Installing Crank Pulley

[Crazy88]

I just did the timing belt on my '98 GS. I'm having problems reinstalling the crank pulley. I push it on as far as I can, then start the bolt. The bolt turns in like normal, but when it gets up against the pulley it just spins in place and doesn't draw in the pulley.

I tried tapping the pulley on further with a hammer, but it didn't help. I think I may not be getting it on perfectly straight, but the thing is so close to the body.


Any tips??

 

[brandonclum]

are you using the right bults they should go right in and hold. make sure your not using the water pump pully bolts. and make sure you have the crank pully on the right way

 

[Crazy88]

I'm using the right bolt. I can thread the bolt in with the pulley off and turn the motor with it. I just can't get the pulley on far enough the get the bolt started to pull it on.

 

[Calan]

I'm guessing that you are refering to the harmonic balancer. If so, it has a recess in it that sits over the crank. You need to make sure that it is absolutely clean and free of any burs or anything. Take a razor blade or something similar to the edges of that recessed area and make sure there isn't any rust on it, or gunk built up in it.

Also make sure the alignment pin is clean and not flattened anywhere.

EDIT:

My bad...after rereading, I see you do mean the crank pulley itself. Same thing applies though. Make sure the alignment key is clean and that there isn't any rust or gunk on the pulley or crank.

What do you mean "it just spins in place"? The bolt should tighten up no matter what...unless it or the crank is stripped, or you didn't put the balance shaft belt pulley (or a spacer) and the timing plate back on....in which case it may get tight but not contact the pulley.

 

[Crazy88]

alignment pin? Not sure what you mean.

 

[Calan]

alignment pin? Not sure what you mean.

On the crank pulley it's a keyway in the crank that aligns the pulley..on the balancer it's a pin sticking out of the front of the pulley that aligns the balancer.

 

[Crazy88]

I'm sorry if I sound confused, but I don't mean the crank gear that the timing belt goes around. I mean the harmonic balancer. The keyway goes through the crank gear, but not the balancer.

 

[Crazy88]

Aw crap. I see what I did. I looked inside the bolt hole on the end of the crank and I stripped out about half the threads. The bolt itself looks fine. Anyone deal with this before?

 

[brandonclum]

well thats a whole other problem... get a tap and dye tool that should take care of the stripped bolt hole

 

[Calan]

Ok...I'm a bit confused now

The crank bolt holds the crank pulley (timing gear pulley) onto the end of the crank. The harmonic should slip over that bolt, and screws into the pulley with 4 screws.

If you stripped the crank, you could have a major problem. If it's just the first few threads, you may be able to get a longer crank bolt that will engage the good threads further back in the crank, but I don't know how deep it is threaded.

How did you strip a crank? As much torque as that bolt gets, I'd think it would take some serious force to strip it or the crank.

 

[Crazy88]

This is a 420A. The center crank bolt is the only one to hold on the balancer. I set the balancer against the crank and started the bolt by hand, then put a 1/2" impact on it. It started drawing in, then just spun in place. I can see inside the crank bolt hole that about half the threads are there.

 

[Calan]

This is a 420A. The center crank bolt is the only one to hold on the balancer. I set the balancer against the crank and started the bolt by hand, then put a 1/2" impact on it. It started drawing in, then just spun in place. I can see inside the crank bolt hole that about half the threads are there.

Ahhhh...I see. My bad; I just assumed a 4G63 for some reason.

Well...that kinda sucks. I guess it's a bit late to mention it, but I would never use an impact to tighten a crank bolt (in fact, I won't use an impact to tighten ANY bolt).

Can you tell how deep the crank is threaded? A good rule of thumb is that you need at least as many threads engaged as the bolt is thick to properly hold. So for a 10mm bolt for example, you'd want at least 10mm of engaged thread length.

 

[Crazy88]

There's still lots of threads left. The only problem is I can't get the pulley on far enough to get the bolt into the good threads. I'll take some fine grit sandpaper and clean off the crank and the inside of the pulley and see if I can push it on further.

Incidently, after installing the timing belt I bolted up the mount bracket and motor mount and started the engine up. I wanted to install the balancer first when I had the aforementioned problem. I started the motor up anyway just to see how it runs.

It ran smooth, but the idle was way high. It started around 3K then started rising up to 4500 when I shut it down.


My timing marks look dead on. Is it possible I advanced the timing? Or is there any other explanation for the high idle (lack of alternator)?

I hate timing belts on DOHC motors. I always have a hard time judging the marks on the cams

 

[DSM1G90]

That pulley should have been pressed onto the crankshaft with a special socket tool before the holdown nut finishes the sequence.

Doing the holddown nut to to the total pulley install will knock out the threads in the crankshaft.

See if you can tap the threads out and try again..

See this link -Timing Belt VFAQ for your 420A motor.

Good luck-DSM