Crank pulley off center?

[Calan]

My old crank pulley was chipped pretty bad on one edge and the rubber was out on one side more than the other, so I decided to replace it with a new one (stock).

After the swap and at idle, as I'm looking at the pulley straight on (facing the end of the crank), it looks as if the pulley is rotating slightly off center. If you know what I mean, you can see "tracers" of two different diameters. It's not much, but definitely noticeable.

Looking at it parallel to the belts, it doesn't appear to be wobbling, and the alternator belt is tracking straight. (the A/C belt is removed due to a bad compressor).

1. Is a certain amount of this normal? If so, how much... and does it go away as the balancer gets broke in?

2. How do you judge the tightness of the alternator belt? (what is too tight)

Not sure this matters, but when I reinstalled the new one (using the old bolts), the 1st bolt I started to tighten snapped off at 16lbs torque. I pulled all the bolts back out and had a look, and two of the remaining 3 showed serious signs of being over-torqued at some point in the past. The thread pitch varied and the bolts had actually yielded and stretched.

After some fun with vice grips retrieving the broken bastard, I was able to shorten some new bolts I had laying around and put it on again. I snugged up all the bolts diagonally, and then torqued them to 15lbs, then 20lbs, then 22lbs. It seemed to go on smoothly.

Should I be worried here? Can the pulley actually even be off-center or do I have more serious crank related issues?

Thanks for any help on this....

 

[Calan]

Anyone?

 

[adiffrentcity]

Now if I remember right the crank pulley has a center section, then rubber, then the ring the belt rides right? Does the inner section that bolts to the crank have this dual tracer effect or is it just the outer diameter? It seems like this would just be because of the rubber but honestly I cant say for sure. Maybe an upgrade to say... ATI superdamper or similar would give you (albeit expensive) peace of mind. I guess you aren't hearing any bad noises, seeing any leaks, losing oil pressure etc. so I hope its nothing.

 

[Calan]

The inside is actually more noticable than the outside (because it's spinning faster?). And it's more noticable when you have a light close to it. When I backed the light away to like a foot, it's harder to see.

I pulled it back off and set the old one back up against the crank. They both fit identically. The crank has a small "ring" protruding that the balancer fits over...and it fits tightly! You almost have to lightly tap it on, once you line up the pin. Again, the stock one was the same way. I cleaned this area really well with a wire brush (and the pulley) to make sure nothing was binding.

After bolting it back up, same thing. I haven't driven the car yet, but it seems to idle ok and I don't really notice any more vibration than what was already there.

If this isn't normal, I'm wondering if something is a bit off with the crank or timing pulley, since this one is identical in fit and size to the original.

If so, should I be worried?

 

[adiffrentcity]

Honestly I'm at a loss. You might take it back off and check the bearing for excessive play with a feeler gauge or something, though you'll have to pull your oil seal to do it and may ruin it in the process. Did you get the new pulley from mitsu or a parts store? I don't want to freak you out because I dont know enough to say for sure, but if it was me I'd be skeptical about putting a load on the engine until i had firm reassurance it was ok.