Good Evening.

Earlier yesterday, I was driving and I noticed my car's Crank pulley was loose.

Once I noticed this, I had honda check it out to verify, since I did not have the parts to pull it off.

Well, once they looked at it they told me that I needed a new crank because the end of the crank that attaches to the pulley was bad. The grooves of some kind ( I can't remember the word he used to name it ) was stripped. I asked him if he was talking about where the bolt screws in, and he did not give me a clear answer. So I'm leaving it to you guys. Is there somethign else he could be talking about? He also said the slot where the "key" goes was also broken. I'm not too sure what he meant by that, but Couldn't I just re-thread where the bolt goes, and get a different bolt that would withstand like the old bolt? Or do you guys think he is talking about something else.

I know i'm not describing it very well, but bare with me here. Any suggestions guys?

 

im not sure what you mean, but a friends of mine had 2 replace his since where the key goes b4 the bolt chewed up and couldnt lock in place...

 

Ahh. So if I have a bad "key slot", I have to get a new crank? Can't I just rethread and get a bigger bolt?

 

nope

 

Nope? Why not? if you can do it on a block, or a head, why can't you do it on a crank?

 

I beleive he was talking about the sprocket. The key way on the sprocket is chewed up. My fell off the other day. When it happened to me the key slot on the sprocket was chewed up a bit, the little key was messed up, and the crank pulley slot where the key goes in was chipped up pretty bad too. I was able to get a new key and crank pulley. The sprocket (the part that attaches to the crank is chewed up but not bad enough where I cant drive it.

See if you can get a key and pulley and torque that bolt down to 135 foot pounds. I was even thinking about adding a very thin amount of loc tite on a couple of the threads but i am not sure if that is a good idea yet.

 

yeah it's common on honda's, I get them all the time towed in not running cause the crank bolt came loose and the pulley got cockeyed and that messed the key way all up. there is also a honda tsb (technical service bulletin) on the cam bolts on the sohc motors coming loose and I have had a couple of them in aswell, the best info I can give anybody is check the bolts every couple of months to be sure. it's a pain in the *** but atleast you wont have to buy a new crank and spend money rebuilding your motor.

 

yup, same thing happened to me

 

keyway got messed up. About all you can do is replace the crank, or get someone to weld the end of the crankshaft with a torch and grind a new keyway in it (if you use an electric welder you run the risk of having it arc inside the main bearings).

 

if this happens again , im going to just motor swap for a newer d16. i like my 35 mpgs

 

There we go! That's what he told me was all chewed up. Damn, That sucks. What makes it even worse is that I have little knoweledge on rebuilding motors. Definately not enough to do it. When I Looked at the sprocket it was... bad lol. I guess they tried what you did with my new pulley, and it wouldn't stay on there well enough. I guess my only option is to rebuild, or replace the motor..... right? I have to rebuild it anyways since I have two bad rings.

 

Yep. There have been temporary fixes like welding, or even JB welding or notching it out and fitting a bigger key. But in the end the "proper" fix is a new crank. If you don't have the money for it I would do a temporary fix and see how long it lasts. Not like its gonna do anymore damage.

 

i didnt realize this was common maybe i'll pull mine and add blue loc tite

 

I think it is common for those who do not torque the bolt to spec. I suspect there may be a lot of overtightening and undertightening going on. Harbor Freight and now Wal-Mart sell a torque wrench that goes up to 150 lbs. for around $25. Not the greatest quality but if it is used only for the pulley bolt and maybe the wheel lugnuts, it is worth it. Never had a pulley bolt loosen in my 18 years of owning my 91 Civic and nine months of owning the 93 Civic (bolt removed twice while I got a timing belt job done right). Do not forget the drop of motor oil on the threads that the shop manual calls for. If you abuse the bolt by say heating it with a torch or you remove and replace it many times for whatever reason, consider replacing it and the washer. The threads are super-fine; the forces extreme.

 

^ you are probably rite.

 

lol handtight isnt good enough. i figured this out the hard way on a d15b7. haha we all live n learn. it's all good man.

 

Yo thanks guys for everything. I guess i'll try the temporary fixes. And like you said, it's not like it can mess anything up more.

If all else fails, I'll just have to buy a new one, and put it in... or rebuild

 

do a vitara build if you rebuild it and boost it.

 

might be cheaper just to swap out the engine man. Mine was tightened to spec and still fell off. I think i am either going to go with small mount of loc tite or just check it once a month.

 

Yeah, I agree.... I've been thinking about welding.... But i'm stuck at where to weld the crank and the pulley together, and if a key is still needed. Oh, and with the pulley off, is the timing belt pulley suppose to have a little bit of play in it? Seeing how the only thing holding it is the big bolt for the Crank pulley.

But on the other side, I'm not to sure about engines of hmotorsonline, mostly because of the warranties provided... and they don't list specific details per engine.. because i'd hate to be out of an engine if the one I buy goes bad eventually. Honda is offering me one for 2,300$ for a certied engine, with 125,000 miles on it with a 1 year, 12,000 mile warrenty. I'm still at a loss on which to go with x.x (Money IS a factor in this too)

 

Don't weld the pulley to the crankshaft, weld the end of the crankshaft itself to fill in the old keyway and then grind down the weld and cut a new keyway. If its a D-series engine btw $2300 is just rediculous. Hmotors has an excellent reputation btw, just about everyone thats dealt with them swears by them.

 

dam, why do so many holder pulley mess up? this scares me cause i just changed my block because of this problem. I took my pulley bolt off and did my timming and when i put it back on i didn't put oil or notthing on it. should i take it back out and put that oil or loc tite? and we had it in 5th gear and smashed on the brakes and tightened it as much as i could before the tranny broke.


What should i do so i have no more problems.?

 

Thanks man. I've been wondering how to, ever since i've found out this problem. And that sounds like a perfect solution.

Well, it's for a B16a2, with 125k miles on it. Seem's awefully high for how many miles it has on it. I'm really thinking about another engine from hmotors, seemingly how it has less mileage, and definately easier on the wallet.

But I have another question. Is the timing belt pulley on the crankshaft suppose to have a little play in it, with the big pulley bolt off?

 

Well, you should always follow what honda lists for maintaining parts in the vehicle, at the very minimum. So lubricating the crankshaft before putting on the pulley, and also cleaning any dirt, or excess oil is always a good idea. From what others have said, and from what I have read, is poor torquing of the bolt, varying from undertightning, to overtightning, and not checking the tightness of the bolt(s) from time to time. I'd suggest checking it out as often as changing your oil, or monthly if you're real worried about it. But as far as lock tight, i'm not sure how well that works.

 

well theres your problem you need to loc tite the bolt (use blue lock tite) and use a tourqe wrench and tighten the bolt to spec. never had one come off