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Crankshaft pulley installation

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Old 07-28-2012, 11:58 AM
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Crankshaft pulley installation

The crankshaft pulley on my 1997 i30 has had a slight wobble for a while, but just recently became bad enough to make the belts cry.

After making sure it was the culprit, I removed it using the shadetree method of brief crank with breaker bar to the floor. That went well, and I was able to coax it off the crankshaft.

I bought a replacement unit from Advance Auto, a Dorman piece. Main differences compared to the part I removed are:

- Dorman part has no drill spots where material was removed for balancing.
- Dorman part has some kind of adhesive spilled into one of the steering belt grooves. I could not remove it with a screwdriver.
- Dorman part is Made in China.


I have three questions:

1. The Dorman part came with a little segment of solid metal in the box, but I did not find such a part when I removed the old pulley. Is it a part used in our application?

2. The Dorman part meets resistance half way onto the crankshaft, as I expect it to due to the design. I cannot push it the rest of the way in by hand. The crankshaft bolt has good threading at this point, can I use the bolt to pull it the rest of the way onto the shaft using an electric impact?

3. Finally, this my good neighbor's electric impact rated at 250 lb/ft. To tighten the bolt, how long do I let this wrench hammer at it after it hits home?

Thanks!

Last edited by iDuty; 07-28-2012 at 12:00 PM.
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Old 07-30-2012, 12:14 PM
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Originally Posted by iDuty
I bought a replacement unit from Advance Auto, a Dorman piece. Main differences compared to the part I removed are:

- Dorman part has no drill spots where material was removed for balancing.
- Dorman part has some kind of adhesive spilled into one of the steering belt grooves. I could not remove it with a screwdriver. Take it back and get another one.
- Dorman part is Made in China. All too common now days!


I have three questions:

1. The Dorman part came with a little segment of solid metal in the box, but I did not find such a part when I removed the old pulley. Is it a part used in our application? Doubt it; but maybe a balance weight?

2. The Dorman part meets resistance half way onto the crankshaft, as I expect it to due to the design. I cannot push it the rest of the way in by hand. The crankshaft bolt has good threading at this point, can I use the bolt to pull it the rest of the way onto the shaft using an electric impact? I usually put a little oil/grease on the shaft to help new pulley slide on; using ratchet or impact to pull it down should be OK.

3. Finally, this my good neighbor's electric impact rated at 250 lb/ft. To tighten the bolt, how long do I let this wrench hammer at it after it hits home? I would use it to get pulley into place, then back it off with impact and retighten with a torque wrench.

Thanks!
Good luck.
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Old 07-30-2012, 08:56 PM
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Originally Posted by iDuty
1. The Dorman part came with a little segment of solid metal in the box, but I did not find such a part when I removed the old pulley. Is it a part used in our application?
I think it could have been a Woodruff key. Was it a half circle shape like in the picture link?

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=woodr...:25,s:37,i:300
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Old 07-31-2012, 08:17 PM
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Thank you for the replies. Unfortunately, I had to leave the project unfinished for a couple of days.


DennisMik, yes, that is it. A woodruff key. Is a woodruff key used in our application here?


bobflood, thank you for the suggestions. I did put a light coat of oil on all surfaces of the pulley internal to the engine. This vehicle has an automatic transmission, so I can't apply much torque at all before the crankshaft moves. I can't make use of a torque wrench unless I can prevent the engine from moving. The only way I can tighten the bolt is with the impact wrench.
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Old 08-01-2012, 07:17 AM
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Originally Posted by iDuty
DennisMik, yes, that is it. A woodruff key. Is a woodruff key used in our application here? Dennis - good call! iDuty: If your crank pulley was keyed to the crankshaft, you would have a small slot in the side of the crank end where the curved part of the key went, and a long slot in the inside of the pulley hole that would go over the top of the key when you installed the pulley. Used to be very common in the pre-computer days when there were timing marks on the crank pulley that were used for setting the timing during tuneups. Thus, the pulley had to be in a very precise position rotationally with respect to the crankshaft. Mostly unnecessary now with computer controlled engines that have crankshaft position sensors.

bobflood, thank you for the suggestions. I did put a light coat of oil on all surfaces of the pulley internal to the engine. This vehicle has an automatic transmission, so I can't apply much torque at all before the crankshaft moves. I can't make use of a torque wrench unless I can prevent the engine from moving. The only way I can tighten the bolt is with the impact wrench. Understand - I have a 5 speed so less of an issue. You can use a strap wrench, or and old v-belt and a big visegrip, around the pulley to help keep it from turning. Another method is to remove the starter and use a big screwdriver/pry bar in the flywheel teeth.
Good luck!!
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Old 08-03-2012, 11:21 AM
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Last night I finally got it all back together. The most time-consuming part was moving the power steering pump to install then tighten the new power steering belt. I had cut off the old power steering belt to expedite the removal process, so wasted no time on in it at that stage.

The noises and wobble are gone. I hope the Dorman part holds up!

And I appreciate the helpful input of maxima.org members.
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