Looking forward to hear about the operation. Best of luck from here
Until then I can "entertain" you by describing the issues I faced back in 2008, when my stove needed the same repair as yours:
When I was about to replace the auger motor and bushing on my Quest Plus, it was impossible to separate the motor from the auger shaft even with the set screw removed. The explanation turned out to be this: The previous owner had not been aware of correct alignment ( in relation to the flat side of the auger motor output shaft ) when tightening the set screw. This resulted in the formation of deep grooves on both the auger motor shaft and inside the auger. These grooves made the parts inseparable...
Picture of my old auger motor with deep grooves on the output shaft caused by a misaligned set screw. You can also see the marks on the housing made by the previous owner, when he tried to separate the parts with a crow bar ( without success )
View attachment 156050
It took me some time to figure out a safe method to separate the motor from the auger, but the inspiration came from the valve grinding job I had made recently on my car: I took some valve grinding paste and made it thinner with some engine oil, so the grinding paste, by the help of gravity, could float to the blocking grooves. With the auger motor fixed in a vice and the auger shaft pointing downwards, I started wiggling the shaft to grind the grooves away. It took about an hour of wiggling until I could separate the motor from the auger.
Lucas, first of all I hope you'll be able to pull the auger motor without any problems, and when you finally are ready to assemble the motor with the auger shaft, be VERY careful to have the set screw properly aligned with the flat section on the motor shaft!
Good luck and take care.
Bo