the first gen legacy haynes and chiltons incorrectly translated the torque to tighten the crank bolts. many mechanics go by the incorrect numbers in the books. Some mechanics use older books even for newer subarus, since they are lego. The chiltons/hayens books say something like 76foot pounds. The REAL FSM shows the correct torque, i am not near my book but i want to say its 119-126ft. lbs....

I always go the higher of the 2 in this job.

Wanted to add to this thread to help others and keep this from happening again.

unless the end of the crank is mangled i dont see what the mechanic could be complaining about.

the keyway on my '95 crank was mangled the last time i did the timing belt. that was over 50K miles ago, and there's no key in there. the pulley even has a slight wobble (off-center).

You need to replace the pully, the timing belt sprocket, and the bolt. The pully rounds over the face of the t-belt sprocket and the bolt face when it wobbles around, so even if you get a new pully it's not clamping on to a flat surface on the sprocket.

 

It just wasn't done right the first time round. If all the surfaces of the bolt, pully, sproket and crank shoulder (right at the front main seal) are flat and parallel, it doesn't matter how trashed the crank snout is. But they have to be flat and parallel to hold the forces transmitted through them.

 

I've fixed a few of these now, and no matter how trashed the crank snout is, new (or good used in my case) pullys, sprockets, and bolts, are a permanent fix.

 

I whale on a craftsman 1/2" ratchet with my 5lb hand sledge to tighten the bolt. Seems to work well enough on the automatics. Poor man's impact gun.

I have a bolt, crank, and sprocket if you want to PM or email me.

So I am having a similar problem. My crank pulley came loose and I have replaced it but now my car won't start. Any ideas will help

So I am having a similar problem. My crank pulley came loose and I have replaced it but now my car won't start. Any ideas will help

the timing is off.

 

the crank sprocket has slipped on the crank, or the belt has slipped on the sprocket. you need to remove the crank pulley and timing cover and re-set the timing belt.

 

read up before you do it so you use the correct timing alignment marks. NOT the ARROWS, NEVER the ARROWS.

So I am having a similar problem. My crank pulley came loose and I have replaced it but now my car won't start. Any ideas will help

 

Time for a complete timing belt/WP job. The key has sheared off and the crank sprocket has slipped on the crank. Depending on the year it could also cause internal engine damage.

 

If you need help give me a call: Superior Soobie & Import, 503-880-4084. I'm in Milwaukie. I've fixed a number of these without replacing the crank or the engine as a lot of shops will tell you needs to be done.

 

GD

Its a 1995 impreza l. I'm going to run a compression test tomorrow .I've been looking up only but haven't found any compression test results.what should my compression be at? Thank you very much for the information its a big help.

Compression test is a waste of time.

 

Pulley comes loose, key and keyway are mangled or sheared, timing is affected, car won't start.

 

Bring it to me. I'll take care of it for you. A compression tester isn't the tool you need - a welder and the skill to use it is.

 

GD

Just to share my recent experience buying/replacing my crank pulley. Nothing was really wrong with my crank pulley. Car is a 96 and has 137,000 miles, all these miles driven by my family. I torqued the crank bolt to 140 ft.lb last year when I did the timing belt job so the bolt was tight. After reading some posts about the pulley's 2 metal parts separating due to weakened rubber bonding between the metal parts, I painted a white line on the pulley to test if mine was separating. After several days' driving, about 60 miles, the white line separated about 180 degrees. So I knew my pulley was on its way to failure and needed to be replaced. But I must say I have not had any issues related to the crank pulley. Battery voltage checked overnight has always been around 12.8 V and no problem with AC and power steering. I didn't want to buy a used pulley because there is no way to know how good a condition it really is. So I bought a new OEM from the cheapest online dealer I can find. I paid $150 including shipping from 1stSubaruparts.com and installed it. I thought it was a bit pricey but if I don't want to risk on a used unit, this was my best bet. I was also surprised to see "made in China" on a Subaru parts label on the box. The part # is 12305AA242. I compared it to the old pulley which is the original one from the factory. It's identical in all dimensions.

So I am having a similar problem. My crank pulley came loose and I have replaced it but now my car won't start. Any ideas will help

 

Welcome to the board! Just so you know, posting in an old thread like this won't get you much attention. Rick (Superior Soobie & Import) is fantastic. He's been a member of this board for over a decade and knows all the flavors of Subaru, old and new, inside and out. He's helped me on many occasions. If he's in your area I strongly recommend that you let him take a look.

 

Good luck!

 

Will-

I gave him a call earlier today, he gave me a great advice on what parts I need and where to purchase them. If I wasn't working on this myself I would take it to home without a second thought!!!