Hello,

I think the exhaust cam pin on my 3 year old Alexia may be worn. I don't chemical backflush often (every 2 months perhaps) but after the last one it squeaked more / longer and I was getting portafilter sneezes. Tonight I lubricated the pins and cam head and now it's smoother and not squeaking but I still have to push and hold the lever to get a dry puck.

I've been reading an old thread - Mike McKoffee had what sounded like a similar problem, he replaced either the pin or a larger part to which it's attached. I think Erics offered advice and it sounded simple. I've also been looking at a how-to that was linked here which warned of parts snapping off and such.

I'm wondering how easy or complicated this might be - if anyone with experience has suggestions or warnings I'd appreciate hearing them.

I can keep pushing to flush. I'm torn between not wanting to make trouble for myself and loving the idea of it working properly.

Thank you.
Phil

Thanks Eric,

If I have the part names right, I had the cam out when I applied lubrication, though I don't remember if I had it entirely free. The cam surface areas that pushed the pins (I assume) were shiny - I don't know if they were worn or just coffee-oil free.

If you have a chance I'd appreciate any advice you can offer

Thanks again,
Phil

Eric,

Thank you. The instructions at the link look fantastic. I'd seen that exploded view at CC but your photo / diagram helps me understand (at least I think...) what's going on in the lower half.

It may be a while before I have the time but I'll take a look when I can. If I don't make a mess, or if I do, and it's an interesting mess, I'll post results.

Thanks again,
Phil

I recently disassembled, cleaned, replaced worn parts and lubricated the E61 on my Anita. I can offer these tips.

- Purchase replacement valve assemblies before you begin (460010 and 460086). The pins have female threads and mate to male threads on the valve body. The chances of snapping off the pins when you try to replace them is high. When this happens you have broken the male threads on the valve body so it has to be replaced. You will be down for awhile if you don't have the parts on hand.

- After removing the valves from the machine, soak them overnight in penetrating oil. I was able to remove the pins carefully when I did this. You can put your replacement ones in the machine right away and keep the old ones for spares.

- I purchased a gasket/o-ring/washer replacement kit for an E61 before begining. This came in handy also.

- I purchased a short handled wide mouth adjustable crescent wrench with removable plastic jaw protectors from a place here in the midwest called Tractor Supply. They are worth looking for as the large nuts on the E61 are difficult to fit but also cosmetic so you don't want to scratch them up. When necessary I used a rag to protect the metal when using a regular crescent wrench (for counter pressure, etc).

I was a little reluctant to disassemble the e61 but now that I have I am glad I did. I feel I know much better how it works and can easily repair it in the future. I now have a few spare parts on hand, but it was money well spent.

Non coffee difficulties have delayed my follow-up and it's been a long time since I did the work.

What to do is in the proceeding posts, I just wanted to say that with the help I got here, the procedure was fast and easy.

The exhaust cam pin was visibly worn but, as my wife noticed, the rubber part was also swollen - once repaired the flush was earlier and stronger, my guess is both the swelling and the wear contributed to the problem.

erics advice and photos really helped - the huge wrench I bought to remove the handle wasn't quite huge enough to remove the bottom half, I got adjustable wrenches because they were relatively cheap and locally available. The bigger one I finally got worked fine.

When I put it back together, as above, the back flush exhaust was much stronger and earlier in the lever pull - it startled me.

This was months ago, everything still working smoothly.

Thanks again!
Phil