Forester 99 Crankshaft/Pulley/Keyway problem

[profanesam]

Hello

I just bought my Subaru Forester 99' 3 months ago and it has been good to me until a few days ago when the check engine light came on, the power steering went out and etc. I had to stop of course and investigate the problem which is that my crankshaft pulley came off, and the belonging shim or wedge on the crankshaft is just like smashed. Broken off...There is also some wear on the backside of the pulley and a bit of wear on the tip of the shaft.

I tried to repair this on a parking right away which i was close to. But as i was finished putting everything back together again and started the car, it just fell apart again. I tightened the bolt on the pulley as hard as i could...

Now the question is if someone could help me here? How much does a new crankshaft pulley's cost? and does it come with a new shim or wedge?

Also two more questions. A little bit of wear on the crankshaft is alright, right?

And is it hard to do the timing belt on this vehicle since i need to do this as well?

Hope someone can help me out here as soon as possible.

Sam

[idosubaru]

get the Subaru endwrench articles for doing the timing belt.

 

as for the crank shaft, this is a fairly common problem, someone previously didn't tighten the pulley enough.

 

you can't just tighten them by hand with an average socket wrench, that's not nearly enough, you need leverage, i use a 3 foot pipe and lock the car in place - don't let the engine have any give to it. iron crank and bolt, you're not going to strip it.

 

personally i'd just reinstall the pulley and tigthen the crap out of it - like i said 3 foot pipe and make sure the engine isn't budging and it's not coming off. do it right, have the right tools and it'll be fine. it's been done wrong numerous times before that's why it's coming off.

 

you can enterain the idea of replacing the key, not sure if it'll accept one though, depends how bad it is. you can do some metal play and get something to fit though if you feel like messing with it.

 

but it'll stay if it's installed right.

 

10 year old car, i'd entertain the idea of doing the complete timing belt kits - all the pulleys and tensioner if you want another 100,000 miles out of this car.

 

ebay kits are $200-$300 for everything. not a bad deal for all new pulleys and tensioner.

[profanesam]

get the Subaru endwrench articles for doing the timing belt.

 

as for the crank shaft, this is a fairly common problem, someone previously didn't tighten the pulley enough.

 

you can't just tighten them by hand with an average socket wrench, that's not nearly enough, you need leverage, i use a 3 foot pipe and lock the car in place - don't let the engine have any give to it. iron crank and bolt, you're not going to strip it.

 

personally i'd just reinstall the pulley and tigthen the crap out of it - like i said 3 foot pipe and make sure the engine isn't budging and it's not coming off. do it right, have the right tools and it'll be fine. it's been done wrong numerous times before that's why it's coming off.

 

you can enterain the idea of replacing the key, not sure if it'll accept one though, depends how bad it is. you can do some metal play and get something to fit though if you feel like messing with it.

 

but it'll stay if it's installed right.

 

10 year old car, i'd entertain the idea of doing the complete timing belt kits - all the pulleys and tensioner if you want another 100,000 miles out of this car.

 

ebay kits are $200-$300 for everything. not a bad deal for all new pulleys and tensioner.

 

Sounds correct Gary. I did assume that i couldn't have tighten the pulley enough since it's not a reverse thread. I might just get a new crankshaft pulley only for now since i am pinching pennies and try to see if i can replace the key. I will get the rest of the pulley's done after a few weeks from now.

I appreciate this Gary. You have been of help to me. Thanks man!