Russ McCutcheon

Russ McCutcheon

Well Known Member
I have set the e-gap plenty of times and know my way around inside of a slick mag. I am planning to service my mags again soon, maybe tomorrow and would like to replace the point cams, to do this it looks like you have to remove the plastic gear from the shaft before removing the cam. How do you get the gear off? Is the gear reusable?
 
Yeah, but they're tight. Use 2 flat screwdrivers or something to pry/walk it of from opposite sides.
 
Well I will need a new gear, this is the second time this has happened, the gear has slid up the shaft and eaten it's self slinging plastic everywhere in the mag. If you have a hiccup like mine did,,,, check it out!:cool:
 
So does anyone know the part number for the plastic gear that is on the shaft just above the points and drives the rotor? also the part number for the points? It's a Slick 4373 mag.
 
You may already know, make sure the coil tang is parallel with the mag body, and do the carbon brush also.
 
G3i Ignition said:
You may already know, make sure the coil tang is parallel with the mag body, and do the carbon brush also.
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Thanks, yes I know all about that, the brush was already done along with the tang. I have been having trouble keeping the gap right so now I'm replacing the cams.

So have you or anyone had one of these gears try to work it's way off the shaft? I have never removed one of these gears before, both times this happened it was the gear that came installed in the mag. Seems like they need an SB on this issue along with there one for the brush and cam.
 
Russ, I've only seen one or two of the small gears ride up the shaft. Don't know whether the fit was wrong or if high heat made the gear swell. I'd be kind of tempted to rough up the shaft a little with 220 or something like it. If your new gear doesn't go on quite tight, there's something wrong.
 
Curious how many hours on the mag when the gear slid? I am trying to gather info on just how reliable these Slick mags are.
 
jetdriven said:
Curious how many hours on the mag when the gear slid? I am trying to gather info on just how reliable these Slick mags are.
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Log books are great, they remember everything! I dug into the engine log to find the answer for you as well as for myself.

I installed two new 4373 mags on 2-29-08.

I replaced the right mag under warrantee on 1-8-09 with 161 hours. The gear had slid up the shaft and covered everything inside with plastic dust.

I am now repairing the left mag on 7-10-12 with 635 hours for the same problem, the gear slid up the shaft and made a mess.

I inspect my mags and set the point gap/E-gap just about every year, there were no problems last October.
 
Russ, in the interest of furthering our collective education on Slick mags, I have a question on your mag rotor gear. The one I have, and it is a fairly recent spare that I have on hand, has a barrier on the shaft side that would apparently prevent it from riding up into the larger distributor gear--something that presumably would happen if the smaller rotor gear rode up off its shaft. But the barrier would appear to be there to prevent this. Do I have a modified gear or is this the way your is made too? Am I reading this wrong?

001-2.jpg


Perhaps you could shed some light on how your gear was able to self-destruct given this fail-safe feature, if it is that? I've attached a photo to illustrate what I'm seeing on my gear.

Thanks!
 
Pat Hatch said:
Russ, in the interest of furthering our collective education on Slick mags, I have a question on your mag rotor gear. The one I have, and it is a fairly recent spare that I have on hand, has a barrier on the shaft side that would apparently prevent it from riding up into the larger distributor gear--something that presumably would happen if the smaller rotor gear rode up off its shaft. But the barrier would appear to be there to prevent this. Do I have a modified gear or is this the way your is made too? Am I reading this wrong?

001-2.jpg


Perhaps you could shed some light on how your gear was able to self-destruct given this fail-safe feature, if it is that? I've attached a photo to illustrate what I'm seeing on my gear.

Thanks!
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Hi Pat,

My gears are just like the one you have in the photo. I also believe the shoulder is to help prevent the gear from riding up and off or past the rotor. However there is room for it to ride up before it gets to the shoulder, once it gets to the shoulder its well on its way off the shaft. Mine had actually worn most of the shoulder off and was sitting crooked atop the very end of the shaft, with the distributer block out of the way the gear fell right off, the mag was still running but probably not for much longer.
 
Thanks, Russ! Looks like they were on the right track with the rotor gear design but came up short on the distributor gear maybe. :confused:

Anyway, another reason to take the mag apart at annual besides checking points, "E"gap, etc. Good catch!
 
Pat Hatch said:
Thanks, Russ! Looks like they were on the right track with the rotor gear design but came up short on the distributor gear maybe. :confused:

Anyway, another reason to take the mag apart at annual besides checking points, "E"gap, etc. Good catch!
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I think the rotor is fine, I would say they came up short in how the rotor gear is secured to the shaft.
 
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