Hello all,

On my ‘96 Civic EX Sedan 4dr, I lost my power steering and the battery light came on, so I kinda feel lucky it happened less than a 1/2 mile from home. It looks like I still have my p/s belt, but it’s just kinda dangling. I can see at least 2 other pulleys that don’t appear to have belts (alternator & a/c?). I can’t tell where this one came off and thus can’t tell why it did.

I actually have had the car listed for sale on CL for almost 2 months asking $2,500 as is, but I’ve only gotten 1 legitimate call, possibly 2 (that I can tell) showing interest, but the one said that they bought another car and the other ghosted; so I’m just curious if anyone can tell me which pulley this, how safe/unsafe is it to drive the car without it and if it’s worth trying to fix?

I appreciate your feedback!

 

That's the crank pulley.... Crazy that it came off - did you have some work done on the car (like the timing belt or water pump)?
Without that, your alternator will not be charging the battery so you'll be draining the battery all the time. If you want to see where that came off, look all the way at the bottom of the engine below the other pulleys. You can see it well from the left wheel well if the fender liner is not there.

 

Thanks! I'm the original owner and had the timing belt & water pump replaced about 100,000 miles ago.
Sounds like I shouldn't try to drive like this. It also sounds like it's not worth it to me to fix it; so most likely I'll either sell it without a crank pulley and drive belts, junk it or donate it.

FWIW: This has been my daily driver since I bought it new, up until about this past mid-July when I got another car; during which time, other than starting it and taking it around the block every few weeks, it's been garaged When it dropped off a couple of nights ago, I hadn't noticed ANYTHING prior i.e. vibration, etc.

 

Just get a replacement pulley and reinstall.

 

As long as the crank snout is not damaged grab a used pulley and the woodruff key for the slot and re install, I would recommend buying a new crank pulley bolt and have it torqued to factory spec. No need to junk or donate because of the pulley.

It may have fell off because it wasn't torqued to spec.

 

Thanks! Y'all make it sound like an easy fix. I probably won't be able to get under the car for several days to see what I'm dealing with & take pics, but y'all have convinced me that it's at least worthwhile to do so before junking or donating it...I'll post pics when I have them.

That said, where would you get a replacement or used pulley...And the woodruff key?

 

You look for a used one from a wrecking yard yourself or you have a dismantler remove it for you. Inspect the crank snout first.

 

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Finally, I got a chance to get some pics of what I believe to be my target, where the crankshaft pulley came off.
Please let me know your thoughts as to how bad this looks, as far as deciding whether not to junk the car, sell it as is or fix it before selling.

I appreciate your feedback!

FWIW, I have not been able to find a used crankshaft pulley at any local junkyards, yet.

 

there are tons of them on car-part, probably ebay too.

https://www.car-part.com/

 

Looks like your crank snout was damaged, the key slipped and took a chunk off the edge of the crank, the new pulley and key will do the same thing almost instantly I'm afraid you might have to replace the engine or crank.

You can try a new pulley and key as long as the key fits in the groove of the crank and holds the pulley, but it doesn't look promising from your pics dude.

 

FWIW: Here are some more pics of the pulley that might shed some light…

 

Looks like it rolled the key. The crank will have to be repaired or replaced.

 

The “crank” (shaft), itself or just the crankshaft pulley?

 

The crankshaft itself AND the pulley

 

Kinda looks like someone didn't line up the key with the crankshaft and impacted it on.

 

Ouch…That’s sounding more like it’s probably not worth trying to fix.

 

Depends on your toolbox and skillset.