how far out is the key in the keyway suppose to set out. is it suppose to set out all the way to the end of the crank? i am wonderign if mine has walked in or worn off.

mine only sits about a quarter of an inch out, does not go to the end on a 328k mile 2.2. Crank pulley seems to be able to rotate about 1/4 turn too when not tightened down too so I am a little curious on how this is SUPPOSED to look as well.

sorry this is a 2.2 in a 93 legacy sedan. here are some pictures of it.

 

By forman1 at 2011-03-29

 

By forman1 at 2011-03-29

 

Edited March 29, 201115 yr by General chaos

finally a good picture.

 

From memory you've got a problem there.

 

That crank puller/harmonic balancer shouldn't have that groove worn into it.

 

I don't have any pics handy though.

 

I will look later today or see if I have any engines easy to access that I can take a pic of.

If you can get to my photo album I have a few pics of a similar failure and you can see how that mating surface of the crank pulley should look. Except in the pic I have posted the keyway is bad, as is the other parts including splined sprocket and oil pump.

great. i saw the pictures of the pulley in your profile pictures. mine is worn more than i thought. so my key needs to be replaced or pulled out more? or is my key correct? i just saw another engine the other day with a key exposed but i thought it looked the same as mine looked. since i dont have any way of gettign over to the junkyard today. i cant go look at it either.

Edited March 29, 201115 yr by General chaos
spelling

I'd say you need a new key.

 

Make sure the slot it fits into is clean. The key you have doesn't stick out enough - it's like a half moon. Both ends should look the same.

 

You need a key and crank pulley/harmonic balancer.

 

I gotta head out for hours. When I get back hopefully you'll understand what you need. If not I'll see if I can find a key and take a pic of it for you.

 

Remove and carefully inspect (if you have the timing belt off or are going to) the splined pulley on the crank that's behind the crank pulley and look for damage.

In the end you're probably gonna have to remove the tiing belt to clean the groove and install the new key.

 

Just to get you prepared.

 

And at that time you can check the splined part's keyway slot as well.

ii called the junkyard. they have a good balacner for 25.00. i will probably pull thier key while i am there. now i have to find a way to get to the junkyard.

i got a balancer off of a 1.8 impreza i thijnk it was. year unknown. it looks and fits exactly the same as the old one. do i use thread locker on the threads? red blue or green? i bought red but havent opened it yet. how tight is the balancer bolt suppose to be? impact tight?

 

the key looks the same as the others at the junkyard. i did take one from a 95 2.2 legacy. it was sittign the same depth as the one i have now. it didnt look worn off. the impreza key looked longer than the other 2.2 legacys out there. i really dont want to take the timing belt off again. i forgot how to deal with that hydralic adjuster.

i really need a quick answer about the thread locker. this car has to be driven tomorrow morning.

Sometimes I put red on the flat surface on the back of the harmonic balancer but personally never put it on the threads of the crank bolt.

 

Others here may.

 

Most important thing is to get the crank bolt TIGHT.

the torque spec is 125 - 137, IIRC. if you torque it to 140 ft. lbs. (that's what i use) you will not need the locktight.

 

the key is not really designed to hold the pulley or the sprocket in place against the rotation of the crank. it designed to locate the sprocket in the correct timing position while torquing the bolt. the torque on the bolt is what holds it in place and keeps it from slipping.

 

definitely replace the pulley and key, and sprocket if there is any wear on it. put something on the threads when you torque it. either anti-seize or oil or maybe threadlock. you don't want the friction on the threads or any binding to fool the torque wrench into thinking it is tight enough.

 

the first one i did , i used thread lock, but since i didn't clean the threads in the bolt hole i doubt it really did much. but it's been over 25k miles with no problems so i guess i'm good.

ok i'm not going to use locktite on it then. niether of the bolts had and trace os if on them. and i also read a thread about not using it on another site that said if it was used it could stay in there and next time if it the bolt was put back in with more locktite that it would build up and not give a true tightness either. i did know abou toiling the threads before torquing. i just need to make somethign to hold the balancer now. as far as the key i am going to reuse the key that is in there. i dont think it is damaged.

Based on what I saw in your pick I'm not so sure the key was o.k.

 

But it is hard to tell.

 

I'm outta here for a few hours.

my main concern was it being long enough. and i think it is by what the one i took from the junkyard looks like. i had posted pictures of the other one yesterday but i guess when the site went down it took the post with it. knowing what it looked like told me i can probably reuse this one and not worry about it. it looks better now that it is all cleaned up.

my main concern was it being long enough. and i think it is by what the one i took from the junkyard looks like. i had posted pictures of the other one yesterday but i guess when the site went down it took the post with it. knowing what it looked like told me i can probably reuse this one and not worry about it. it looks better now that it is all cleaned up.

 

The length of the key isn't so important as getting it tight. Read what johnceggleston said in his post. After it's all torqued down the key isn't doing any work.

i have to do something with the key anyway. the pulley wont go over it. i tis beat up just enough that pulley keway wont go over the key. here is what i have gotten down to in the last 30 minutes.

 

I see a lot of oil... Looks like you have a crank seal leak.

the whole engine leaks. i am abosolutly positively not going to do anything about it. no way no how. i am not spending anymore money at all. if it blows up as soon as i restart the engine then good. i am not fixing oil leaks.

dang... you got it pretty lucky... you still have some key left... my is all wore off.. and now am dealing with the same problem...

Yeah it looks like your crank pulley was installed incorrectly. The key is a fairly loose fit in the crank pulley. My dealer carries them in stock all the time for only a couple bucks.

 

You'll probably have to grind or cut the edges off in order to get the timing sprocket off so you can remove the key.

Everything in those pictures looks 100% normal. Possibly the key is a bit worn or beat up - doesn't really matter as it's only purpose is as a locating element till you get the bolt tight. Bolt tightness holds everything in place - if the bolt works loose the sprocket and balancer will happily shred your key.

 

Just remove the spocket and key, dress them with a file or a sharpening stone, and put it back together - you want everything to fit smoothely and loosely but without much rocking back and forth (a tiny bit will not hurt).

 

You have cam and crank seal leaks. Fix them or the belt will get oil soaked and fail prematurely.

 

You can use blue loctite on the bolt but DO NOT USE RED. Red only comes apart with heat - blue comes apart with normal hand tools.

 

GD

We've been had!

 

Damn these resurrected threads!