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Crank pulley wobble... normal? Weird noise/rubbing. Help appreciated.

Quebster

Quebster

Autocross Newbie
Location
Dallas, Tx
Hi all,

Does anyone know if the amount of wobble I see in the pulley is normal? This will pretty much give me the answer to my issue. If it's normal, then clearly the crank hole in the lower cover got messed up somehow.

Vid 1, with belt:

https://youtu.be/74I8da-z7I8?t=39

Vid 2, no belt, leak fixed:

https://youtu.be/t5XMdWeJxBI?t=29

Vid 3, OEM pulley on, slo-mo.. best vid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pi18tshx8XA


Issue:

So I got my head put back on recently by myself, did all the timing myself and all that stuff, a huge first for me. Started the engine the other day, everything seems pretty great... except a noise from the pulley.

It seems that the pulley is hitting/rubbing the lower cover as best as I can tell. I'm trying to understand why. I see two possibilities:

1: Timing cover crank hole was damaged and maybe bent when I tried to pull the old seal out (unsuccessfully), or when the little shop close by pressed the new one in (I noted lots of clamp cosmetic damage around the hole).

2: I somehow got the 3-stage sprocket that sits between the pulley and the crank a little off somehow, even though it should be very difficult to do so thanks to the way it fits onto the crank.


You can also see where I believe the pulley is getting rubbed here:




Anyone have any thoughts?
 
Last edited:
Quebster

Quebster

Autocross Newbie
Location
Dallas, Tx
Oh and yes, the pulley is seated properly. I've 100% ruled out the possibility of the pulley itself being the issue. I swapped my old OEM pulley in and it did the exact same thing.
 
D

drrck

Go Kart Champion
Location
Zeeland, MI, USA
Seems a bit excessive in terms of play. I imagine at WOT that thing is going to be causing significant vibration.
 
D

drrck

Go Kart Champion
Location
Zeeland, MI, USA
Watching the slo-mo video again it looks like the pulley isn't centered, the bolt appears to be rotating as it should. I've no idea how whatever is behind there is assembled but the pulley appears to be off-axis.
 
Quebster

Quebster

Autocross Newbie
Location
Dallas, Tx
Yeah it was torqued properly the first time with a fresh bolt. For swapping it out and back in for troubleshooting I just started using an impact gun like many do, though. It's either the cover or the sprocket behind the pulley. :/
 
Quebster

Quebster

Autocross Newbie
Location
Dallas, Tx
Any chance anyone wants to just pull off their passenger front wheel and just that front piece of the fender liner and snap me a quick vid ?? :eek:
 
GTIManEG

GTIManEG

Ready to race!
Location
Elk Grove
One of two things can be going on here.
1) The pulley is not set in the correct teeth
2) The chain sprocket that the balance, cams and oil pump connect to could of skipped one tooth.

You can check this with the pulley on and from the top looking down, compare the gap from the pulley to the lower cover, if it equal as it rotates then you know the sprocket and chain gear is aligned. Or with the engine off run you finger in between the pulley and lower cover to check the gap should be equal all around.

In the end you are going to need to replace the lower cover crank seal and any other part that is toothed and was not aligned.
 
Quebster

Quebster

Autocross Newbie
Location
Dallas, Tx
GTIManEG said:
One of two things can be going on here.
1) The pulley is not set in the correct teeth
2) The chain sprocket that the balance, cams and oil pump connect to could of skipped one tooth.

You can check this with the pulley on and from the top looking down, compare the gap from the pulley to the lower cover, if it equal as it rotates then you know the sprocket and chain gear is aligned. Or with the engine off run you finger in between the pulley and lower cover to check the gap should be equal all around.

In the end you are going to need to replace the lower cover crank seal and any other part that is toothed and was not aligned.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the input. I believe at this point I bumped or didn't pay attention to the sprocket when setting timing and probably got it off some. I'm hoping it's not damaged. I pulled the lower cover back off tonight and nothing obvious looks wrong. I went ahead and bought a timing kit which comes in tomorrow, at which point I will proceed with getting all of the tensioners off and the timing chains off so that I can pull off the sprocket and investigate / re-seat. New lower cover and sealant comes in Thurs.

The good news is now that I've done this all before it's going much, MUCH quicker. Saturday I should be able to have it all done and back together to test again if there isn't anything visibly wrong with anything. I'll be in Seattle all next week, so hope to get it running this weekend. Of course if I do then all I'll be able to think about when in Seattle is getting home and driving the car :rolleyes:

Pic of the lower timing parts from tonight:

 
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