Crank pulley separated... replace now or wait?

[spideyz]

So in replacing the timing belt on my 94 Legacy 5 sp manual, the crank pulley separated from the harmonic balancer. The pulley did not fall to pieces, but the outer part of the pully rotated around on the rubber ring while the inner part stayed put. It only did this with a strap wrench on the outer and a *long* cheater bar on the bolt. I had a lot of force on it before the outer part started to rotate.

 

So now the car is put back together and it is running great. (Just passed CA smog with flying colors.) However, I was only able to get the crank pulley bolt on as tight as I could before the inner part started to rotate in the tightening direction. Like I said before, it was a lot of force. (No torque wrench...)

 

Question is, should I replace the pulley now or wait. Seems to me that until I see some wobble or the like it should be ok. Worst case senario is that the drive belts slip... correct? Blackbart can get me a good used one, so now I must decide if to replace it or wait. Any advice will be helpful. Thanks.

 

Keith

[NoahDL88]

The 2.2 is notorious for having the crank pulley coming loose and fracking up the crank snout, fix it asap. You don't want the pulley to come apart or come loose when you shift at 4-5000 rpm.

[idosubaru]

buy one immediately (used should be fine, i'm going for a single piece after market so it never happens). if it starts slipping a little you won't notice it but it will slowly drain your battery and work your alternator over time to compensate for the reduction in rotation of the belt.

 

if for any reason you have to wait, paint a white stripe across it or use a sharpie across the outer and inner ring and rubber portion. check it every now and again to see if the lines don't match up - indicating slippage. that will definitively tell you it needs replacing.

 

but i'd do it now anyway.

 

also - if it does fail at 4,000 rpm's and high speeds you can damage lots of other things, the crank shaft itself being one of the worst...but more likely timing covers, a/c, power steering pump.....depends how it happens, what those belts wrap around and what the pulley wobbles/slams into.

 

at least carry some sheet metal screws in the car, if it does fail or gets really loose you can use those between the rubber and metal ring to hold it in place. or weld a piece of steel across it. yes yes i know those will argue the balancing will be off, but it works and you won't notice anything. again i think this is a terrible idea and replacement is much better, but it will work.

actually welding sounds good to me, i HATE that rubber ring idea out of principle. let's design something that will fail eventhough it's not needed.