broken crank pulley... possible damage?

TsiJohn333 · 08-21-2012, 09:14 AM

I started up my car this morning. As soon as it started it made this horrible noise. I immediately shut it off. I looked under the car and my serpentine belts were off including my crank pulley. I checked my timing belt and it appeared to be ok. Could i have possibly damaged anything? How hard is it to replace the crank pulley?

bryanwheat · 08-21-2012, 09:25 AM

It's pretty common. The outer ring on the balancer is mounted with rubber and over time they can separate when the rubber dries out. It is unlikely that anything was damaged unless the broken part gouged the timing cover. It will take around 15-30 minutes to pull the old one off and bolt on on a new one. The most time consuming part is tensioning the ac belt. There are 4 12mm head bolts that hold the balancer to the crank sprocket.

bradselph · 08-21-2012, 09:26 AM

Depends on how it was broken.

TsiJohn333 · 08-21-2012, 07:17 PM

Just the outer ring came off. There was no damage done to timing cover. I was able to remove the crank pulley by removing the 4 12mm bolts holding it on. Luckily i have a extra pulley. Now how do i loosen the ac tensioner? I dont even know where its located.

bryanwheat · 08-22-2012, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TsiJohn333

Just the outer ring came off. There was no damage done to timing cover. I was able to remove the crank pulley by removing the 4 12mm bolts holding it on. Luckily i have a extra pulley. Now how do i loosen the ac tensioner? I dont even know where its located.

The ac tensioner is bolted to the ac compressor bracket. There is one 14mm nut that holds it tight, and a 12mm bolt that is used to tension it. Loosen the 14mm nut than use the 12mm bolt to tension the belt. After the belt is tensioned re-tighten the 14mm nut.

iugrad92turbo · 08-22-2012, 01:04 PM

I hate when that happens had to do that on my buddies spyder, he had ac but doesnt use it one less belt to deal with.

g4ebguy90 · 09-04-2012, 01:01 AM

This problem seems to be showing up alot. I never even heard of it, and then people have been calling me and sending me pics of how the inner portion like sticks out about a good inch then the outer ring.

I highly doubt that you damaged anything if you turned the vehicle off right away. Honestly if anything messed with the timing belt you would be able to see and the engine would have stopped by itself.

New pulley and reinstall belts and your good to go.