Re-Greasing the Titan DEC Assembly by Robert Anderson
(tips and edited by Scott Oates)

The fall, winter and early spring nightly temperatures here in Canada can average between -10F to +5F and the grease that comes in the Titan mount seems to thicken too much for these temperatures and therefore contribute to Stalls when tracking. The RA assembly has to date, not been effected by the low temperatures.

Proper tools and agents are required for this procedure. To clean the old grease off the components, 3M Citrus Base Cleaner was used though any good de-greaser can be used. There is only one nylon gear and the rest are all metal.

Following the cleaning off of the old grease, the parts were washed in 99% Isopropyl Alcohol and re-greased with Dow Corning 33 Extreme Low Temp Bearing Grease, (Light consistency). In-addition, you will need a pair of Snap Ring Pliers, a full set of Allen Keys, a strap wrench, a Scott Knob, a box of cotton swabs, rags and your ready to go.

The total process took about 4 hours (not including the additional two hours trying to get the main shaft off). I was not successful in getting that shaft off even with a heat gun, Liquid Wrench and a substantial amount of effort with the strap wrench. Scott did have success getting his off so I think it's really dependant on when the shaft was installed and how hard it is to get off. I worked around that problem by working the cleaners and re-greasing with the shaft in place.

Each picture can be clicked to go to a full page shot of that particular component. Just remember that the full page shot is about 500K each.

Good luck and have fun.

Bob Anderson

Start by taking the Worm gear off of the DEC housing and motor from Worm assembly

 

Three sizes of Allen Keys are required to take the motor off and disassemble gear housing from the worm block.

It is our suggestion that there is no need to take the plastic cover off the gear housing. The motor is supported by the plastic cover and needs all three contact points to maintain proper alignment with the internal gears.

I have taken mine apart so that you can see the internal workings but there is no need to disassemble this part. The grease that is used in here is different from the the worm/gear grease you want to replace.

I unfortunately broke one of the guide pins of the plastic housing as can be seen on the picture of the metal plate on the far right.

You can use a pair of pliers to unscrew the two posts. This will allow you to slip the complete gear reduction assembly out of the aluminum block. If you do take this assembly apart, the translucent gear on top will slid off so store carefully.

 

On the left is Scott Oates famous Knob. Very handy for custom tuning the pressure of the worm bearings on both the DEC and RA worm blocks.

On the right, you can see the worm gear snuggled in its bearing. Upon loosening the gear on the other side, the complete worm will come out this end.

 

Double check the location of the gear on the end of the worm shaft. You can see in this shot on the left that it is even with the end of the shaft. On the inside of the gear, is the allen key screw to loosen off the gear from the worm shaft.

On the right, you can see the disassembled worm assembly. Do not take off the gear side bearing. That bearing has been installed at a specific distance into the block and is next to impossible to extract. There are no parts in there that need attention.

 

While preparing for the disassembly, I noticed that the DEC Gear cover was missing a screw. Turns out that it is not required for any structural support.

There is a single screw that holds the center shaft on to the saddle. In this picture, I have already taken the four bolts off the plate at each corner.

 

On the left, you will see the saddle plate with center shaft. This shaft rides on two bearings in the main shaft. I cleaned the grease off twice. The first time as I disassembled and then I re-greased it with the original grease in the shaft so that I could take it outside in 5F temperatures to see how it reacted. It certainly is not designed for the temperatures of the Great White North

On the right is the view of the pressure wheel for the DEC.

Again, on the left is a shot of the pressure wheel and the locking ring that holds it onto the center shaft.

On the right is the ring off. At this point, simply unscrew the pressure wheel up off the center shaft.

Underneath the pressure wheel are two wavy washers. These maintain the right separation of the pressure wheel form the bearing below them. Slide these rings off the center shaft and slide the base locking assembly up. The bearing stays with this bottom piece.

In-between these two plates is the plastic clutch pad. When re-assembly, make absolutely sure there is no grease on it or the two matching metal surfaces.

You can also see the first of two sets of bearings in side the main shaft. They and the bearings below the gear are what you want to re-grease.

On the right is the cover plate that has four allen key bolts that affix it securely to the gear below through the gear housing.

 

With the four bolts off above, and the two allen key bolts off of the gear cover, below it, you will see a collar with three setting screws and four outside screws. Undo the four outside screws and slide the collar off of the shaft. It hold the gear down in place riding on the bearings you can see that are pressure fitted to the gear assembly on the right.

 

Now slide the gear up and off the central shaft.

Under the gear, you will see a three plate assembly that includes two race and the Thrust bearings. I cleaned all of the grease off the thrust bearings and after a cleaning with alcohol, air can drying, I re-greased with the Dow 33 grease. Be careful with the three bearing areas that you will be cleaning and greasing, the thrust bearings and the two sets of bearings in the main shaft.

DO NOT USE COTTON SWABS ON THESE BEARINGS.

Use your fingers to wash the bearings with the de-greaser and the alcohol cleaner. Re-apply the new grease with your fingers again. Getting cotton bits ont he bearings will cause all sorts of problems.

With the bearings removed, unscrew the remaining three bolts and take cover plate and bottom Gear housing off.

This will give you a clear view of where the shaft screws into the housing and also gives you maximum area to try and get the shaft out.

I tried to take the Main shaft off with all sorts of techniques. I heated the main block with a heating gun at 850 degrees till the block was hot to touch while cooling the shaft with a towel full of ice. I soaked the threaded part with Liquid Wrench and used a strap wrench on it but to no avail.

Scott and I agree that taking the shaft off is probably not needed nor desired. Do not use a pipe wrench to try and get it off, you will just damage the main shaft.

There are two key bearings inside the Main Shaft that need re-greasing. I eventually spayed the 3M de-greaser down the tube at the bearings and rolled the bearings back and forth by finger. I then washed the bearings with alcohol and blew dry with canned air. I liberally re-applied the Dow 33 grease by finger working it into the bearings as much as possible.

I took the RA shaft bearing area apart so that I could get to the bottom bearings on the Main Shaft. It is a very tight fit. There are four bolts inside this assembly but I was un-able to find out their purpose. Taking out did not assist in taking the shaft out.

I also un-screwed the bottom part of the housing that you screw the weights bar into and used a long piece of plastic to apply grease to the bottom gear.

REASSEMBLE by simple reversing the procedure.

Good luck.