mosesboo

New to the forums and to DIY maintenance on my 92 Civic LX-- I value your time and appreciate any help I can get, so I'll try to be as concise as possible!

Crankshaft pulley is wobbling, not sure when it started. Was doing 70 on interstate for about 20mi with A/C running but didn't hear any noise. First noticed loss of powersteering when turning 1/3 mile from home. Made it home, turned off engine, noticed drivebelt slipped off. Put drivebelt back on, turned car on, sounded terrible, popped hood, saw crankshaft pulley wobbling. (Have not driven car since, sun went down shortly after so I won't have pictures til morning.)

I've been reading up in the forums all night and it sounds like a common issue after timing belts are replaced-- thing is, I've had the car for a year and a half now, it's run beautifully, previous owner was very meticulous with his work and I haven't had to replace anything but the alternator which was almost a year ago. Afraid to take it to mechanic after the horror stories in the forums about things being torqued improperly leading to engines needing replacing-- can't afford major car troubles right now.

Any ideas on why the pulley would seemingly randomly start wobbling? What should I focus on when I go to inspect the crankshaft more closely?

Mo

Former User

Check whether the crank pulley bolt is loose. If not, remove the pulley and check whether the metal key is missing or whether the timing belt guide plates are missing or installed backwards. Also check whether the crankshaft is damaged.

BrakeExpert

I'd agree. You can check the crank pulley bolt through the hole in the plastic splash guard. Ya remove the front left wheel and id remove the two 10mm plastic bolts (or use a phillips screwdriver) and take a look at that crank pulley. The bolt is a 17mm and the torque setting is...somewhere around 130lb-ft, the book calls for 14lb-ft plus a 90 degree rotation. However itd have to be very loose. My guess is that bolt fell out. That bolt is a big one, its suppose to have oil on the threads and the backside of its washer. See if its there, pictures will help.

mosesboo

Thanks for taking the time to give me your advice! I was able to see the bolt through the hole in the splash guard, but I don't have the tools I need to get in there to check the key and crankshaft itself. I finally broke down and had it towed to a shop up the street to have it checked out, I asked them to please not run it again til they inspect the crankshaft itself. Going to invest in a jack/jackstands after this Just hoping I wasn't running it too long after the pulley started wobbling and that any damage is minimal.. just too many unknowns for me to have any peace of mind at this point! I'll follow up with you all once I hear back from the shop.

mosesboo

Keyway is damaged, shop says it needs a new motor Where do I go from here?

Jimster480

you can put another crank pulley on it and make your own key and use some JB weld. it will work, although it might fk up the motor balance a bit which will eventually kill your engine but it will work.

Zeusfire69

Wow!! That kinda sucks...I guess you'll just have to swap in a B series...

94EG8

Get a new key and pulley, put the pulley back on, drive small finishing nail beside the key to take up the slack in the damaged keyway and put the bolt back in and tighten it up. Hope it stays tight. That's what's holding mine together right now, been like that for a few months now and it's still there.

crzdmngz

Did the shop say why you need a new motor?
I'm asking because I had the exact same issue and just replaced the crank pulley with a new one, along with new bolt. The bolt had broken off in the crank and had to tap it out.

KeithsDAteg

I agree with 94ej8. I've seen this happen once before on my friends Prelude, but it wasn't so bad that anything needed to be replaced. I just flipped the keyway, re torqued the crank bolt after adding a little loctite. Car ran fine after that, and still runs as far as i know.

See if you can post some picture after you get that thing up on jackstands. I'm curious as to how bad it actually is.

-Keith

beecee18

Damaged crank snub sux,

Sorry brotha.

Jimster480

yea i did the same thing and it was fine.. Only thing was that my built motor was balanced with the pulley and the new pulley killed the motors thrust washers, which killed the whole motor in a few months.

mosesboo

Thanks guys! Sorry to go MIA for awhile there-- was a stressful few weeks for my noob self, but I got lucky! The bolt actually hadn't broken off, it just backed out. The key was a little chewed up, but the damage to the keyway was minimal.

It turned out that a friend's son is a Honda-enthusiast mechanic. (Should've asked around before I blew money on the tows to and from the shop that wanted to replace the motor for $2500.00!) He's worked on close to a dozen of these crankshaft pulley issues before. Was $180 for the new crankshaft pulley, key and bolt. He said the keyway was a little bit wider but that the key went right in place. He put loctite on the bolt, I let it sit for a couple hours, and sure enough my Civic is back to running like normal The engine isn't clunking, it just sounds like its old self again. I'm keeping an ear out for any noises, but hopefully mine doesn't go the way of Jimster480's. And if it does.. now I know someone locally who's dealt with the problem before and won't try to talk me out of $2500 or keeping my car

Jimster480

Yea I'm hoping my current motor doesnt go the seame way as my built one did, since I have been driving this stock civic every day to work now.