Heeeelp...Crankshaft pulley loose...
06 November 2000, 06:59 PM
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Got towed by the AA when my MY97 Sti 3 died on me...
First the power steering went then the ABS light went on. Then the engine sounded like it was going to cut out (slight splutter).
Called the AA but whilst waiting for them I opened the bonnet and saw that the middle 'cog', in front of the radiator, that has a belt going around it had loosened.
The AA engineer called it a crankshaft pulley? It was litterally pulled off with no effort by the AA guy. The bolt looks like it has worked its way loose. (not shorn off)
Please could anyone enlighten as to what this does, has it happened to anyone else, likelyhood of cost, time, parts, places around surrey that could do the job.
I am very grateful for any information.
Many thanks.
Sad Greg.
First the power steering went then the ABS light went on. Then the engine sounded like it was going to cut out (slight splutter).
Called the AA but whilst waiting for them I opened the bonnet and saw that the middle 'cog', in front of the radiator, that has a belt going around it had loosened.
The AA engineer called it a crankshaft pulley? It was litterally pulled off with no effort by the AA guy. The bolt looks like it has worked its way loose. (not shorn off)
Please could anyone enlighten as to what this does, has it happened to anyone else, likelyhood of cost, time, parts, places around surrey that could do the job.
I am very grateful for any information.
Many thanks.
Sad Greg.
06 November 2000, 07:45 PM
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I might be wrong but it might be the cambelt.
Did the belt snap or actually come off whilst driving?
If it did it could be *expensive*. I had a cambelt snap on my Renault 19 16v and it cost £1200 to fix.
If it didn't you might be lucky, I think that the pulleys might have a little key/locator and it might have kept them in place.
hope it's ok!
matt
Did the belt snap or actually come off whilst driving?
If it did it could be *expensive*. I had a cambelt snap on my Renault 19 16v and it cost £1200 to fix.
If it didn't you might be lucky, I think that the pulleys might have a little key/locator and it might have kept them in place.
hope it's ok!
matt
06 November 2000, 08:13 PM
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Just an idea.
I had a service done last week (at a reputable garage). Wondering if a during a std service that area of the car be inspected or touched? Just my paranoia.
Ideas?
Greg
I had a service done last week (at a reputable garage). Wondering if a during a std service that area of the car be inspected or touched? Just my paranoia.
Ideas?
Greg
06 November 2000, 08:16 PM
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I switched the car off myself. The car certainly didn't come to an abrupt halt.
It litteraly started to splutter, as if out of petrol. I immediately switched the engine off and cruised to the side of the road.
Greg.
It litteraly started to splutter, as if out of petrol. I immediately switched the engine off and cruised to the side of the road.
Greg.
06 November 2000, 08:27 PM
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you might have avoided the Renault 'bent valve' syndrome :O)
Get the pulley and belt back on and hopefully away you go. I would get it
checked first, unless you are feeling very
brave!
Get the pulley and belt back on and hopefully away you go. I would get it
checked first, unless you are feeling very
brave!
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06 November 2000, 08:57 PM
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Hello,
That is the front pulley.. but doesnt have anything to do with the cam/timing belt.
That is driven by a toothed wheel/gear that is behind the pulley (hidden by the plastic covers).
The wheel provides dampening to smooth out the running a little... it also is used to power/drive the power steering.. the alternator and the aircon (if fitted).
I have heard of them coming loose.
Best thing is thread lock it and torque it up... it should be fine.
If it was a major service (belt change) then blame the garage.. othterwise, its just one of those things.
J.
That is the front pulley.. but doesnt have anything to do with the cam/timing belt.
That is driven by a toothed wheel/gear that is behind the pulley (hidden by the plastic covers).
The wheel provides dampening to smooth out the running a little... it also is used to power/drive the power steering.. the alternator and the aircon (if fitted).
I have heard of them coming loose.
Best thing is thread lock it and torque it up... it should be fine.
If it was a major service (belt change) then blame the garage.. othterwise, its just one of those things.
J.
06 November 2000, 09:09 PM
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Oh Firefox,
What you have said has given me a little hope, in thinking that it possibly isn't a MAJOR rebuild or similar.
I am just about to start contracting in Town (Well next couple of months)so didn't want any BIG expenses right now.
Greg
What you have said has given me a little hope, in thinking that it possibly isn't a MAJOR rebuild or similar.
I am just about to start contracting in Town (Well next couple of months)so didn't want any BIG expenses right now.
Greg
08 November 2000, 03:47 PM
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S*&%E car from hell.
It appears that I now need a short engine replacement. Getting a quote tomorrow from a local garage. Sounds bloody expensive to me.
Went through a great big puddle before it happened, could it have been related to that at all? Clutching at straws really.
Anyone had some recent quotes on the part/labour for a short engine replacement on a MY97 Sti3? Garages to go to?
Desperate Greg.
It appears that I now need a short engine replacement. Getting a quote tomorrow from a local garage. Sounds bloody expensive to me.
Went through a great big puddle before it happened, could it have been related to that at all? Clutching at straws really.
Anyone had some recent quotes on the part/labour for a short engine replacement on a MY97 Sti3? Garages to go to?
Desperate Greg.
08 November 2000, 09:53 PM
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Had the same thing happen on my MY96 damage was limited to ...
New Pulley £35 from Central Scooby - mine was chewed up at the back
New Woodruf Key £1.62 main agent - thats the bit of metal that keys the pulley to the crank
New Crank Pinion - that the cam belt runs on and is behind the pulley £18. ish from main agent.
I don't understand why a short engine unless the crank pulley slipped as well and valves hit etc ... (the crank pinion is behind the main pulley like Firefox says.
Hope this helps
N.
New Pulley £35 from Central Scooby - mine was chewed up at the back
New Woodruf Key £1.62 main agent - thats the bit of metal that keys the pulley to the crank
New Crank Pinion - that the cam belt runs on and is behind the pulley £18. ish from main agent.
I don't understand why a short engine unless the crank pulley slipped as well and valves hit etc ... (the crank pinion is behind the main pulley like Firefox says.
Hope this helps
N.
08 November 2000, 10:56 PM
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Well these are obviously questions that I am going to ask the garage tomorrow when they get back to me.
The first thing they said was we can't put the pulley back as it is. Some kind of damage to the crank end... Will have more details tomorrow when I speak to them.
Thanks for the pointers, as I am quite non mechanically minded.
Anyone else experience this?
Greg
The first thing they said was we can't put the pulley back as it is. Some kind of damage to the crank end... Will have more details tomorrow when I speak to them.
Thanks for the pointers, as I am quite non mechanically minded.
Anyone else experience this?
Greg
09 November 2000, 12:02 PM
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greg
sorry to hear your misfortune.
the same thing happend to myself a while back
on a corrola gti. if the crankshaft is badly damaged then this could be expensive.but a littel damage you could get away with.the pully's are generaly softer than the shaft .get more than one opinion!
sorry to hear your misfortune.
the same thing happend to myself a while back
on a corrola gti. if the crankshaft is badly damaged then this could be expensive.but a littel damage you could get away with.the pully's are generaly softer than the shaft .get more than one opinion!
09 November 2000, 03:06 PM
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Okay more info, here goes:
Armed with all my Scoobynet information I approached the garage in question and started my fleury of questions.
The reason that the engineer wanted to rebuild the engine is because he believes that the protruding Crank that the pulley slips into is damaged enough to not be able to put a new one on. Simple as that.
So I asked to have a look at my car and discuss it further to see for myself the damage. The end if the crank is around 1 to 1.5 cm in length. The end 1 to 2 m/m does have some 'minor' wearing rings that appear to have dulled the edge. The woodruf key, itself may need changing but has only got a little chaffing on it. Apparently a microscopic amount of wear on the end of the crankshaft is going to have some detrimental effect to getting a new pulley back on.
The retaining bolt is not shorn and all cogs/pistons are intact.
The engineer mentioned that he cannot guarantee that the pulley will stay on and that the 'proper' course of action would be to relpace with a short engine...
My thinking is to pay for a new pulley and key to be replaced and see what happens. The cost of replacing those two is not great and I believe that if it does work its way loose again then all I have lost is the cost of changing the pulley.
What do you guys think of that?
All comments very appreciated.
Greg
Armed with all my Scoobynet information I approached the garage in question and started my fleury of questions.
The reason that the engineer wanted to rebuild the engine is because he believes that the protruding Crank that the pulley slips into is damaged enough to not be able to put a new one on. Simple as that.
So I asked to have a look at my car and discuss it further to see for myself the damage. The end if the crank is around 1 to 1.5 cm in length. The end 1 to 2 m/m does have some 'minor' wearing rings that appear to have dulled the edge. The woodruf key, itself may need changing but has only got a little chaffing on it. Apparently a microscopic amount of wear on the end of the crankshaft is going to have some detrimental effect to getting a new pulley back on.
The retaining bolt is not shorn and all cogs/pistons are intact.
The engineer mentioned that he cannot guarantee that the pulley will stay on and that the 'proper' course of action would be to relpace with a short engine...
My thinking is to pay for a new pulley and key to be replaced and see what happens. The cost of replacing those two is not great and I believe that if it does work its way loose again then all I have lost is the cost of changing the pulley.
What do you guys think of that?
All comments very appreciated.
Greg
10 November 2000, 01:35 AM
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It sounds like the damage is only minor,I would go with the new pulley and a new'thread locked' bolt.
You can always call the AA again if it does not work.
Do you know this engineer?,it seems as though he is trying to ripp you off
You can always call the AA again if it does not work.
Do you know this engineer?,it seems as though he is trying to ripp you off
10 November 2000, 08:32 AM
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It would be substantially cheaper to have a custom made pulley wheel made, that has a diameter which suits any wear on the shaft.
Even with lots of dye work, it wouldn't be more than a few hundred quid.
Even with lots of dye work, it wouldn't be more than a few hundred quid.
10 November 2000, 02:15 PM
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Thankyou for your informative mails. Potentially saved me thousands.
I like the idea of the Crankshaft pulley custom made for the end of the crank, albeit doesn't really appear damaged to me.
Greg.
I like the idea of the Crankshaft pulley custom made for the end of the crank, albeit doesn't really appear damaged to me.
Greg.
10 November 2000, 10:52 PM
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Greg - may be too late but suggest you dont use a local guy as you need an sti specialist who has dealt with this problem before. Ive got a guy in N london if you want email me for his phone - at least he may be able to put you in the right direction on the phone even if you dont use them.
11 November 2000, 01:48 PM
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I had the same problem on a Seat Toledo TDI I owned.
Bottom pulley fell off afte 50k, garage put a new one on. That fell off 10,000 miles later. Garage put another one on and torqued it up a *lot* more (after advice from VW.) That lasted about 10,000 miles. Then they put a new short engine in (total miles 70,000).
They blamed me driving like a nutter... I pointed out the unlimited mileage 3 year warranty
Note: Seat have since downgraded the warranty to 60,000 miles/3 years...
If the car had not been under warranty I would have had a new pulley and some thread lock then sold the car... As it is, it didn't cost me a penny
Now I have a Subaru P1 instead
Bottom pulley fell off afte 50k, garage put a new one on. That fell off 10,000 miles later. Garage put another one on and torqued it up a *lot* more (after advice from VW.) That lasted about 10,000 miles. Then they put a new short engine in (total miles 70,000).
They blamed me driving like a nutter... I pointed out the unlimited mileage 3 year warranty
Note: Seat have since downgraded the warranty to 60,000 miles/3 years...
If the car had not been under warranty I would have had a new pulley and some thread lock then sold the car... As it is, it didn't cost me a penny
Now I have a Subaru P1 instead
13 November 2000, 06:15 PM
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FYI.
Garage called back today.
£580 all in, for changing the crankshaft pulley, new woodruff key, all the belts including some timing belt?, 3 hours labour (@ 50 p/h). Let's just hope this fixes it for the long term. Work should be finished by the end of the week.
Greg
Garage called back today.
£580 all in, for changing the crankshaft pulley, new woodruff key, all the belts including some timing belt?, 3 hours labour (@ 50 p/h). Let's just hope this fixes it for the long term. Work should be finished by the end of the week.
Greg
17 November 2000, 11:44 PM
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Well just collected the car tonight.
Had the timing belt done (might aswell have, whilst they're in there I guess), new woodruff key, crankshaft pulley, all the belts that are around the area, tidied up the crank end, new bolt, cranked it up and loctited etc. etc. and all works okay, all this for £700.
Glad it wasn't 5K or so for a full short engine re-build. If it wasn't for the BBS I wouldn't have really known what was really happening. Cheers for the advice, vey appreciated. Guess I was lucky in the end.
Happy to be driving the Sti again...Civics are good but....
Greg
Had the timing belt done (might aswell have, whilst they're in there I guess), new woodruff key, crankshaft pulley, all the belts that are around the area, tidied up the crank end, new bolt, cranked it up and loctited etc. etc. and all works okay, all this for £700.
Glad it wasn't 5K or so for a full short engine re-build. If it wasn't for the BBS I wouldn't have really known what was really happening. Cheers for the advice, vey appreciated. Guess I was lucky in the end.
Happy to be driving the Sti again...Civics are good but....
Greg