Kirby Transmission Refurb Part 1: The Disassembly

[@engelbob8402]

Interesting. I've never seen anybody try to repair one of those transmissions before. I hope you have success. I haven't had to repair one yet so this will be an entry into the "lessons learned" file. Good luck!

[@HooverLux]

Now this is going to be really helpful for me, thanks for the video.

[@VacLab]

Part 2 just dropped. Not much quieter, but super stable. No hopping or skipping.

[@linksmith1057]

If I had to guess never having had one of these open, I can see a few places where the typical whining sound is coming from. It could be that belt is a bit stretched and it’s teeth aren’t aligning right, although that tends to sound more like a popping sound like a worn timing belt. It could be the friction material isn’t gripping and you’re hearing clutch slip. Finally, it could be just bearing noise. I’d have to compare a new one to the old one to see for sure. It’s a simple and ingenious device though, a twin clutch activated by a swinging arm attached to the handle yoke, brilliant thinking by those Kirby engineers. When you consider the nearly all metal construction, all the different materials, not to mention the time on to machine those pressure plates (you can tell from the whiteness marks, those are individually milled, not powdered metal), the cast aluminum casing, not to mention the assembly time, t makes sense why that assembly can be so expensive.

[@KirbyEnthusiast]

Nice job Bill , just rebuilt a G3 one a few wks back, while waiting for parts from US. I used gearbox grease that a mechanic recommended.As it’s a little like a car transmission.

[@WJCTechyman]

It's more akin to an average snow blower transmission (disk drive) or the clutch on a manual transmission, or even the blade brake clutch on a Honda mower. Like a clutch or disk drive trans, the plate and brake material have to be clean and free of grease.

[@therandomman6647]

Ohohoho! You are in for a ride my friend!! They are hard to get the clutches to grip once it's quiet

[@therandomman6647]

That transmission is very old, judging by the fact that the 3 dimples on the metal cluch plates are worn down

[@firebird0u812]

My gen 3 does the same thing but works really well but my Sentria makes a clicking noise when you move back and forth with it, I've never taken apart the trans in any of mine, you've inspired me....lol

[@KirbyEnthusiast]

The clicking noise is normally the pedal switch separated a little

[@firebird0u812]

@@KirbyEnthusiast Thanks, I'll check into it.....

[@KirbyEnthusiast]

@@firebird0u812 message you on your channel

[@kiwibeast2162]

The inside of the transmission without the gears looks like a face! It's staring at you if you look at it.

[@VacLab]

yup.

[@therandomman6647]

I was gonna ask Kirby enthusiast to make a video on this

[@KirbyEnthusiast]

Already done buddy just haven’t uploaded yet . It’s scheduled for next wkend 😂

[@therandomman6647]

@@KirbyEnthusiast fancy meeting you here!

[@therandomman6647]

@@KirbyEnthusiast this is awkward

[@KirbyEnthusiast]

@@therandomman6647 I love vaclab he’s awesome, I yet to guess the vacuum 😂

[@VacLab]

@@KirbyEnthusiast can't wait to see it. Hope yours got quieter if that was your goal.

[@spacemanrick2014]

Mmm, no 13-vane pump, servos, accumulators, stop-bands, check balls, 5-pack clutch disc, anti-clunk spring, and a sprag clutch? I think I’ve watched too many Precision Transmission videos. That belt looks good for 30 years old, though.

[@mannys9130]

Richard and Trent are the real deal. 😎 Good to see others bleed over from Kirbys to auto transmissions like I do myself.

[@spacemanrick2014]

@@mannys9130 , yeah, they really are. I bleed all over electro-hydro-aero-mechanical on the Toobs. As he’s in that Kirby gear box, I can hear Richard, “now here we have a plastic gear, we’ll replace that with a metal one that comes in the kit. And these clutches are wore-plumb-out, so....”

[@therandomman6647]

The original comment here was an uninformed idea I had. Clean and decrease the metal plates and maybe use rubbing alcohol on the other side for best performance.

[@VacLab]

It already pushes easily. The goal here is to make it quieter.

[@therandomman6647]

@@VacLab with that said, I await your next upload!

[@therandomman6647]

​@@VacLab much learning later, I no longer do this. I only tried it twice and found no appreciable difference. The only difference was in clutch plate lifespan. I do not suggest this anymore. I'm going to edit the original comment so no one makes this mistake.

[@kiwibeast2162]

2:00 Song name?

[@VacLab]

Sunspots. Free KZbin music.

[@joyler2446]

You need to talk all the time to tell me what you’re going

[@VacLab]

Did that already. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZPJeKhqpsiGgbc

[@madman11ful]

Is it me or the music he uses sounds like spyro music on the ps1