I pulled off the generator this morning. The bearing is in great shape (no wobble). But the pulley is wobbling. So the pulley is bent, or the armature shaft is bent.

I can't imagine that armature shaft being bent unless the generator was dropped onto a hard floor from a great height. And if that happened, I can't imagine the generator still working.

Does anyone know of a way to unbend a generator pulley? Is it possible the PO put the pulley on without lining it up with the key?

I can't get the nut loose to remove the pulley, so I'll have to pull the generator apart to hold the armature like it says in the SM.

 

Lets hope someone has a spare pulley to offer you. I don't. I don't know that I've ever seen a bent armature shaft but all things are possible..Bent pulleys and fans, yes. An impact wrench is what you need to get the nut loose. Other than knowing you want to do this yourself, perhaps a generator or other electrical shop? Like BobJ found, he could hardly rebuild his starter for what the shop charged him...Or was it his son?
Yeah, Joe, if something can be done wrong, a part installed wrong, it has been done.

 

A pneumatic wrench might get the nut free, then use a hydraulic press on the armature shaft to remove the pulley.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if someone was trying to get the nut off and put a big screwdriver in the fan blades to keep the shaft from turning. If the nut is stuck, it'll bend the blades.

 

Well, I decided to see if I could determine exactly what was bent. I rigged up a "tool" to measure the wobble and found that the nut itself is not wobbly, but the pulley was varying 1/8". That told me the armature shaft is straight and the pulley is bent. The fan blades on the pulley are not bent, but I suspect you may be right Ross, about a screwdriver used to try to break loose the nut.

I figured I was going to need a new pulley (or generator) if I didn't try to fix it. So I very scientifically beat on it with a hammer until it straightened out. Still no slop in the bearing so I think I'll be OK. I'll try to make a video to show how it works after I reassemble everything. I have a before video of the engine running to compare the wobble (which is actually how I noticed the wobble to begin with).

I decided to take it apart to check the parts and clean up the rust. There is absolutely no play in the front bearing, so I bought one for nothing. Oh well, spare parts are good. The brushes are exactly the same length as the new ones except for the concave on the business end, so I don't need them either. And the rear bushing is in great shape. That's lucky for me, since the replacement I bought is WAY too big.

So, I cleaned up the rust and repainted the whole shebang. Since it was properly charging the battery before I started messing with it, I sure hope it works when I reinstall it.

I'll post "after" pics when the paint is dry enough to move it.

Here are some "before" shots...







You can't see it before the rust was removed, but this pulley is stamped with 8HT. So it's 8HT 10130-A in the Parts book on page 665.



I discovered my brush springs look NOTHING like what's shown in the Shop Manual or "Typical" in the Parts Catalog. Glad I don't need any. I compared these brushes to the new ones, and there's almost no wear, so they'll stay.







And one "after" shot



I'm going to let the paint dry all week so just MAYBE I won't mess it up installing the generator. I almost always get in a hurry and screw up the fresh paint.

 

I think I see remains of a rebuild sticker on the second picture down in this series. Look to the left of the two electrical terminals. It was common practice to affix a sticker to a rebuilt unit back when every little town had a rebuild shop.

 

So that's what it is... I was trying to clean it off so I could read it, but had no luck. That could explain why the replaceable parts look pretty new, except for the bent pulley (and it's not supposed to need replacing).

 

The back plate is off a later Ford generator. I think Ford started using stamped steal rear plates in 55 or so. The earlier aluminum ones are prone to breaking.

 

OK, that makes sense. And I discovered after I cleaned it up that I have a rear bearing in that back plate, and not a bushing as I suspected. So that would be explained by the newer model back plate as well.

EDIT: I just looked it up in the Illustrations Catalog. You're right, the back plate is for the 15 volt generator in the '56 and onward for any 12 volt truck equipped with a generator.

Thanks again.

 

Joe,
Yup, I'm pretty sure you'll need to persuade that nut with an impact to get it off.

How do you hold the brushes back to reinsert the armature? Sometimes there are tiny hole where you can insert a small punch to keep the brushes retracted, sometimes a washer the same diameter of the armature, or even a lock nut on the brush assy to retract them. I can't remember the last time I had an old Ford generator apart.

Good luck getting it back together and putting out jolts
Bobby

 

Bobby, I just pulled back on the brushes and slid the back plate down into place. There's enough room to get them started before the back plate gets too close to the main body. I don't know how it works on a stock 48 / 52 generator, but with the '56 back plate it was actually pretty easy. It went back together a lot easier than did the starter.

I put it back together tonight after the paint was dry enough to handle. I didn't take pics of the reassembly though. But I'm going to wait until next weekend to put it back in the truck so maybe the paint will cure.

I never tried to remove the pulley nut after I straightened out the pulley. Didn't see any point, since I think the wobble is fixed.

And I cleaned up the armature and field coil plates before I reassembled it. I just hope it still works. It's like "If it works, don't fix it"... except for the wobble. I was just worried the wobble would wear out the bearing.

 

Worse comes to worse, you can always re-polarize it. However, it should not need it. When you first start the truck, keep an eye on the charge gauge just in case. Am I paranoid or experienced?

 

Yes, I thought I might have to polarize the generator after having it out of the truck.

But thanks for the reminder.

 

My hat's off to you for waiting for the paint to dry before handling it. I usually leave finger prints as I get too itchy to try my 'new part'. I have always enjoyed this build!

 

Thanks you, sir!

It has at times been a rant or rambling, but hopefully there's a bit of helpful info in here for guys like me that don't know what they're doing.

I'm fairly certain that if I had gotten this truck and had not found FTE, it would be someone else's truck already.