Fate tempted, and it retaliated

[Wullie 1]

I never should have typed this :–

 

“I've had mine for 12 years now and it has never left me stranded.”

 

Because.

 

It’s felt slightly off for the past few weeks but never had time to look at it. Had a look today and after some investigation found the crank pulley has committed suicide and the key in the pulley has almost disappeared. I’m not sure how much it has damaged the crankshaft nose but the pulley is fooked. Sorry about the grotty phone pics. Edit, the thumbnails don't appear to be displaying, but if you click them they will appear.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]45844[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]45845[/ATTACH]

 

Questions

 

Is the crank nose beyond repair?

 

How much is a new pulley?

 

And, in case of the inevitable worst case scenario, anyone got a spare KR engine?

Edited March 29, 2011 by Wullie

[davidwort 0]

flat the burr on the crank off and fit a new pulley and bolt,

it's the bolt that holds the pulley in place, not the key, I'm pretty sure you'll get away with it, seen it a few times and I had the same happen to me, new pulley and bolt and it never gave me any problems, if you use the stretch type bolt it must be new and should come lightly coated in oil which is needed to get the torque/stretch correct.

[Wullie 1]

Thanks for giving me hope David. At the very least I suppose it will give it a wee while longer before I have to source a crank or engine, or maybe it will just keep going for another 190 k miles. I've ordered a new pulley and bolt from the dealer for a reasonable £35 inc VAT.

 

Unforunately they're not in stock so I'll have to wait a couple of days for them, by which time we will be back to torrentisl rain or snow here and I'll die of exposure while trying to fit them.

[davidwort 0]

as long as the face of the end of the crank is flush (or you can make it flush) you shouldn't have any problem, just make sure you do it up bloody tight! It's a pain to do to the correct torque because it's hard to lock the engine in position, doing it up with the car in gear is not great.

 

180Nm for that crank bolt, that's the six sided type with oiled threads, you're not supposed to use thread-lock, the stretch type (12 point) is 90Nm then 180 degrees, think the 16v should have the six sided non-stretch one.

[Wullie 1]

It's was a 12 point bolt that came off it. I phoned the local dealer who seemed up to scratch, quoted the correct part number for the pulley so I'll see what kind of bolt comes with it and pray for some dry weather when they do.

[Super-G 0]

Lucky you found it chap. Could have been a lot worse!

 

Same happened to me a year or so back. Took me ages to work out what was up with the car.

 

As already said, reface the crank and you should get away with just a new pulley and bolt.

[Wullie 1]

Crank face is pretty well smooth with just a slight burr on the keyway so hopes are high. Bits ordered and prayers to the weather god (aka Craigowl) offered.

[krnau 0]

my crank sprocket "inner tooth" went and a massive loss of power + glowing exhaust manifold appeared :( I think it's not only the bolt that holds the sprocket in place

[Wullie 1]

my crank sprocket "inner tooth" went and a massive loss of power + glowing exhaust manifold appeared :( I think it's not only the bolt that holds the sprocket in place

 

Don't depress me any more. Ive been without the car for a couple of days for the first time in years. The new sprocket should have a tooth I'd imagine and if the slot on the flywheel is worn I'll drop a little weld in and grind it clean. I was thinking of pegging it but I don't think I could drill straight enough and don't want to screw it up altogether.

 

I was fortunate to catch it quite early so there hasn't been too much damage done, touch wood.

 

Used she who must be obeyed's Corsa and it feels like driving a jelly while sitting on a bar stool.

 

On the bright side I saw an ant today. Must go and buy some wine, I mean an ant control kit.

Edited March 31, 2011 by Wullie
Spelling

[krnau 0]

as long as crank is allright, you only need a new sprocket :) so no problem ;)

[mikkijayne 0]

my crank sprocket "inner tooth" went and a massive loss of power + glowing exhaust manifold appeared :( I think it's not only the bolt that holds the sprocket in place

 

It is totally only the bolt that holds the sprocket on there. The tooth is there solely for locating the sprocket in the right place while it is tightened up. What takes all the torque is the friction between the sprocket and the crank nose - friction that is generated by the tightened bolt.

 

This is evident from the fact that when the bolt comes loose the forces on the sprocket cause the tooth to come apart.

 

:)

[Wullie 1]

It's alive!:cheers: :dance:Got the parts today, spent some time with an oilstone to remove the burr. Took things off, put things back on, fitted new thermostat, timing belt, dizzy cap and rotor. Remembered to refill it with water and turned the key and off she went. Felt as if I was cheating as I usually drop the sump and put on new big end and main bearing shells when I do the timing belt but didn't bother today. Either getting old or lazy. I'll do them when the weather gets better. Feeling a lot happier than I was. I'm now going to get some of my ant warfare kit, aka a bottle of red and test it, just to make sure It's ready for the summer.:hic:

[davidwort 0]

told ya :D

well done, I know exactly what you went through, you initially see it and think £$%^&* it's the end :(, and then when it's back and running with just the pulley changed it's right the other way :cheers:

[Wullie 1]

Just a few words to finish this off. Firstly, thanks to all those who gave me hope in my darkest hour.

Symptoms:-

At first it was just an “off” feeling, the car not quite feeling quite as perky. Initially I put this down to the almost total neglect during the bad weather and promised myself that I’d fix it when the weather got better.

Fuel consumption began to fall, again I put this down to the really cold temperature and most of my journeys were only 3 or 4 miles.

Popping back in the exhaust. The cars never did this before. My first thought was a leak in the exhaust but a check shoed it was OK.

Decided to check the ignition timing and found that I had to rotate the distributer almost to the limit of its movement to get a bit of power back, still popping.

At this point I began to worry.

Diagnosis was fairly simple.

As things seemed to be out of phase I took out the plugs, they looked OK, possibly slightly rich but not by much.

Put a dowel down No 1 cylinder and turned the engine to TDC watching the dowel. Looked at the timing mark on the pulley and found it was almost in inch before the mark on the lower timing cover. As the car was nose into the drive I stuck the plugs back in and drove it out and turned it, looked in the engine bay while it was still running and noticed the crank pulley had a slight wobble.

Now I began to panic.

Started too take bits off. I took the water pump and crank pulleys off before loosening the drive belts. The allen screws can be a real pain to remove and the belts being on provides a bit of friction to allow you a little leverage. Loosened off the Power Steering pump to give a little more space and took the crank bolt out. 19 mm twelve point bolt. This was tight but an extension bar and son with foot on brake got it off. Took off the crank sprocket.

Note:- During all the straining and heaving the engine moved away from TDC. I didn’t notice this till later however a partial rebuild allowed me to retime it. Worth checking when the bolt has just been loosened.

Totally panicked.

The key in the sprocket had almost totally disappeared and the slot in the end of the crank was damaged.

Went into the house, poured a large single malt and posted my problem on the forum. After a few responses decided it would be worth while replacing the sprocket and bolt and seeing what happened.

Went to the dealer and got bolt and sprocket

Bolt WN 903 670 01 £2.77 Intriguingly called a socket on the invoice

Sprocket W027 105 263 B £23.38

Got a little discount on these.

While the car was in bits and waiting for parts I replaced a few other bits to pass the time. I was getting hopeful now.

When the sprocket arrived the damage to the crankshaft didn’t look too bad, when I test fitted it there was no rotational movement to speak of. The crank nose was slightly burred on one edge of the keyway so I smoothed that off using an oilstone, (quite new and the surface of it was still flat.)

Rebuilt everything using a large screwdriver through the bell housing timing plug hole to hold the crank still while I tightened the nut as much as I could. Wwhen everything was back together I took it down to Jim at JR Volkswagen who for a cigarette did the final tightening. It’s less than ½ mile and downhill most of the way. Redid the ignition timing and adjusted the fuelling while I was in there and it’s a good one.

Conclusion

It’s worth while I think to have a look at the crank pulley while under the bonnet with the engine running. Any wobble would be worth investigating using the dowel down the cylinder technique, any slight variation should be investigated, especially if accompanied by the other symptoms above.

[krnau 0]

so it was a cheap fix in the end, wasn't it? I thought that crank sprocket would cost silly money ...

 

glad it's fixed now!! congrats :)

[Wullie 1]

so it was a cheap fix in the end, wasn't it? I thought that crank sprocket would cost silly money ...

 

glad it's fixed now!! congrats :)

 

Was surprised myself at the price, you fix yours now, maybe it will love you just a little bit more. :sunny:

[krnau 0]

I went the ABF + KJet route in the end, I hope it loves me too :D