Sheared crankshaft woodruff key

[Ian R.]

-Well my van motor may be toast. I was driving on the freeway when my van started making a funny noise. I pulled off the freeway and took a look at the engine. The harmonic puller was spinning out of wack. I took every thing off and saw that the key had sheared and mard the sot on the crank and bored a nice slot in the pulley.

it looks like this may have happed to the PO, before.- as the old crank bolt's threads are stripped and the threads in the crankshaft are shot as well.

I am gunna try to trace the crank shaft threads and reinstall a new pulley, woodruff key, and crank bolt. But I think the crank shaft may be toast.

Any one had this happen to them before? Any advice?


Thanks!

[timsrv]

That sucks! It probably happened due to the crankshaft bolt hole being stripped. Without that bolt being torqued, it puts all the load of the accessories on the keyway area. Considering the damage is already done, I'd get a good used crankshaft pulley (AKA Balancer), a new key, a new bolt (if necessary), and helicoil the threads. Due to the crank damage, I'd probably also put some JB Weld or similar between the pulley and the crankshaft when reassembling. Normally I would never use JB weld here, but considering the alternative (replacing crank), I would chance it. Be sure to get the full 116 ft lbs torque when putting the pulley bolt back in and let the JB weld cure completely before starting. Tim

PS: If it's any consolation, you're not the 1st person to experience this (at least 2 or 3 others have posted about this very issue). Here's a quote from another post:

...........If after that the timing mark is way off of TDC, then you'll need to pull the crankshaft pulley and make sure the woodruff key is there and intact. If the key is intact and the keyway looks good, then it means the outer part of the pulley has slipped on the rubber insulator (meaning you will need to replace the pulley). Keep in mind that it's not too unusual to have problems with the woodruff key on these. If it has broken (allowing the pulley to slip) and you run it for too long, the end result could be destruction of the crankshaft.............

[Ian R.]

Thanks Tim. I have ordered the crank bolt and woodruff key from Toyota yesterday. I purchased a POWERBOND harmonic balancer.

The woodruff key-way on the crank is damaged. One side of the lateral wall has the top 1/4 sheared off ( I think this is old damage because the sheared part of the key-way is not shinny). I am hoping the surface of the crankshaft is not toast. It does have some scoring. The balancer was spinning on the crank for about 5 minutes before I was able to park the van off the freeway.

The camshaft bolt that I pulled basically has no threads left and there is a fare amount of surface rust in the crankshaft. I going to chase/coil the crank. Not sure if I want to JB weld, yet.

***Anyone know the thread type of the crankshaft? I would like to see if I can track down a thread chaser before the other parts come in?

P.S. I will post pictures soon.


Thanks

[Ian R.]

Well I have decided to have the engine rebuilt. I have a 6 month road trip planned in June (well July now to make up for the cost of the rebuild). So in a way this is a blessing to have it happen now vs on the road. roflroflroflrofl, do it right the first time or do it twice.

I already have the van camper built out and could use some extra power and peace of mind while pulling the extra weight.

Those of you that would like to know the cost of a rebuild in the LA area check back here. I have been referred to a few mechanics and am waiting on quotes. The plan is to have a complete engine rebuild along with the injectors and a new clutch. Going to brake the bank.

[Ian R.]

Well it looks like the mechanics in my area do not want to rebuild the engine. They either want to replace with a re-manufactured engine (jasper, napa ect.), or a used engine. I like the second option, but that may take awhile...

[timsrv]

I would be a bit weary of remanufactured engines. We've talked about that before on the forum. Try searching using the term Jasper. Tim

[Ian R.]

I spoke too soon. A mechanic I was referred to finally gave me a call back. He gave me two options. The first was the quick fix with a reman engine. The second will take 3-4 weeks. Complete rebuild 1200.00 labor, 1500 parts and machining. I am asking him to use all Toyota Gaskets. Anything else Toyota I should use?

[timsrv]

Okay, so I searched the site real quick and don't see anything on jasper (sorry) there are however a few useful threads here. I'm out of time (gotta go) but here are a couple ones I found:

http://www.toyotavantech.com/forum/s...for-my-1985-TV

http://www.toyotavantech.com/forum/s...-Rering-engine

Also, read my blogs and check out my engine overhaul thread:

http://www.toyotavantech.com/forum/s...ngine-Overhaul

[Ian R.]

My thoughts exactly. Re-manufactured motors are bunk! I am going to have him rebuild. Time to start riding my bike to work again.

[Ian R.]

I am looking at this rebuild kit anyone have experience with these parts.

TO2237MK $402.29 plus $12.50 shipping for any kit over $400.00 to most places.

This kit includes:
ITM pistons, wrist pins and rings,

Clevite main bearings, thrust washers and rod bearings,

ITM cam bearings,

ITM complete gasket set,

Topline camshaft,

Sealed Power lifters,

Engine Pro timing set and

ITM oil pump.

Of course, we will need to know the size of the pistons and bearings. The pistons come in std. (or .020” or .030” or .040”over sizes) and the bearings come in std. (or .010” or .020” or .030” over sizes), all the same price.

[Ian R.]

I may have jumped the gun on the van prognosis.

The Powerbond OEM replacement harmonic balancer, toyota crank bolt and woodruff key came in yesterday. So swung by local Ace Hardware and picked up a M14 1.5 tap to chase the threads in the crankshaft snout.

This is what I did:

Soaked the threads in the snout with WD-40 and cleaned out as much corrosion as possible.

Squirted some motor oil into the snout.

Put some motor oil on the Toyota OEM Crank bolt and threaded it in buy hand till it stopped. I was able to get 5 or 6 threads in. Then backed out the bolt.

Put some more motor oil into the snout and threaded the tap by hand slowly as far as i could. Then I attached the T-handle onto the tap and slowly chased the threads to the same depth of the OEM crank bolt.

I then backed out the tap and to my surprise the only thing on the tap was corrosion. - Took a look at the crank snout threads and they were perfect. The crank must be made of a harder steel than the crankshaft bolt, and what I thought was destroyed threads in the crank snout was the corrosion left from the old crank bolt.

I was able to hand thread the new crank bolt into the crankshaft easily.

The Toyota OEM key sits straight and nicely in the key way, but there is some metal missing on the upper lateral edge of the key way wall.

*** After installing the harmonic balancer there is a very slight amount of play when I rotate it w/o the bolt on or tighten.

I put everything back together and torqued it down. The van fired right up.

Now this is where I am torn. Should I tear the motor apart to fix the crank or not. I know only I can answer that. But I am still interested your opinions.

[timsrv]

Assuming the engine is in otherwise good condition, I would run with it. It sucks when things like this happen, but there are other things you can do if it slips again. The JB weld idea was to lock the two together and minimize the chance of future slippage (a good puller would still remove if/when that were required). There are other "more permanent" hack type repairs you can do, but it sounds like your way will likely hold and you'll still be able to disassemble easily the next time that pulley needs to come off. Great job! Tim

[Ian R.]

Thanks Tim!


Once the balancer is torqued down to 116 ft/lbs most, if not all, of the rotational force is held by the friction between the bolts fixed washer/pulley and crank.

Crankshaft bolt thread type size M14 1.25 from toyota $28.00, woodruff key from toyota $4.00, Powerbond harmonic balancer autozone $140.00, Irwin M14 1.5 Tap $11.00. Total time under the hood 2 hours. Stress level was reaching critical mass! - But reads normal now. Lurking fear will be ever present .

[timsrv]

BTW, that rebuild kit sounds like the one I got for my van........except mine came with an Aisin oil pump. I went with the .020 oversized pistons but stuck with STD on the crank parts. FYI, barring damage to the keyway area (like yours), these cranks rarely need to be ground. I've checked several high mileage 4y cranks with precision micrometers only to find no detectable wear. In your case, if you end up rebuilding, I would definitely be looking for another crank. Tim

[Ian R.]

Thanks Tim! I will keep that kit on file if/when I rebuild. The Toyota OEM rings and crankshaft are NLA :(. I am gunna keep my eye out for vans at my local yards in the meantime. If one pops up I gunna pull the motor and have it rebuilt. since my crank is no good.

[Ian R.]

Took the van to the shop yesterday to have the engine rebuilt. I already miss the old fella.

[zak99b5]

Why? What happened?? I thought you had the harmonic balancer all torqued down?

[Ian R.]

Well nothing happened. The crankshaft was damaged when the balancer spun. The van has been runing good. There is some noise in the front part of the engine. It is either the TC or a bearing. So I have debating for awhile if I should just rebuild the motor that has 190,xxx.

I decided that I should rebuild now out of precaution in order to avoid any engine problems that may happen during a 6 month road trip we have coming up.

Hopefully I get the van back with a clean bill of health. Hopefully I made the right decision.

[Ian R.]

Thanks for checking in! I appreciate that. Should get it back in two weeks

[ratatouille]

Ian,
Curious how your experience goes with your mechanic you were referred too with the rebuild. Not sure if he would want his info shared, but it's nice to know if there are solid local mechanics willing to work on these vans around here. Be sure to keep us posted. Goodluck