Hi Guys,
On saturday after a spirited drive, there was a loud knocking noise which could be felt through the gearknob - i shat a brick.

When i popped the bonnet i seen the alternator pulley wobbling about like a mo fo so set about tightening it and all was fine again

Fast forward to today...... the same thing happens, minus the spirited drive - but i was a good 15 minute drive away from my tools, so set home crawling....set about tightening again but the pulley STILL wobbles this time....poo.

So - i've attached a video... CLICK MEEEEE
what can cause this?
are they on with locking nuts?
what torque should i tighten to?

HEEEEEELP this is my only car at the minute and need it.

Aaron

 

DONT run the engine with it like that ,thats the crank pulley bolt loose and it very quicky will damage the end of your crank.As you have run it for awhile i would recomend removeing it and see what damage it has already done to the key that it sits on ,it might be useable.

 

what he said plus you need to use some thread lock on it and tightening torque is 122-137 nm thats a guide what year is your car ??

 

96 sti
I'm going to remove it tomorrow and inspect the bolt/pulley, what should I be looking for? How much are stealers gona want for a new bolt assuming they are stretch??

What puzzles me is how it become loose in the first place????
Regards

 

the thing to check is the threads on the bolt and the key way on the cranck itself for damage .. try the pulley without the bolt in to make sure there is no play ! if its ok and threads are ok then use thread lock and re torque to 93-103 nm thats the setting for a 1996.

if it wasn`t torqued up properley in the first place then it will undo quite common.

 

Cheers guys - going out in an hour to remove, worrying thing is I picked the car up 3 weeks ago...and drove it over 400miles in one go lol

 

holey moley fingers crossed m8 there`s no damage !!

 

Just re-read, just to clarify...I didnt drive it 400miles like this lol

 

well...it appears the pulley & key are damaged... although not TOO bad as you'll see from the pictures,

Would i be alright driving this 3 miles up the road to where i'm laying it up? as the tax runs out tonight :-S

are the keys easy to change? please say as easy as the pulley!!!!!!





Aaron

 

the woodruff key will tap out, you may be really, really lucky looking at the pic, new key and tightened right up & thread locked, then check for any movement.

 

if it was mine m8 i would put new key and pulley !!

 

I will, but just been made redundant and need to move the car 3milr away to declare it sorn :-s
What do you mean it will tap out?

 

line it back up the best u can and do it up tight with thread lock if you can should get you three miles no probs !! sorry to hear about your job !

 

tbf you can leave it off for 3 miles, you wont have and power steering and the alternator wont be charging, just take all the belts off

 

thats a BAD idea if the bottom cog comes off so does the cambelt ? its the large pulley that holds it on ? make sure it goes on tight !

 

temp fix made possible thanks to Gipa...again lol

text saying he had a spare one, went down to collect it and he dropped the ****** on the floor and snapped one of the fins....thankfully he had a second stuck in a draw so the cars off the road now and can set about sourcing a new key :-(

Cheers Gipa!

 

Subaru or http://importcarparts.co.uk/parts_in...chKey=woodruff

 

If you want to be able to EVER get the bolt out again DO NOT use threadlock. They are [ or should be ] very tight anyway when done up with the correct torque and we would never use threadlock.

Don't do it.

David APi

 

seems there's a 50/50 split with regards to threadlock.

Whilst the pulley was off, to make sure the threads were fine on the crank and bolt i put it back in on its own....threads were as smooth as the girlfriends foof. BUT it felt as though the bolt was a TINY bit too small?? there was a tiny amount of play INSIDE the crank. i thought this may have been engineered in as an expansion gap considering the temperatures the engine gets to, but one of the lads said no? where can i get a new bolt? (are they stretch bolts???)

Aaron

 

its a matter of choice really thread lock or not! a little will not harm it in anyway you do not need to bathe it in the stuff lol .. main dealer for the bolt or http://www.importcarparts.co.uk/part...en=&searchKey= .. did you get it to your safe place ??

 

Thankfully yeah thanks - can declare it sorn tomorrow now :-( was a tear leaving it sat there. god damn recession making companies going bust!

 

Do you people not listen to sound advice ?

We probably build more Subaru engines that anyone in the country, standard and modified.

It takes a 5 ft long scaffold pole to undo most Subaru crank bolts that are done up correctly when they HAVEN'T got threadlock on them.

If you use threadlock which is not necessary, OR recommended by Subaru you will never get it undone again....

LISTEN !

 

haha tickled me that.....5ft....really?
David, isit a stretch bolt then? just with it having that miniscule amount of play inside?

Aaron

 

Really.

It isn't a stretch bolt as such, but the official way to tighten them is to torque it and then back off and then re-torque etc., etc. We use our skills to do them up at somewhere between 123 & 128 Ft lbs [ can't remember exactly ] and judge how it ' feels ' as we are doing it. NEVER had one come loose on one of our engines.

After yours has come loose you do need a new bolt. BUT I think it is unlikely that you will get the old damaged key out/off without removing the belt drive gear that it fits inside.

So:- all covers off, belt off [ fit a new one ] tensioner off and reset it and then CAREFULLY lever off the belt drive gear. It has triggers on the rear of it for the crank position sensor and they must not be damaged, or it will not run and you'll do it all over again.

You will need to tidy up the old key with a file or something as the gear will not come off over the damaged part, before trying to pull / lever it off. It will be a real fight to get off and it needs doing carefully. Then new key, refit gear, fit belt taking care to time it properly and set the tensioner. Wind it over by spanner a few times to make sure it is right and you aren't going to bash the valves. Recheck the timing, reassemble and off you go again.

Not a job for the faint hearted or unskilled.

Good Luck David

 

oh joy of joys lol well 3 weeks of owning an impreza is going well, made redundant, knocking suspension then this!

Thanks very much for the explanation there David - greatly appreciated to have a expert shed light on this for a newbie :-)

Aaron

 

Sings " it can only get better.............. "

Good luck with it, call if I can help more.

David

01926 614522

 

free parts wouldn't go a miss....and if im being cheeky, a remap? HAHA

Thanks very much to you and everyone that's helped to far!!
Aaron

 

Have you got the parts to fix this yet? I have just stripped a blown classic engine so I have the pulley, bolt & key available if needed. If you need them send me a pm

 

Hi - thanks for the offer but im going to buy new parts (and lightweight pulleys) to help prevent this happening again, cheers again

Aaron

 

We probably build more Subaru engines that anyone in the country, standard and modified. ?

We use our skills to do them up at somewhere between 123 & 128 Ft lbs [ can't remember exactly ] ?

torque to 93-103 nm thats the setting for a 1996. fact thats my orginal qoute and i stand by that if i want to use tread lock thats my choice .. i dont build loads of engines but the whole 2 that i have re done are still ok with thread lock.... lol