[Farmall] Hydraulic Pump

[szabelsk at gdls.com]

There may be a nut bouncing around, or there may not be a nut bouncing 
around. This could be a case where the PO was working on the unit, dropped 
the lock washer, couldn't find it, and put in a new one. But to be on the 
safe side, I agree that you should check out the unit and verify that 
there is a lock washer where there should be. If the PO dropped the lock 
washer, couldn't find it, and just decided to put the nut in "a little 
tighter" you could wind up with a lot bigger problem later. Hopefully all 
you have to do is remove a pan or cover to get a good look at the 
assembly.

In my line of work we never reuse a lock washer since there's no way to 
determine how many times it been used and how much tension is left in it. 
(The longer it is compressed, and what torque was applied, determines how 
much tension it still can provide after being installed the first time.) 
It may look like it's good, but it it's lost any of its tension 
capability, it could provide insufficient tension and allow a nut to back 
off. We always put new lock washers in when we reassemble anything. I've 
seen people take a totally flattened lock washer, spread the ends apart 
and put it back in. Not a good thing since there probably is no tension 
left in the lock washer and all they've done is put in a split flat 
washer. A lock washer is supposed to provide tension between the nut and 
the mounting surface, pushing on both and digging in a little, so that the 
nut won't turn by itself due to vibration.

Carl Szabelski



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