Crankshaft Pulley?
 

I was recently told that my crankpulley is going bad. I thought it was normal but a friend of mine told me it isn't normal. It makes a chopping sound and looks like it's wobbling. When I spray Brake Cleaner the sound goes away for a few minutes then comes back. I noticed there's oil around that area too. Do I need to replace the crankshaft pulley? Where could I get one? I read something about it's only common for the 89 - 91. I figured I should post here since it's a fuction > form website.

1992 Miata
5 spd
mspnp

do a search on locktight fix asap and dont drive it
trust me i just pulled my motor yesterday because the crank failed

Loctite? It works o_O. Let me search on that a bit more.

Loctite Crank Fix -part 2

Where could I get the woodruff key?

Rosenthal Arlington Mazda Parts Store

One of many places.

I'm going to try that loctite fix.

I'll post a video tomorrow before I attempt that loctite fix

Update:

I started the car and noticed, it's not really wobbling. Although it is making a weird chopping sound. Like the pulley is worn or just needs to be lubricated. I also that when the vehicle gets warm, the sound goes away.

This chopping sound, is it like Emeril Legassi or more like Hong Kong Phooey?

If you have a '92 and it's the original motor then you don't have a short nose crank. The bolts holding the crank pulley and harmonic balancer on may just be getting loose. The harmonic balancers can really wobble around when they get old but as long as it's just the rubber flexing everything is good.

so, do i tighten the center bolt? Yes it is the original motor.

Personally, I would pull the balancer and inspect.

Check the woodruff key
Check the keyway in the balancer/hub
Check the keyway in the crank

Inspect the balancer for alignment.
Inspect the rubber in the balancer.

IMHO, if the isolator rubber is showing distortion, wear, age, replace it.

Maybe I am overly ----, but is the Mazda Engineer who designed it want to run off center, it would run that way from the factory.

It would take , what, a hour or so to pull, inspect and reinstall?

No!

The main bolt only holds a plate on to the crankshaft. After that, you bolt your harmonic balancer/belt pulley on with 4 m6 bolts. Those might be loose.

Also, it requires ZERO lubrication. Most likely, it's wobbling and scrapping on your plastic timing belt cover, and your brake spray "trick" is merely quieting that action temporarily.

As others have said, do NOT drive this car any further. If the main bolt is indeed loose (which can happen on a long nose crank car), any further running of the engine could damage the key way on your crank, requiring you to replace your crankshaft. If that main bolt is loose, don't just tighten it up, take it off and as Bogus said, inspect the key, key way, and pulley.

Still new to wrenching, maybe times 1 hour by 3 lmao. I'll record the sound tonight after work

Ditto!! This issue is prevalent on pre-91's, but later cars are not immune.

I would treat this as an opportunity to refresh the timing belt and water pump. When were they last changed?

There are cheap timing belt/water pump combination kits on E-bay. Rosenthal also has a kit for ~$200. That's the route I went. Includes new accessory belts, crank seal and two cam seals. You already know your crank seal is bad from the oil leak.

While you're doing this, you'll be able to give your crank and pulley parts a good look. Buy additional parts as needed.

I can tell you that a loktite fix is a good repair. Mine held up for 50K (including 15K turbo'd) before I decided to swap in a crate motor (my current project). The downside to the loktite fix is that it is difficult to disassemble the crank gear from the crankshaft if you ever need to replace the crank seal down the road. Requires a LOT of heat and a puller to accomplish that. If your crank keyway isn't worn, I'd skip it. Red loktite for the bolt (always), loktite 660 (liquid metal) for the crank keyway (if needed).

Good luck.

I double checked my pulleys and noticed the water pump pulley had some play. Found some scrape marks on the timing cover and some coolant dripping. It wasn't oil, it was coolant mixed with the left over residue from replacing the valve cover gasket. The water pump pulley was wobbling more than what I expected.

Anyways, I checked if there was any play on the crank pulley. No play. The bolt was on very tight and so are the 4 mini bolts.

Looks like I'll be doing my water pump and timing belt soon.

Yup, sounds like a bad water pump. You'll have to take the crank pulley off anyways, so it's a good time to check the key way, just in case.

The long nose fails too, trust me on that. If it looks like it wobbles check the crank for runout after you take off the pulley.

Will do.




I know this is off topic, but have any of you guys used the garage star upgraded pulley?

Garage Star - Alternator and Water Pump Pulley Set for 1.6L and 1.8L Miata


or the obx drive pulley?

Looks like a good way to spend money in exchange for a shiny part which serves virtually no useful purpose whatsoever.


Danger, Will Robinson!

How about u give me 125 bucks and i spray paint ur pulleys? The OBX is garbage.. actually harmful in more than 1 way.

here you go, Sorry for the vid, held my ipod upside down.

Jeez. Quit taking meaningless vid of a failed waterpump and surfing the net for ricer gear. Go to Rosenthal's site and get the water pump/timing belt kit and fix your car already.

lots of good advice here

Sounds like this is the best time to get these parts from Rosenthal's as well.

Crank bolt, Woodruff Key, and crank pulley.

and timing belt.

Long nose cranks also fail for the same reason.

I got the water pump on and the timing belt. The Key way looks like it's still new. The woodruff key has no damages. I don't have a picture with the keyway alone but I'll post up whatever I have so far.

Good for you Kevin. You should be all set now.

Ensure you tighten the pulley bolt properly with a torque wrench to the correct value and use locktite like it says in the instructions.

Thanks!!

122 ft lbs??

116-123 ft. lbs. according to the Mazda manual.

Just started it up and sounds like very bad valve tapping.. possibly timing off? Not too sure.. car isn't bogging or anything. This was recorded when the car got to warm temp.


Compare to the first video I posted, the tapping sounds a bit louder. Ever since I replaced the water pump that "weird sound" went away (atleast that problem is fixed)

Sounds like lifter tick. That is a characteristic of these engines and not harmful. Certainly, if the engine sat while you did maintenance and the lifters bled down (they're hydraulic on your engine), you'll have more tick for a while.

I would recommend an oil change (use a diesel formulation like Rotella, Rotella T-6 is a great synthetic oil for a turbo Miata) and then go for a drive. I'll bet that tick goes away.

Good job on the timing belt and water pump.

I'm not an oil expert or anything but isn't that dangerous for non-diesel engines? Just curious.. Cause those oils are pretty thick and I've only used up to 10w40 for my miata

Rotella T-6 is 5W40 and meets auto spec SM (which far surpasses what your car calls for).

Anti-wear additives for flat-tappet camshafts (like the Miata) have been phased out of new gasoline engine oils in the name of protecting catalytic converters. Most newer cars have roller cams anyway. The diesel oils still have these additives -- although even there things have been getting cut back for similar reasons.

Members here have had good results on oil analyses using diesel formulations. You'll notice a LOT less lifter tick with those oils.

Yes, they're great. Just do what we tell you for once. Rotella's cheapo stuff at walmart is awesome in our engines.

Alright. Thank you!!

Just finished work and bought me a jug of rotella t6. Lets see if it makes a difference brb!!

Rotella did some magic. Tapping isn't as loud as before. Inspected the car for coolant or oil leaks. It's bone dry. It started making a new sound, like a supercharge belt sound. Not too sure if it's because the timing belt is too tight (I did the method that was mentioned on Mx5unleashed) or the alternator belt is on too tight.

Sounds normal. Drive it!

After driving it.. Still normal?

As long as you let the spring do the tensioning, you've got the right tension. New timing belts do make a bit of noise at first. They go through a "break-in" process.