oh dear, there's a piece of mysterious metal in my flywheel

[tbplayer]

So after a long hiatus in riding my 85 Spree (was getting poor vacuum on my carb which in turn killed most of my starter system), I give it a ride and it's feeling a little odd. It's not going very fast and the engine appears to be shaking. I pulled it over in a safe place to have a looksie as my first thought was that I'd just not tightened the shock bolt properly and it went careening off somewhere, but that was not the case.

I started it back up while gazing at the engine/innards to see if i could see/hear the problem from up close, but it only ran for about a second before the engine straight up seized. I heard a big ol' "CLUNK" sound from the rear end of the engine, so I popped off the cover to see what was up, and lo and behold the belt was stuck on something. I cleaned it out and found many little pieces of what looked like aluminum shavings, including one that was wedged between the belt and the rear end of the belt assembly. I rotated the belt a little bit to see/hear if all was well now and I heard something rattling inside the flywheel (that's what the rearmost wheel is in the belt compartment, right? feel free to correct me if it's not)

A closer visual inspection revealed that it looked like there was some kind of inner wheel that has disconnected and has all but melted/shaved off, I got a pic from the back



Any ideas? I tried to get the wheel off with my adjustable wrench, but nothing doing. Didn't have my universal holder with me.

[noiseguy]

That's the clutch. Your clutch blew up. Kind of unusual. Remove it and take a look.

Also inspect front pulley, but sounds like it's fine.

[tbplayer]

Dang really? How was it running at all (however poorly) with an exploded clutch?

[Lunytune]

Dang really? How was it running at all (however poorly) with an exploded clutch?

Realistically, that area is more like a transmission or rearend than engine. Motor can be running, and front pulley running the belt. I doubt it is running now, is it?

[noiseguy]

Dang really? How was it running at all (however poorly) with an exploded clutch?

You'll need to take it apart and tell us.

[tbplayer]

Took it apart today. It's definitely the clutch plates. In retrospect I'm amazed it was running too (however poorly)

Pictures provided more for plot resolution/schadenfruede than information:





and the shrapnel:


obviously not counting the shavings I cleaned out of the compartment.

[Wheelman-111]

Greetings:

Wow! Schadenfreude?! Good word choice!

Did this scooter perchance sit idle in Uncle Clarence's tool shed for, like uh...10 years? Weird things happen in storage, especially in humid climes.

When I finally removed Timmy the Spree's back wheel (a feat the dealership had been unable to accomplish... ) the rear break linings stripped off the shoes, and were stuck instead to the inside of the drum.

Thanks for sharing. Find a clutch from eBay or someone here. It won't be hard to locate one in better shape than yours...

[Kenny_McCormic]

Looks like new shoes will get it going?