Hello everyone, so I was driving the other day and both my alternator and power steering belts popped off. I checked under the hood to see what the problem was and I noticed that the pulley which uses both belts was loose. I tightened it and put the belts back on, started the car and the belts popped off again. So then I unscrewed the pulley to check it out and saw that a small part of the teeth got worn out and therefore wouldn't stay properly on the crankshaft. I also looked under the car and saw that the part where it connects to on the crankshaft was a little worn out as well.

Pic of Pulley:



Pulley up close:



Crankshaft (Where the pulley connects to):



Is there anyway to fix this? Would perhaps getting a new pulley be sufficient to preventing it from getting loose and the belts from popping off again?

Thanks.

 

Looks like the woodruff key was not seated correctly. The keyway is damaged. This might occur if someone changed the timing belts and did not correctly tighten the crankshaft pulley retaining bolt.

If woodruff key was missing when crankshaft pulley was removed, you likely have valve damage (valves hit pistons).

I would replace the crankshaft pulley and get a new woodruff key. Is the keyway on the crankshaft damaged also?

good luck

 

What exactly is the woodruff key & keyway? I have minimal knowledge about cars so I don't really know the names of every part.

Thanks for the response!

 

He's refering to the large notch in the pully (keyway)
and the lump of damaged metal protruding from the Crank (woodruff key)

You should be able to knock the key out of it's groove. What shape are the Crank splines in? The pully splines are beat up pretty good.

 

That key also holds in place a gear; the gear is behind the plastic cover. You might be able to do a quick & dirty repair by getting another pulley at the junkyard. If you can get that pulley seated then tighten it down to the correct torque spec which I think is 185 ft/lbs. If the new pulley won't seat because the key is deformed then the key will have to be replaced. I doubt you can remove the key without removing the gear but it's worth a try. As Texas said, that key times the engine so if you can get the old key out be sure not to turn the engine before you put the new one in. If the pulley won't seat and the key won't come out then the lower cover has to come off which is a much bigger job; basically a timing belt replacement job.

 

Thanks for the responses guys. I really appreciate it. How exactly would I go about removing the woodruff key? Also when I search for woodruff key for my car I cannot find a place that sells it. I'm guessing the crankshaft splines consist of the inside where the bolt screws in? Sorry I don't know much about cars.

Which portion is the woodruff key?

 

If you go to a salvage yard you should be able to get the woodruff key and crankshaft pulley as a unit. Otherwise, go to auto parts store for a woodruff key. Honda parts should also be able to supply.

good luck

 

The part circled in green. The crankshaft and crankshaft gear have grooves that the key slides into. The key locks the crankshaft to the crank gear and crank pulley. If you're lucky you'll be able to grab the key with a vicegrips and pull it out. If so, coat the new key with a bit of grease and tap it into place.

 

I tried pulling the woodruff key out with vice grips using all of my strength and it's not coming out. However, when I put the pulley onto the key it seats correctly so is it possible that I'm just not tightening the bolt hard enough? When I tighten it at a certain point and continue tightening, the pulley and bolt move together so I really can't tighten it anymore. Do I need a special tool for tightening it to the correct torque spec (185 ft/lbs)?

 

Yes. The O'Reilly parts stores in my part of the country loan out Honda crank pulley holders. See pic attached.