I cleverly broke off one of the sensor tabs on the crankshaft sprocket a couple of days before leaving on a 1,500 mile drive. I took the sprocket to a local chain muffler shop (my only option within bike range on an Easter weekend) thinking that they could weld on a little blob of welding rod that I could grind and file to match the others. Well, they refused to do it insisting it wouldn’t work and I should just buy a new one and I might be able to find one at the junk yard 20 miles away and I shouldn’t be messing with the timing like that, etc. I suggested that they should maybe take down their "repair" sign and put up a "replace" sign instead.

 

Since I absolutely had to be on the road in a day and a half, I decided to grind out a big notch, fill it with epoxy, and stick in a little metal tab. I kept telling myself there’s no reason why it shouldn’t work since all it does is spin around, so I crossed my fingers and hit the road. Nerves got the best of me along the way so I stopped by a large Subaru dealer and picked up a new one just in case. Turns out the cobble job worked just fine and I was even a little reluctant to put in the new one once I got to my destination. I’m thinking now it might have just held indefinitely. From now on, I'm just going to mold any parts I need out of epoxy!

 

I think you did the right thing on both accounts. You did what you had to do, to get you down the road, and you also fixed the problem properly when you finally had the chance.

 

Next time take it to a quality welding shop and have it TIG'd on. MIG would be ok, but for a part like that I would definitely TIG'd it...it would be better then OEM then.

great story:headbang:

well done, excellent work. you now how variable timing right...move that tab a degree or two...

 

odd they wouldn't weld it. i'd weld that. it's not structural, it's seeing vibrations and getting worked but weld it up and it's not going anywhere? i'm not good at welding, have a cheap welder, and i could get that to work just fine.

I suggested that they should maybe take down their "repair" sign and put up a "replace" sign instead

 

 

That made me chuckle. Haha.

no offense to any one, but if you had the new part why not just install it? the way you did it you did the work twice.

 

i could see installing the repaired part if you were in the middle of no where and had NO replacement part. but why repair the part and install it only to replace it. learning experience? test a theory? prove them wrong?

Edited April 15, 201213 yr by johnceggleston

Believe me, I would have gladly installed the new sprocket had I been able to get it before I left town, but that wasn't possible. I got the replacement on Monday afternoon after about six hours of driving. I'm going to use this experience as justification for getting a small welding unit. Armed with epoxy and a welder there's nothing that can't be jack-legged back together!

what brand of epoxy?