Crankshaft pulley bolts snapped AGAIN!!

layinthesmack31

Registered User
Hey guys
today i noticed my crankshaft pully wobbling and macking a rattling noise. This has happened before and i noticed that again one of the blots snapped off that hold the pulley on. it is a new underdrive pulley as well. This is the third time a bolt or bolts have broken on the pulley and stuck in the balancer. So my question, is the Balancer the problem. I just ordered a new BHJ balancer off supercoupe performance and was curious if this should fix the problem of the bolts snapping? And i am also curious if there are any performance gains from the BHJ? well any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks
Matt
 
Which bolt(s) snapped, and which time?

There are 5 bolts total. 4 hold the pulley to the dampner and 1 big one that holds the pulley and dapmner to the crank.

If you broke the big bolt it is because the dampner is broken, not the other way around. If this is the case you should have changed the dampner and pulley assembly (or reused your underdrive pulley)

If it's the little bolts breaking then they are probably loose. All the force from the blower is on these 4 bolts so if they are loose then they will eventually break.

Jeff
 
Are you saying the same pulley has started breaking bolts again or has it happened with stock pulley(s) also?

If it is the third time with the same underdrive pulley then I probably have your answer. I recently purchased ASP underdrives for my '95 and the crank pulleys hub-centric hole was too large. The crank pulley is supposed to just slide over the ring on the dampener hub with a slight interference fit. This way the drive and tension forces applied through the belts are absorbed by the crankshaft itself and the bolts only job is to hold the pulley on. If the pulley hole is to large all the loads and centering is done by the bolts which aren't capable of it. You will never get it perfectly centered by hand and eye and even if you do get it close the bolts will break off soon enough.

If your pulley has slack without any bolts installed then this is your problem. I live about an hour from ASP and brought this to their attention. They figured out that several hundred sets had been sent out with this error and issued a recall. He exhanged my set for a reworked set and all is good. He mentioned that he had accounted for most of them still in dealer stock but some he was still tracking down. If you have one they will exhange it.

Call Lee at 1-877-928-8678.

Auto Specialties Performance
13313 Redfish, #106
Stafford, TX 77477

www.aspracing.com
 
well i happened 2 times with the stock pulley and now with the new underive pulley. i think they problem is that i didnt tighten the bolts to the specified torque cause it was really hard for me to hold the pulley still and put the bolts in. but i am having a shop put in the new balancer and they can put the pulley back on haha
 
pulley bolts breaking

interesting thread. my pulley bolts all snapped at the heads of
the bolts last weekend. i have another set of stock bolts. is it
a waste of time putting these on? or should i go to a fastener
specialty shop and get something stronger? btw my balancer
is about ten months old (ford)
 
The stock bolts are more than adequate, they are high grade steel. Slowly torque them to the factory specs holding the crankshaft with a socket placed over the torque converter drain plug on in the oil pan cavity or by placing the tranny in 4th gear with the parking brake firmly applied in a stick shift. Whatever you do remove anything used to lock the flywheel as soon as you torque the last bolt, and then double check yourself before you turn the key. Don't ask me how I know. You can use Locktite blue on the next set to keep them from working loose, don't use red though.

By the way boosted chicken, what part of Texas are you from? We have a group that gets together about semi annually.

How many layinthesmack's does it take to tighten a pulley bolt?

Two, one to hold the crank still while the other tightens the bolts. ha-ha

Vernon
 
No, and besides everytime you pull the dampener off and on it gets looser on the crank which will cause it to fail again. Leave it on and do it like I described. Is the same pulley to be reused?
 
had to pull the balancer to drill out one of the broken bolts. its still
off the car. yes i am reusing the same pulley although i still have the one from the previous balancer. i'm guessing that the yellow
paint stripe lines up with the notch on the balancer?
 
Ok, the dampener (it doesn't serve a balancing function on this engine) and the pulley are balanced as a set so as long as your pulley is reuseable you don't have to worry about their balance. The bolt holes aren't evenly spaced, one hole is offset a hair on purpose so that they will only fit together in the balanced position. So just get the holes alinged and don't worry about any markings although they may match when the bolt holes do. Since you have it off go ahead an mount it in a vise but don't get carryied away and warp the thing.

I'm just NW of Houston, any chance of you being able to make it to Houston for our next meet? The more the merrier.

Vernon
 
methinks i understand. btw i'm in odessa about 280 mi east of
el paso. houston is a good days drive but i'd consider it. the car
in question is an 89 auto. i got it cheap but with a bad blower.
i lucked out and scored a good blower with intake, injectors,
harness, and intercooler tubes for 200 bucks! i've replaced the
upper control arms(stopped an annoying squeak) and am now
in the middle of this aggravating dampener deal. overall its not
a bad car just kind of tough to get parts for sometimes.
 
Well it's good to have another SC owner find their way here. If you ever run into something that doesn't add up you can email me throught the site. Our next meet will be sometime in late Summer or eary Fall. We'll post info as it gets time. Check on SC club of the Gulf Coast for updates.

Sounds like you got a good deal, your work is cut out for you. LOL


Good luck,
Vernon
 
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