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Collection, Preservation and Display of Old Lawn Mowers

3: Clutch Assembly Removed From Engine

Figure 3: Clutch assembly once removed from engine. At this point, the friction surfaces are seized and stuck together.

In this case, it was possible to begin rotating the outer clutch body relative to the drive shaft, but with an insufficient clearance to allow the clutch to mesh and disengage to any useful degree.

The main seizure problem was that the sliding release collar simply wasn’t (sliding) and was stuck fast to the drive shaft.  The lubrication hole is of some use here because it allows penetrating oil to lubricate the engine end of the drive shaft.  Note that the lubrication hole doesn’t duct lubricant on to the friction surfaces, but more lubricates components within the outer clutch body. Penetrating oil should also be introduced from the sprocket end in an attempt to free the release collar.