Flywheel Alignment / Woodruff Key Positioning Tips?

[E350]

Working on a 701 with engine in the ski.
I repaired what I needed to repair.
I just need to put the flywheel on correctly.
I used the Cold-Fusion flywheel holder to take off the flywheel.
Do I keep it on while installing the flywheel.
Or take it off to align the Woodruff key and then put the Cold-Fusion back on to hold the flywheel to tighten it?
Should I rotate the engine so that the crankshaft keyway is facing down or up?
Do I put the Woodruff key hump up into the flywheel keyway and expect that tightening the flywheel bolt will move it into the correct position? *
Is the correct position for the Woodruff key in that little dip in the crankshaft keyway nearest to the engine?

The ski starts but feels like it is not timed right.
But I didn't move the stator, so if the timing is off it is because the flywheel is not positioned properly.
I have the Yamaha Service Manual, but it is silent as to the procedure for aligning the keyway and positioning the Woodruff key when installing the flywheel.

Any help will be appreciated.


* From the Service Manual that the Woodruff key hump is supposed to be in the flywheel flat side inside the flywheel keyway, and the Woodruff key hump is supposed to be up towards the crankshaft

 

[DylanS]

Position keyway groove upwards.
Put a dab of grease or loctite into the groove for the woodruff and stick her in there it’ll help stop it from popping out. Slide flyhweel onto it, just eyeball it and use light pressure until you feel it slide into place. Put yer bolt in and torque her down. No cold fusion tool required.
Only way timing could be altered by flyhweel is with offset woodruff.
Define “timing feels off”

 

[long beach local]

Position keyway groove upwards.
Put a dab of grease or loctite into the groove for the woodruff and stick her in there it’ll help stop it from popping out. Slide flyhweel onto it, just eyeball it and use light pressure until you feel it slide into place. Put yer bolt in and torque her down. No cold fusion tool required.
Only way timing could be altered by flyhweel is with offset woodruff.
Define “timing feels off”

Yep that’s how I do it except I put it on dry except for loctite on the threads install the cold fusion tool so it won’t spin the motor over and torque it to 80lbs cuz I don’t want it to come loose. The cold fusion tool is wonderful no need for rope in the spark plug hole or using an impact gun. Torque is perfect everytime and no risk of twisting the crank out of whack ☺️

 

[DylanS]

Yep that’s how I do it except I put it on dry except for loctite on the threads install the cold fusion tool so it won’t spin the motor over and torque it to 80lbs cuz I don’t want it to come loose. The cold fusion tool is wonderful no need for rope in the spark plug hole or using an impact gun. Torque is perfect everytime and no risk of twisting the crank out of whack ☺️

Ahhh yeah sorry forgot to mention ye old string in the hole method.
Have never twisted crank out of whack with a string… maybe one day

 

[E350]

Thanks guys. Just so you know, it is actually possible to kinda "crush" the Woodruff key by torquing it to 70 Nm if it is out of alignment when torquing.
It got pushed to the front, and actually the flywheel puller center shaft crushed it when I just removed the flywheel for the fourth time today.

I was trying to install the Woodruff key with the crank key way down (as depicted in the Service Manual), thinking that the flywheel keyway would kinda push the Woodruff key it into position in the crank keyway divit.

No way Jose.

I can tell it will be easy to do with the crankshaft keyway up. I will take the spark plugs out and rotate the crankshaft. I can see the Woodruff divit even with the engine in the ski.

Now hopefully JetManiac or Watcon sell Woodruff keys.

And the sad thing is that I have successfully done this job before on another ski. Oh well.

"Learning one Woodruff key at a time . . ."

 

[E350]

Couple of things:

1. Chris at @JetManiac is a stellar seller. Super, super, super fast response with invoice and fast, fast, fast shipping!
2. I got the Woodruff key today from Chris along with some other parts I was planning to order.
3. A new Woodruff key fits TIGHT. Perfectly tight, so much so that I think it may be a "wear" item worth replacing every 25 years or so.
4. Put the new Woodruff key in today and put it in correctly ... and the ski starts and runs smoothly with no backfiring.
5. I like the JetManiac decal and the little American Flag decal which Chris puts in his order.

 

[JKMike]

I agree that there can definitely be a difference between using an old woodruff key and a brand new one. I just assembled my new XS 1060 and the older key, I was going to use, definitely allowed the flywheel to have a little slop to it, whereas with a new key, there was essentially no movement. For $5 definitely worth it.

 

[JKMike]

Couple of things:

1. Chris at @JetManiac is a stellar seller. Super, super, super fast response with invoice and fast, fast, fast shipping!
2. I got the Woodruff key today from Chris along with some other parts I was planning to order.
3. A new Woodruff key fits TIGHT. Perfectly tight, so much so that I think it may be a "wear" item worth replacing every 25 years or so.
4. Put the new Woodruff key in today and put it in correctly ... and the ski starts and runs smoothly with no backfiring.
5. I like the JetManiac decal and the little American Flag decal which Chris puts in his order.

Did your new key have what looks like a little divot on one side, like you would get from a spring punch? Mine did and I assumed it was intentional since it helped to hold the key in the slot on the crank.

 

[E350]

Did your new key have what looks like a little divot on one side, like you would get from a spring punch? Mine did and I assumed it was intentional since it helped to hold the key in the slot on the crank.

Yes, the new key had a punch divot. Which I believe also helped the tight fit.

In addition to the Woodruff key, In order to fit the lower profile Interstate AGM batteries I am starting to use I also ordered these from Chris at @JetManiac:

Two (2): Shorter battery strap $13.90
(Oem clean used, about 12 inches hook to hook unstretched)