[laurie]

a mate has got a problem with his vitara
its 1.6 injected and he reckons he has broken 3 crank keys in a month any idea what could cause this?
he says it runs fine other than that he only drives on road and he is
even older than me so no harsh treatment
thanks laurie

[Scrawny]

That's a lot of crank keys in a short time. I'm guessing the replacement ones are the right size? Is the crank pulley done up to the correct torque? From memory it is pretty tight

[royce]

common for the bolt to not get done up right, which lets the crank gear shimmy about and wear the key and then flog the crank out, I guess if the crank is flogged it will snap the key

I wanna know how he snaps so many keys which obviously then means the crank is spinning and not the cam without smashing stuff

[laurie]

good point royce. i have no idea havent seen it yet just goin on what i was told.
i mentioned the pully he said no problem with it.
i have not come across this before. in fact have never heard of it happening. i will not see the car till mid week.
just looking for some pointers as i have only worked on a 1.3. thanks

[Damo]

royce wrote:

common for the bolt to not get done up right, which lets the crank gear shimmy about and wear the key and then flog the crank out, I guess if the crank is flogged it will snap the key

I wanna know how he snaps so many keys which obviously then means the crank is spinning and not the cam without smashing stuff

The woodruff key is there only to locate the pulley in relation to Top Dead Centre.

If you have a look at the end of the crank you can see that the surface that the pulley mates to is tapered. There is a matching taper on the inside of the crank pulley. When the big fat bolt torqued down to 90 ft/lbs (or whatever it is) that force is what makes the pulley and crankshaft rotate as one. If that torque is not properly applied, then it's going to end in tears.

[royce]

Damo wrote:

If that torque is not properly applied, then it's going to end in tears.

torque or not, to snap the key one bit is sitting still while the other is moving at speed

Strange that you dont here of any 1.3's doing this

[Damo]

royce wrote:

Damo wrote:

If that torque is not properly applied, then it's going to end in tears.

torque or not, to snap the key one bit is sitting still while the other is moving at speed

Strange that you dont here of any 1.3's doing this

I have a GTi block pulled to bits on my bench with the same problem. But it's certainly more common on the 1.6 from what i've seen.

[laurie]

he has just rung up and said he doesn't need my help as his mate has
welded the pully on! (man i thought i was bodgey)

[losfer]

GOLD

[steak_knife]

laurie wrote:

he has just rung up and said he doesn't need my help as his mate has
welded the pully on! (man i thought i was bodgey)

Is it leaking oil yet??