Anyone ever lose their woodruff key?

[Porsche-O-Phile]

So there I am yesterday, putting my 911 back together to (hopefully) get it started up and running. But wait! What's that? I notice that the fan pulley slot isn't lined up with the alternator shaft slot. How can that be? Oh, the woodruff key?!?! Where the heck did it go?

Grumble, grumble, grumble - disassemble fan assembly. Remove alternator & fan from housing. Now how to separate the fan from the alternator? Tap with wooden end of hammer handle on edge of fan. Tap, tap, tap, tap (repeat about 6,000 times). Nothing. Tap harder. Harder, harder. Nothing. Try heating. No progress. That fan is pretty much WELDED to the alternator shaft. Start tapping the end of the alternator shaft on concrete garage floor. FINALLY (after about two hours) I got it to start inching backwards and release the fan. But naturally I busted the alternator case in the process. G*DDAMMIT!!!

I did find the woodruff key rattling around in the front of the alternator and I'm CERTAIN I put it in the slot before re-installing the fan originally. How could this thing come loose? Anyone have this happen?

I think I'm JB-welding my next one in there so this doesn't happen again. It sucks to have to buy a new alternator, but I guess that's better than firing up the engine and wondering why the fan is just happily spinning around on a stationary alternator shaft. . . Creating heat and friction and other bad things.

[hcoles]

be glad you saw the issue and corrected before being stranded somewhere or worse. Not sure why it was so hard to get the fan off the shaft.. I don't remember it being so bad...I can't remember how I did it. This is just one of those things that happens to us DIY'ers. We save in many spots but have a few oh s__ts... and learn (you now know probably 100% more about keys than before) and tell interesting stories....

[boxster03]

No but I once lost my Johnson Rod.

[cmonref]

If the woodruff key fits loosely in the slot on the alternator shaft, put a centerpunch on one side of the key. This will displace metal from the centerpunch area, creating a raised rim. Now put the key back in --you will need pliers to force it into the slot. And it won't come out when you install the fan.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

Grumble, grumble, grumble - disassemble fan assembly. Remove alternator & fan from housing. Now how to separate the fan from the alternator? Tap with wooden end of hammer handle on edge of fan. Tap, tap, tap, tap (repeat about 6,000 times). Nothing. Tap harder. Harder, harder. Nothing. Try heating. No progress. That fan is pretty much WELDED to the alternator shaft. Start tapping the end of the alternator shaft on concrete garage floor. FINALLY (after about two hours) I got it to start inching backwards and release the fan. But naturally I busted the alternator case in the process. G*DDAMMIT!!! ....

Jeff, I use gravity and a few 2x4s to support the fan (with a towel underneath to "catch" the alternator when it drops), and have never had a problem removing mine. I realize that many times someone will say "try this", it's easy, and I always end up with the "1 in 1000" that isn't .

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Judy holds mine.

[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

You were lucky. I had a single tiny washer fall into the alternator and didn't notice it when I was installing a brand-new alternator awhile ago. Turned the master on to fire up the car and pretty quickly had a fire that required an extinguisher even though I quickly turned off the master when I saw the clouds of smoke coming out of the grille. The washer had somehow bounced into the alternator in a way that perfectly bridged the gap between the windings and the case.

By the way, if you want my old alternator to use the case, it's yours for the cost of shipping (from NY). Contact me at stephwilkinson@verizon.net.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Yikes, I guess I'll consider myself lucky. Thanks for the words of encouragement. I don't feel quite so utterly stupid now (although I still do a bit for breaking my own alternator).

Steve, thanks for the offer. I did find another rebuilt one on evilbay that is fairly local that was only about 150 bucks (whew!) I'll see how it goes when it shows up hopefully today or tomorrow. If that doesn't work out, I'll take you up on your offer. I'm more than happy to pay you for it. Maybe I'll even get it as a spare for when I bust this next one too.

Great advice on the centerpunch thing. Dope slap to own forehead for not thinking of this myself.

[WERK I]

Yep, dropped it a couple of times. Always found it lying down inside the engine mount console. All it took was a flexible magnet to get it out.

[euro911sc]

You can tap (thread) two opposite holes on the fan with a 1/4-20 thread. Then insert two screws. turn each screw, alternating, 1/4 turn each and the fan pops off in about 5 turns or so... cake.

Best regards,

Michael