I was wondering if anyone could help me....

I have a 92 honda accord lx; the car was off the road for about 8 months and when I started it the belts smoked up because the alternator and the crankshaft pulley were seized up. For the crankshaft pulley; what do I have to replace, is it the pulley itself or is it something internal in the engine? Any help would be appreciated, Thanks!

 

so your saying the engine was running but the crankshaft pulley was siezed and not spinning?

 

the engine was running, I shut it down after the belts starting smoking. The next day I checked the alternator and the crankshaft pulley and both wouldnt move when I tried to turn them by hand.

 

You would be hard pressed to turn any of the pulleys by hand if the belts are still intact, particularly the crankshaft pulley. The fact that you're "smoking" the belts indicates that the crankshaft pulley is turning with the engine (if it wasn't, neither of the belts would move). The crankshaft pully is on the bottom of the engine. The power steering pump is at the top, the alternator is below the PS pump, and the A/C compressor is below the ALT (same belt drives the ALT and A/C).

Have someone start it briefly and observe what is moving and what is not. If you don't want to smoke 'em any more, go in through the driver's side wheel well with a big socket and 1/2 inch drive to try to turn the crankshaft (make sure transmission is in neutral) and see what is and isn't moving. Other option is to loosen the belts and see what you can turn; PS pump and alternator should be easy. A/C should be easy with the A/C off; if not, the compressor clutch and compressor may be bad.

 

yeah, like fleetw00d said, that crankshaft pulley is too hard to turn by hand.

Take a 19mm socket, with an extension and ratchet... go through the driver side wheel well, you'll see an opening to stick the socket and extension through, now try turning the crankshaft. Keep in mind, only turn the crank counterclockwise. To make it easier to turn, you can remove the accessory belts and/or the spark plugs.

Also, it's unlikely that the engine would be running but the crankshaft pulley not spinning. It's possible if the drive key was sheered off and the crank pulley bolt not tight, but thats all very unlikely. The crank pulley is keyed onto the crank so as long as that engine is running, that crank pulley is spinning, pretty much the only way the crank pulley could seize is if the crank itself was seized.

I would check all fluid levels and then start it up again and really look for whats going on.

 

Maybe it's easier to FIRST check the accessories themselves. Remove the external drive belts. Now spin each of the accessories' pulley. You'll probably find one that doesn't turn easily.

Alternator should spin easily. No electrical load & you're not spinning it fast enough to self-energize the fields.

PS pump should feel like a little drag, so it won't spin freely. But not difficult to spin.

AC compressor pulley has a clutch, it won't be engaged. So that one will spin freely, without actually driving the compressor.

If you remove the spark plugs, you might almost be able to turn the crankshaft by hand. If you're strong...

 

alternator is seized, see it often in rusty climate. if you put a wrench on pulley nut somtimes it will free up but its best to replace the alternator.