4age crank shaft pulley assembly.

[l1ttle_d3vil]

Hey Ive got a problem with my rear crank shaft pulley [that my cam belt runs on]. engine is a rwd 4age bluetop. it has somehow worked itself loose and has damaged the keyways on both the pulley and the crank shaft itself. so now the crankshaft pulley has movedment to turn clockwise or anti clockwise.

The weird thing is only the first 5mm or so of the pulley keyway is damaged. Is this right or should the crankshaft keyway go further into the pulley keyway? are there any spacers or anything that go between the engine and the back of the pulley so more of it it sits on the keyway?

At the moment it goes engine/block --> cambelt pulley --> water pump --> pulley --> bolt that holds it all on.
Are there supposed to be any spacers or washes anywhere along here or does this sound about right...?

i've got another pulley + keyway but just wanting to make sure im not missing any other parts before I put it all back together.

cheers.

[matt dunn]

It is quite common for the early 4AGE's to wear out the keyway and pulley
which puts the cam timing out.

The single keyway drives both pulleys.

make sure it's not damaged the way it sits in the crankshaft.

Matt

[l1ttle_d3vil]

make sure it's not damaged the way it sits in the crankshaft.

as in the groove the keyway sits in on the crankshaft?

good to hear it is a common problem - in some ways!! atleast it isn't a major issue i've come across. i haven't actually taken the keyway out of my crankshaft yet, will do that tomorrow and check it all out. is there any way around this? other than just replacing them all the time?

[matt dunn]

not really.

As long as it is in good condition when you put it together and you have then crankshaft pulley tight it is not too much of a problem.

It's not like it happens everytime, just not unusual to hear of it.

[jondee86]

Yeah.... common enough problem with the 4AGE. The key only engages
with the back half of the keyway in the pulley, so the front half will look
like new. You have to torque that bolt up good and tight (101 ft-lb or
137 Nm). Rear drive pulleys have slightly different offset to front drive
pulleys. So depending on what you picked up as a replacement, you may
need to face a bit off the hub to get the belts to line up.

Cheers.... jondee86

[l1ttle_d3vil]

Rear drive pulleys have slightly different offset to front drive
pulleys. So depending on what you picked up as a replacement, you may
need to face a bit off the hub to get the belts to line up.

i've got a new pulley, new keyway, and a new cambelt, tensioner and waterpump pulley while im at it. half way back together now so should be running tomorrow once i've done the timing. im pretty sure my original pulley would've been fwd and my replacement one would've come off a 4age so shouldn't any issues there.

is it reliable enough to set the timing by "ear"? as in where ever the engine sounds like its running the best, thats where the timing should be? i've messed up the timing while all the belts were off, so got the cam timing sweet but don't have access to a timing light till another few days for the ignition timing.

[CAMB01]

As long as you havnt removed the dizzy and the timing was sweet before you should be alright but id get it checked at some stage

[matt dunn]

is it reliable enough to set the timing by "ear"? as in where ever the engine sounds like its running the best, thats where the timing should be? i've messed up the timing while all the belts were off, so got the cam timing sweet but don't have access to a timing light till another few days for the ignition timing.

Not really.

When you listen to it by ear the nore advance you give it the better it will go. Base should be 8 or 10, but it will run better at 20 which is miles to far at load as it will give you over 40 on full load.

If the cam timing is all ok, aim for 1/2 way thru the adjustment untill you can get acess to a light.

Matt