That was my thought about actuater arm. LEAST YOU'LL SEE if it's hung on arm, maybe pry a little. I wasn't sure of symptoms or exact repair of a welded ball. I even searched for repair process. Ends up being as much of PIA as banshee as to pulling shaft and beating it out with a drift punch.
Anyone know if there's a pancake bearing available like a banshee uses?
If it's ruined enough that jerking on it hard can't pull it out, beating on it without having it out of the case (straight shot with a punch) probably isn't going to do much good either but at least you'll be able to see what you're up against.
I've not SEEN any setups for the thrust roller bearings (technical name for a "pancake" bearing" BTW) but that doesn't mean that it couldn't be done. There's maybe just enough room between the input shaft and the pressure plate to get a thrust roller bearing in there. I know enough could be made with a little machining to the pressure plate.
NORMALLY, the ball bearing works well. The times when it's prone to failure are fairly extreme. The most likely fairlures are on high horsepower bikes (which have considerably stronger than stock springs) where the ball has to force the springs off the clutch and the pressure is simple too great for the oil film on the outer surface of the clutch ball and the rod and ball gall (the technical name for the "welding" that takes place) together. The other scenario is a stock clutch that's held in for extended periods of time (pulling a quad back to camp in gear with the clutch held in, coasting down a VERYYYY long hill in high gear with the clutch in and engine only idling, that sort of thing)
The time when it becomes REALLY crucial is if the transmission fluid gets low. Normally the clutch picks up transmission fluid and flings it into a small recess at the back of the clutch cover which transfers it into the transmission side. The bearings at the bottom of the transmission are covered on the outside to retain that fluid. If the level in the transmission gets high enough, it will occasionally flood back down the input shaft (coating the rods and ball with much needed oil) as well as leak back through through other bearings. If the level gets low and the quad is leaned towards the right, the clutch gear may not be able to pick up enough oil to flood the transmission area and fill it upto the level high enough for it to flood back down through the input shaft.
Chances are, Str8blasted, the transmission was run low on fluid before (perhaps even a long time ago) and the ball welded to the shaft then. The clutch continued to work because the shaft was spinning on the "paddle" or clutch actuator rod. Eventually that wore down until the proper clearance for clutch disengagement could no longer be gotten and then you pulled it apart. Unfortunately, this problem has probably been brewing for quite a while and with most things that happen slowly over time, the damage CAN be rather severe. Perhaps the pushrod is just mushroomed on the paddle end and a replacement ball will solve the problem (still requires you to split the cases). Take a bunch of pictures as you work!
