78' Liquifire with broken speedo drive pin

[liquifire1978]

I dealt with this problem 10 years ago on my other Liquifire and I had to buy a used drive shaft
Maybe this time I'm older ( yes ) and wiser...
Anyway, I spent a few hours yesterday getting the 440 and the 340 ready for the boys for Winter.
I installed the NOS speedo I picked up from Joe on eBay ( thanks ! ). Fired her up.. nothing.. no speedo
Turns out it's the dreaded broken three inch long speedo drive pin , as I call it. The thing that's made like the speedo cable, but slides into the drive shaft so it turns the speedo drive that in turn spins the speedo cable.
My question.. is there a way to get the part that is lodged inside the drive shaft out without a total tear down of that assembly?
I HATE the thought of pulling the suspension, the chain case, the drive shaft and all that possibly entails.
With a small piece of stiff wire I have been able to fish inside it and feel it's broken wires. But that's it so far..
My hands already look as if I have been rubbing them in broken glass with all the cuts and scrapes.
I know those are to be looked upon as scars of honor
Any help would be great guys, as I have five sleds I'm working on now , and I thought these were almost ready to go

Thanks , Pat

[harleysportster]

You could try screwing in a metal screw small enough to go into the square hole, to snag the drive pin without cutting into the steel insert of the shaft and then pull it out with pliers.

[jd nuts]

I had one on my 77 liquifire i put some heat on it with a torch and got it out that way be careful of the bearing and good luck

[liquifire1978]

Either way, won't I be forced to pull the drive shaft out of the sled ??? Thus resulting in the much hated disassembly and subsequent reassembly of all the things I just finished refurbishing and puting back in ( rear suspension & track ).
I can feel it in there with that stiff wire I used to fish around in there. Of course with it still together I can't see it ( no X-ray vision dang it ).
I was hoping for a magic "use this" answer. It sounds that much like marriage.. there is no easy fix on this. Just hard work...
Pat

[400brian]

There is one other possibility that I can think of. You can try removing the cable drive bushing from the drive shaft.

Apply a bit of heat to melt any locktite that it may have been installed with, then with a small sharp chisel, work your way around the bushing, with the idea of popping it out of the shaft. If you destroy the bushing, you're not any worse off, and if it comes out you should be able to get the drive key out.
Also, Rainville or someone else, should be able to set you up with a drive bushing if you need a new one.

[JDT]

Definatley remove the drive adapter housing as it give you a lot of additional working room.

Once that is done try a small magnet to catch the broken drive key and pull it out.

If that does not work go with the small screw Pat suggested.

[liquifire1978]

I'm taking Wednesday off from work so I can tear up my hands some more on this. I don't have a finger or thumb that's not scraped up or bleeding now. And with all my heart meds, I bleed like a stuck pig. But in all honesty, I'd rather be working on a "hands on " project than sittting behind a desk here at work Hopefully all will turn out good for me and the sled.
Worst case scenario.. I get to tear her apart again and stimulate the economy some by buying parts.. and I was soo close to having it done
Thanks for all the advice guys!!

" by JDT » Mon Nov 22, 2010 5:46 pm

Definatley remove the drive adapter housing as it give you a lot of additional working room."

I took the end off it that houses gear and that the pin goes into. It's been awhile since I pulled it all apart. So I can't remember how it all goes together here @ work.
Are you saying I can take off that housing the drive adapter slides onto ? I didn't even think of that !!! I was thinking ( or not thinking is more like it ) it was part of the drive shaft!!! That might just be the answer/direction I was looking for !
I'm working on her tonight too !!! To heck with my wifes Ski-doo and her carbs. It can wait.
Pat
Pat

[harleysportster]

The drive adapter is steel plug with a square hole punched thru the middle. This is pressed into the end of the driveshaft. I just replaced one on my 78. I ended up tapping a 10/32 thread into the end of it, threaded a machine screw thru the end of my slide-hammer and popped it out from a junk driveshaft. If you can get it out, you should be able to push the old broken speedo drive out from the back side.

[JDT]

A small dental pick works good for fishing out a broken speedo drive key also.

This is a very common problem on all brands of sleds.

The square drive keys are very universal as are the drives and bushings.

10 to 1 ratio. Note thet the Direct Drive Deere models are differnet.

[liquifire1978]

Thanks for all the replies and help guys.
My 16 year old is learning to work on the Deere, so he and I torn into it and pulled the culprit out. Once we took about everything but the rear tail light off , it was a piece of cake. Well .. we didn't go that far, but it's a pain to get to two of those THREE bolts with the suspension still in . So we dropped it too. Did we need too ?? Doubt it. But it made life easier at the time.
Now to pick up a new drive pin. My local dealer has none and says it will be at least two weeks before he orders some, then about a week to wait. That puts us at mid December !!!
Does anybody have one or two they could spare so that we can button this up and be ready for snow ??
I can send cash, PayPal or money order.
Thanks again, Pat

Well.. my buddy who works @ the local shop just called and said per their book they might have a couple that will work for it
Seems the "new guy" didn't want to go to all the work of looking up such a cheap part.
Thanks.

[69camaro]

Glad you got that darn thing out. I have found out there are generally 3 reasons they break. First is the bearing went out. Second the speedo went bad. And third, the speedo cable is dirty or not any good. Just as a precaution I suggest you pull the insert out of the cable and clean it well with something like carb cleaner with a clean cloth. Then lightly oil it with a light oil such as sewing machine oil and then wipe it off with a clean cloth. Last winter the speedo quit working 3 times on my 99 Polaris and each time it was that darn pin. I had a good bearing so I knew that wasn't the problem. My buddy who works on sleds suggested that and it hasn't bothered since. It doesn't take much binding or extra friction to break them. If I'm not mistaken a Polaris drive pin is the same or just a little longer and you have to take some off.

Duane

[liquifire1978]

Duane,
I think I did as you mentioned this Summer when I replaced my broken speedo. But it's best to do over than not at all
Thanks for reminding me thou..
Pat

[69camaro]

You bet Pat. It was nice meeting you at Princeton.