Hello everyone. It appears my crankshaft pulley is not out far enough and has started grinding into the plastic timing belt cover. I have know idea as to why the car is a 2003 legacy gt. Is there a spacer or something missing it has already cause my AC bet to snap. I would appriciate any advice. Thanks.

Is the bolt tight? Get that checked fast because if it chews up the woodruff key and crank it is a very expensive repair. When the engine is idling, does the crank pulley (harmonic balancer) wobble. It will wobble for one of two reasons: Bolt has loosened or the rubber insert between the inner and outer portion is compromised. Either fault should be corrected sooner rather than later. Worst case for the repair (BEFORE anything gets worse), is a new harmonic balancer and the labor to put it in (less than 1/2 hour).

Yes, definately check for looseness. After that I treat is largely as cosmetic.

 

Often when I'm doing a TB job, etc I need to get a hair dryer and make the cover a bit soft to stop it from either rubbing or being extremely close. Can't make a big gap or it just hits an idler and will still smell like plastic.

 

Hairdryer and screwdrivers/prybars and I try and leave them stuck behind the harmonic balancer while it cools down.

 

Dave

 

edit: for my typing ability!

just another suggestion...take a look at the pulley with the engine running and the bolt tight...does it wobble?......when i bought my 96 legacy my crank pulley was actually bent....

One last thought, if the timing cover wasn't properly installed, it will certainly rub on the harmonic balancer. Make sure thefront covers are all evenly seated on the rear parts.

this needs to be addressed immediately. not doing so risks ruining your engine, it's an interference engine which means severe engine damage is po$$ible.

 

the bolt is loose - tighten it and find out why it's loose

 

or the pulley is separating. the pulleys are made of two concentric metal pieces separated by a very thin ring of rubber. the metal can separate from the rubber and the outer piece will be slightly offset from the inner - giving it high and low spots laterally speaking - 90 degrees to the plane of rotation.

replace the pulley.

 

if you've recently had work done and it was removed then they likely damaged it during removal. timing belt, head gaskets, water pump, oil pump, crank seals, or cam seals would require removing that bolt.

As everyone has said, this is one of those few

 

DO NOT START THE CAR things

 

get it checked out asap to minimze crankshaft damage.

 

 

nipper

Hello everyone. It appears my crankshaft pulley is not out far enough and has started grinding into the plastic timing belt cover. I have know idea as to why the car is a 2003 legacy gt. Is there a spacer or something missing it has already cause my AC bet to snap. I would appriciate any advice. Thanks.

 

 

pretty sure you need to adjust the belt tensioner.

pretty sure you need to adjust the belt tensioner.

 

 

er um no.

 

If the drive belt was THAT tight, the alt, ps, and or AC bearings would give out first (or the belt would snap).

 

This is a HUGE warning sign that the main pully (vibration damper) has worked itself loose. It's akin to being 500 lbs and having your left arm ache, and calling it indigestion.

 

The pully will work itself loose if it had not been properly retorqued. The insidous thing is that it can happen months after it was removed. It chews up the nose of the cam shaft in the process. This is a issue that all sooby owners of 2.2 and 2.5 need to be fully aware of. Rubbing against the timing belt cover doesnt happen from an over tightend belt. It happens by either a loose cover (obvious) or a loose pully (obvious when running as you can see the wobble).

 

 

nipper