)

Have you removed anything from the old pin (eg. retaining ring?) that might have been holding it in place yet?

-B.

Can you wiggle the cylinder shaft back and forth on the pin; meaning it's tight on the bracket body only?

And I assume you were careful to not peen over the end of the shaft when you were beating it; the chamfer on the shaft end can sometimes be small.

That said, an aluminum to steel joint that hasn't been greased can form a good "corrosion weld"over time too.

In the end, all else failing, you have an area where heat can safely be applied without damage, with care.

Can you tell exactly where the plastic bushings go?

[Nautek]

If you are heating the pin then you will not move it
You need to heat the bracket
I wuold be careful as it is alloy so it may crack if you are too rough with it
I would give it some warmth (only warm the casting eg with hair dryer or similar. If you get it too hot it will fracture) do not warm the pin only the casting as this will expand at a greater rate than the stainless pin.
If it has a plastic bush it should not be too hard to move
If you can get a friend to move the motor up and down by hand whilst you tap it with a drift

Allan

[RobertB]

First, I would recommend caution using heat. There are painted parts and plastic in the area. The amount of heat needed to make a difference is pretty extreme, especially considering the size of the parts involved. The chance of doing real damage looks high.
What is the bushing material the pin mounts in? I recently lubricated the motor lock pin (the one that hold is up when trailering) and had a heck of a time. This pin passed through a plastic bushing and was corroded/stuck to the bushing. Liquid Wrench and using a drift and heavy hammer to break loose. Never thought a plastic bushing could hold a metal pin so hard.
I agree that a picture of the new pin will help. Also, try scraping away the corrosion where you can. This will reveal any grooves that may hold a lock ring.

[vizwhiz]

If you have determined that there are no grooves or pins or clips holding the large pin in place, you can sometimes begin drilling it out (from the end you were beating it on) starting with a smaller pilot hole first, and getting bigger and bigger until there is only a thin shell of the pin left. This takes some skill with a hand drill... Leave the head on the pin so you have something to pry against, pull on, and push against from the hollow side. (You can put a drift inside the hole and hit against the part that is left under the head.) Sometimes, making the wall of the pin thinner will allow the pin to compress under load and it can be worked out of the bracket with twisting and pulling movement.

Another option is to try an air hammer (air chisel) with a drift. The high repeated impact can often get things to move.

Good luck!

EDIT: On further review of the pictures, is the outer hinge part attached to the top of the cylinder rod? Welded? How attached?

[Y.B.Normal]

In the top picture, it looks like there's a snap ring under the head of the pin. See if removing it with a snap ring pliers works.
Another product to try is PB Blaster (available at Wally World, NAPA, or most hardware or auto parts stores.)
Otherwise, try to get a copy of the Service Manual. Sometimes you can download it for a reasonable price.

[seahouse]

Surprised to see no zerk or nipple there, but it might be out of sight or on top. Did you check for a hidden set screw?
So it looks like no one here so far, myself included, has any experience with this particular shaft / motor, whatever it might be. Is that gooshy ring around the small end melted plastic and/or out flowing heated grease?

If a propane torch is used (and ONLY if all other possibilities of a mechanical locking method have been ruled out first), and it is determined that the binding is happening on the (I assume aluminum) motor bracket, and not the shaft end pivot, it needs to be applied in two lines, one on each corner, over an arc of around 45degrees of the 90 degree part, or so, to the outside radius of the bracket, fairly quickly, and you WILL char the paint, so have wet rags and a bucket on hand just in case. I see no charring or darkening in the pix, so the heat applied prior might not have been applied in the right place, or not enough of it.

Aluminum expands at a much higher rate than steel, so even if the whole shebang were heated equally, the shaft would loosen some; you have that worst -case scenario working on your behalf. But it's better to heat just the area I mentioned, the idea is to expand that area (and NOT the shaft itself) to release the shaft enough so you can get it out, which is why you need to work fast, and with a helper if you have one.

It's not likely that you will damage the bracket metal with heat; a propane torch is unlikely able to provide enough heat output to damage the aluminum on a massive part like that, which conducts heat away from the area at a very high rate (a quality that makes it difficult to weld).

Looking forward to an answer to this mystery!

[raycarlson]

You have an E-clip on starboard side, if there is not one on port side that means there is a shoulder on the pin and it is meant to be removed in one direction only.. remove eclip and drive pin out from starboard to port. Hope you haven't chinggered any thing up to bad....

[hschumac]

Here is a picture of the replacement part. It is just like a clevis pin (with no pin to hold it in place), and I put the 3 plastic bushings on for reference (sides and middle).


There is nothing that secures it in place, other than a bolt and a large washer that holds the starboard side of the pin head in. In the picture I posted above you can see the hole just up and left of the pin head.

[Obelix]

Could you grab the pin-head with locking pliers and try to rotate it, or file two opposing flats on the head to grab it with a wrench? Another possible option would be to drill into the pin and use a large screw extractor to rotate it. Once you can rotate it, it will come out.

Obelix

[hschumac]

I have tried with channel locks and pliers, no luck rotating it.

Good ideas on filing it down. Haven't done screw extraction before, is there a little set you buy at the local hardware store?

[Tomfoolery]

I wouldn't pound on that with a lump hammer. Too much risk of breaking the lugs. Instead, I'd try a press, made from a large C-clamp or a pipe clamp, a short length of pipe large enough in diameter to fit over the pin head (cut a notch to clear the boss with the keeper bolt hole in it), and a short length of pipe (or an old socket) on the other end. Apply steady force. Do make sure there is no clearance between the lugs and the cylinder rod end lug, so you don't unduly flex the cast aluminum lugs. If there's clearance, shim the space.

Are the old bushings nylon? The one I can see looks like rusted steel. If nylon, some steady force should allow the pin to move. Impacts can often be absorbed by resilient components, including both the aluminium lugs, and the nylon, resulting in no movement.

Hopefully the pin 'pops' and jumps a bit with clamp force, then repeatedly as you press it out. Hopefully one of the cast lugs don't 'pop' and fall off - that's why you have to make sure there is NO space between all the stacked components before you start pressing.

[Obelix]

Yes, these extractors look similar to tap's, they screw into the target-stud like a left-handed screw and you can than use a wrench to rotate them: http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsea ... +extractor. Available in most hardware stores.

Obelix

[RobertB]

The picture of the new pin does not make the solution obvious.
Basically, need to figure out what holds the pin in place.
Circlip (snap-ring)? Need a groove in the shaft and I do not see one on the new pin.
Is it a press fit into the flange? Unlikely since the pin looks like it needs to rotate.
Not staked, cotter pin, roll pin, or lock bolt/nut.
Does the actuator rod screw into the pin and limit the sideways movement of the pin? Maybe, using the bushings as spacers? This to me looks to be the most likely. Have you tried to unscrew the actuator from the rod yet? Do not know how this is really attached since the picture of the new piece does not show the attachment point. My current guess is that once you remove the actuator, then use a puller or hammer and drift to push the pin out from the small side towards the flange side.

[Tomfoolery]

There is nothing that secures it in place, other than a bolt and a large washer that holds the starboard side of the pin head in. In the picture I posted above you can see the hole just up and left of the pin head.

I'm assuming he's referring to the threaded hole in this pic, which takes a small bolt that goes through a round washer-like keeper that overlaps the head of the pin.