Just bought Subaru #12 for me. It's a '99 SUS, the woman I bought it from said it needed an engine, and she didn't know why, but I got it for $700. A coworker of mine has happened to have just finished parting out an '01 2.5RS with a great motor.....

 

 

But, as we took a look at what was wrong with the SUS, it appears the crank bolt backed out, the pulley walked out a bit, broke off the key, and took a pretty nasty gouge out of the crank snout.

 

As soon as I saw that, I shrugged and said, "oh well, at least we still have that EJ251".

 

But, some of my coworkers (AutoZone) were talking about some different epoxies and such that might successfully repair this damage. Thoughts?

If the crank will hole the key, a new pulley and the proper torque should do the trick. There is a aftermarket repair that uses the holes in the crack gear to hold the pulley with dowels. I forget who makes it.

Commonly covered topic here. Quite a few threads on repairing the key way and crankshaft after having the crank pulley walk off. Basically consists of removing what's left of the key, filing down the gouged sections a bit so the sprocket can slide over, filling the key way with epoxy or weld so a new key can be properl placed, then installing a new crank pulley and bolt. Torque to something like 140 ft lbs to prevent the bolt from backing out again.

Guess the good news is she recently had the timing belt done. But did they replace all the idlers and water pump?

chux, just repair it, it's very common, i've repaired this a number of times and so far have never had to do much of anything. can you post a picture of the damage?

 

you don't need the key way, waste of time to repair that. just file/sand the crank snout smooth so the pulley can bolt flush to it. crank it on tight and it's not coming off. i don't even use a torque wrench - a 2 and a half foot pipe on my socket wrench and i crack it on there good. they don't come off and you'd have to be playing a drinking game to shear that bolt/strip threads on that cast iron chunk.

 

if you sell the car, just be sure to make a note of that to the new owner.

 

you can bolt the 25D heads to the 251 block if it comes to it, i've gone the other way before.

 

and then i'll take the 'ruined' EJ25D block. LOL

Wow, my apologies. I didn't bother searching, as I didn't think this would be even remotely common :o

 

 

That's very good news. I will take pictures of it when we get in there. I am concerned that the snout damage will effect the timing sprocket too. So, we'll see. It does run, though, so it might be salvageable.

 

 

I still haven't decided which motor I'd rather run. They're both pretty high mileage (170k on the 25D, and 200k on the 251), and we're thinking of keeping the car to replace my girlfriend's POS KIA. In which case I think I'd still rather have the 251.

 

If we sell it, I'd rather there not be anything we have to "make the buyer aware of"....

There are some pics of this and the oil pump it ruined in my photo album here.

 

Only have had assistance on 2 Suby repairs and this was one. A delaer mechanic because I'm not much of a welder.

 

Removed engine (2.2) on a Legacy anniversary edition). Welded crank, dremeled groove for key, reassemble. Removed engine - it's so easy. So we could see and have good assecc, resealed baffle plate, etc.

i peen the end of the crank to fatten it up a bitt then i peen the keyway back into shape put in new key reluctor and pully should be ok as lond as the pully is a tight fitt to end of crank

S-Wings Auto in Colorado used to offer a kit that used roll pins to key the pulley to the timing sprocket. I didn't find the pictures, but here's the post that mentions it. Perhaps this kit can still be ordered.

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showpost.php?p=393040&postcount=3

either way it's an easy repair - even if you want to key it or create dowel rods instead like XT6's have. there's no need to swap engines and i've yet to see one significantly hose the timing sprockets or i just replaced them, real simple.

 

i'd keep whichever engine has original headgaskets, if one does and you can tell. that gives a fairly high probability of no prior overheating. the 251 is certainly a nicer engine and easier valves to adjust, etc.

add a little weld and file it up, with a mig you want melt the seal just hit it with a wet rag to cool

Make sure it doesn't have any bent valves before you get too carried away.....

 

GD

i'd keep whichever engine has original headgaskets, if one does and you can tell. that gives a fairly high probability of no prior overheating. the 251 is certainly a nicer engine and easier valves to adjust, etc.

 

They both appear to have original head gaskets. I think the 25D should come out for a reseal anyway....so I'm still leaning more towards putting the 251 in it's place....

 

Make sure it doesn't have any bent valves before you get too carried away.....

 

GD

 

Still runs. So I'm guessing they're OK :-p

My EJ had the same problem. I got a new key, put some JB weld around it, and torqued it all back down. I got the key from the dealer. 2 pack(?) for $5. I don't know why they come in 2's. I guess in another 300,000 miles I'll have a spare.

weld the new keyway into place, grind-er down til the crank pulley fits

weld the new keyway into place, grind-er down til the crank pulley fits

 

+1. Since the oil pump is much larger than the crank snout where the sprocket fits welding the key in place and grinding it carefully till the sprocket fits correctly is the best option. This can easily be done in the car and does not preclude future dissasembly in any way.

 

Often I find that just cleaning up the area and digging the crud out of the keyway will allow it to be assembled carefully and torqued without needing any real repair. The key is just for assembly alignment. It's the bolt torque that holds everything in place. Once the bolt is torqued the key plays no role at all.

 

GD

Got the motor out tonight, it needs a pretty substantial reseal before it should be used again anyway...

 

 

 

But....