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Spindle motor removal

Jammax

Plastic
Joined
Jan 22, 2020
I have a early 90s haas vf mill.

I am trying to remove spindle motor to inspect a gear box noise but I can't for the life of me get the motor off the top of the gear box. I have the 3 bolts on the underside taken off and I can't see anywhere else that it is being held on.

Any tips, tricks or general info on this would be awesome.

Thanks in advance.
 
before I'd removed the motor from the gearbox. I'd shoot a bit of grease in the upper and lower grease zirks and see if it quiets down. I had 1 that sounded terrible, and that worked. also it's not recommended to remove the motor from the box. although I have on a few machines . I'll look at my old pictures as I thought it was only 3 bolts , and the motor alignment ring was a press fit. it was 2 years ago since I took apart the last 1. my memory must have blocked out all the frustration lol.
 
looking at my pictures ( they are by no means the best ) I only see 3 bolts. I do remember having to use a dead blow and some pry bars to get mine unstuck from the fitment of the alignment ring to the plate.
 
Thanks for all the quick responses guys. The 3 bolts is all that I am seeing on mine.. And The reason I am believing the problem is in the gearbox and not the motor is that the shaft that runs through the motor spins freely. It is noisy but I believe that noise is inside the gear box. You can spin the spindle and it will not spin the shaft that comes out of the motor. Or you can spin the motor shaft and it doesn't spin the spindle. It sounds like some gears are grinding or just rubbing against each other.. Its a really weird sound to try and explain. The belt inside is still intact. Thinking one of the teeth on a pulley somewhere is just ground down to nothing. This problem surfaced once I started taking heavier and heavier cuts.

I guess I will just get a bigger dead blow hammer and longer Pry bar and keep on trying to get this sucker apart.

Please keep chiming in if you have any other ideas for me.. I wont get back to working on it until this evening.
 
the grinding noise is probably the shift shaft not moving all the way in gear. if that's the case you're not going to like to hear what you're going to have to do to remove it. the final drive pulley will need to be removed to gain access to the plate that has the shift shaft ,"O" rings. also those shafts will get sticky and need polishing. another more likely with your shifting is in the gear shift solenoid has to restrictors that are .014 hole in them. it only takes a speck of rust or dirt to clog those holes. when that happens the shaft will also not shift. it's the more common of the 2 problems! I normally open up those holes to .04 " dia. and the shifting problem is normally fixed. if it still does it after that. then you will need to remove the shifter shaft and replace the O rings and bearings while your in there.
 
ok I found some better pictures I had of another gearbox rebuild I did. there is definitely only 3 bolts holding it in . 1 thing I did forget is that the drive gear on the end of the motor is the exact same size as the bore it needs to come out. so if it tilts or cocks it could bind coming out.
 
20180722_114059.jpg
let's see if this picture loads . I haven't had any luck in the past with pictures on this site.
 
View attachment 276258
let's see if this picture loads . I haven't had any luck in the past with pictures on this site.

That pic loaded perfectly... I guess I just need to figure out a way to break the grime and pull the motor straight out.

Thank you so so much for your help on this. Gonna try and work on it tonight. Once I am in I will look for the shifting rods you were talking about.

Stay Tuned.
 
I have pictures of the shift rod and fork. you will need a custom I believe 15/16 or 11/16 ( I'll have to look when I get to the shop) to remove the shift fork. 20180722_124501.jpg
 
I still cant get this motor separated.......I have beat this thing to death and there is no good spot to get a pry bar.....Thinking my only option left now is to just unbolt the gear box and see what happens. You have been ultra helpful so far you got any last ideas on motor removal?
 
yes remove the top that the motor is attached to. then use a dead blow on the motor shaft from the opposite side. I believe that was how I did a few of them. you can see it at least on the 1 I I had in the picture. also once the top is off, you may not need to remove the motor from the top plate. as you will have access to the motor shaft and gear.
 
actually after rebooking at the picture you may not be able to get to all of the bolts with out removing the motor first. but give it a try and see.
 
Well I finally got most of it apart. I still can't seem to fully get the top plate off the gearbox. I'm gonna need to find a new gear for the spindle motor and then possibly more stuff once I get in the gearbox.

Was going to try and post a Pic of the destroyed gear but don't know how to post if from my phone.
 
Unfortunately for you ,Haas makes their own gears in house. they also at the time I left them would not sell them. they would send you a new gearbox and you send your old back with the motor attached. we're you able to get the motor removed? you have to remove a few snap rings around the bearings to get the top plate off. 20180801_183037.jpg
 
there is also 2 alignment pins in the top plate .

Yes I finally got the spindle motor off. Currently looking for a new gear for it. Any ideas on where to look besides haas? I cant for the life of me get the top encoder pulley off. That is what is stopping me from removing the entire top plate.
 
unless you have a gear hobb shop near by your probably not going to get another gear other than from haas. they actually made the machines in house to make those gears at their facility. post a picture of the encoder gear. there were 2 types. then I can tell you how to remove it.
 
unless you have a gear hobb shop near by your probably not going to get another gear other than from haas. they actually made the machines in house to make those gears at their facility. post a picture of the encoder gear. there were 2 types. then I can tell you how to remove it.

you are a handy guy to know!!
 








 
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