I tore the parts car down today! PICS

[Neil86t]

Well the previous owner had told me that the woodruff key broke and the crank pulley was spinning. I also assumed that the crank gear was spinning or moved a little. I was correct. As you can see the crank gear and the crank itself is chewed up. I need a new crank gear, crank pulley and woodruff key. My concern is that the woodruff key will not fit correctly since the left side of the crank is chewed up. Guess i will find out.....any suggestions?

[Jason84NA2T]

Yeouuuuch!

I've actually seen damage like that before, a long time ago. I believe the person put a small arc welded bead in the area that broke away and then used a small file or dremel to restore the shape. He even posted pictures of the process with a writeup but it was eventually lost like so many other great writeups.

On W-series cranks they went to using a longer snout with 2 woodruff keys, propbably for this exact issue.

BTW: if your engine has over 150K, replace your front crank seal while you are in there.

[MikeZ]

You may want to re-host those pics somewhere permanently such as photobucket.

[Neil86t]

Jason: Yeah i was thinking about the arc weld idea and thats what i would probably do. This motor is actually a "low mileage" JDM motor out of a 84 300zx turbo. I will replace the crank seal...and probably do the whole timing belt kit (the tensioner looks like hell). Good news is I pulled the timing cover off and it has Morgan's cam gears 8)

[G-E]

hahahahaaaaaaa

then it's a "you get screwed" mileage "usdm" part

[Neil86t]

G-E wrote: hahahahaaaaaaa

then it's a "you get screwed" mileage "usdm" part

Yeah I know it's a "you get screwed" motor. I didnt buy the car for the motor.

[Dan-TSS]

Agreed, filling the defect with weld and then some grinding/re-shaping will give a good fix.
*I always check to see how the woodruff key fits, if it isn't tight enough...same process, and grinding/re-shaping to perfection.
^^Project'88t needed a custom woodruff key becuase of the small amount of slop wasn't happy with.

[roastin300]

It seems these VG's have problems with this. My buddy picked up a 93 Pathfinder for $900, reason is it "needs a new crankshaft". We looked and the crank was chipped where the key fits just like yours, we filed it, bought a new key, put it in as best as we could and torqued the crank bolt to over 200 ft lb. The crank pulley wobbles a little bit but works fine. $900 pathfinder, sweet condition, great paint and nearly perfect interior with the Rocky Mountain towing package.....