01-01-2023, 11:26 AM
I'm inclined to agree, slogging up hill in high gear is actually the worst case for ignition advance, if it's correct there it's retarded everywhere else.
As for removing the gear pin, if you can't drift it out my next port of call would be to file it flush and drill it out - carefully jigged in a pillar drill to have a sporting chance of keeping in alignment. Use an undersize bit at first to limit collateral damage. If you do mess the hole up rotate 90 degrees and drill a fresh one.
Finally if I had a 3-bearing engine with a suddenly noisy bottom end I'd whip the sump off and look for any sign of cracking across the circular webs. There is sometimes a brief period of grace before they let go completely.
As for removing the gear pin, if you can't drift it out my next port of call would be to file it flush and drill it out - carefully jigged in a pillar drill to have a sporting chance of keeping in alignment. Use an undersize bit at first to limit collateral damage. If you do mess the hole up rotate 90 degrees and drill a fresh one.
Finally if I had a 3-bearing engine with a suddenly noisy bottom end I'd whip the sump off and look for any sign of cracking across the circular webs. There is sometimes a brief period of grace before they let go completely.