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Crank Wobble?

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2005 3:09 am
by 1-3-2-4
I was talking to a friend and he says because of the way the EJ22T is set up you can get Crank wobbles where I think it was EJ207 the bearing is in the rear so the crank wont woble.


I can't remember where I saw it here, but a person had a video download of his Crank wobbing, I wonder was it because of the same issue? Also is this something rare?

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2005 4:38 am
by douglas vincent
Crank pulleys wobble cause they are damaged or loose. If an actual crank wobbles, that motor is bound for the smelter.

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2005 5:09 am
by 1-3-2-4
thats what I thought, I figure he was blowing smoke up my @ss.

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2005 5:32 am
by evolutionmovement
I can't see how this crank could wobble - it has 5 good sized main bearings on a ~15" forged crank that are completely encapsulated in the block. A thrust bearing could possibly go, but that's different. He must be talking about the pulley getting loose. It happens when it's torqued to the incorrect spec in the books.

Steve

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2005 6:36 am
by 1-3-2-4
When he comes on again I will find out what he is talking about again.

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2005 5:26 pm
by Matt Monson
What he is talking about is a phase I crank with a center thrust bearing versus a phase II crank with an end thrust bearing. It was an improvment in the design of these engines to move the thrust bearing location. But the crank doesn't just "wobble" because of this design feature. Sounds to me like he is yet another internet reader who is posting along in the game of telephone spreading some miscommunicated understanding of what is going on.

I don't doubt that there is a video of some blown out crank walking in the journals, but it isn't a fresh healthy engine that is doing that...

Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 4:08 am
by Penguin
i have seen the key (that little metal piece on the shaft) go before.
legacy crank pulleys are a hot item at work, i don't think we have a 1.8,2.0,2.2 or a 2.5 engine out of a car that stills has its pully on it.

Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 5:32 am
by wiscon_mark
mine wobbles a little bit...not sure if that's a bad thing or not...I'll have the mechanic check it out when he looks at the car soon....

Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 3:57 pm
by evolutionmovement
Tighten it now!

Steve

Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 6:31 pm
by entirelyturbo
Here's what could happen if you don't:
http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?t=15609

Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 7:50 pm
by skid542
Tighten it now!!

If you're not happy with one example, here's mine - http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic. ... c&start=25, scroll to the bottom for the pics.

Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 11:16 pm
by wiscon_mark
can you make it too tight?

Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2005 12:04 am
by skid542
Technically you can make anything too tight. If I recall correctly haynes says 80-90 ft-lb and the general consensus, guys correct me if I'm wrong, is that 120-140 ft-lb should be plenty adequate. When I put my new engine I also put a bit of blue loctite on the bolt when I put it in and then torqued it. No troubles yet but I do keep an eye on it though, just in case.

Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2005 3:04 am
by evolutionmovement
I think it would be difficult to overtighten it without an impact gun or a 4+ foot breaker. 120-140 is good.

Steve

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 1:35 am
by twotone_ae86
Sorry to bring this back from the dead but i have a question and don't want to start a new thread.

My crank pully wobbles like crazy, but the bolt is torqued. i pulled the pully off wile doing the headgasket and the key looks fine aswell. I also didnt need a pully puller to remove the crank pulley, is this normal? I used to toyota 4ages where the pulleys are on really tight.

does this mean that my pulley is damaged? is rubber inside had it?

thanks, again sorry to bring this up from the dead

Danny

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 5:16 am
by Project_Legacy
the bolt is torqued down and it still wobbles? your pulley might be messed up.

props for the 86.

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 5:38 pm
by DLC
When the stock pulley on my 93 started to make noise while starting when cold, I got an underdrive and didn't look back. Now there are a dozen options available, underdriven and not.

Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 6:48 am
by thehookeup
haha, well yea i think your friend was blown smoke up your ass. i will say that i have seen a ton of subaru cranks especially the 2.2's that the key way tears apart and that the key turns sideways. its a real pain.

but if the key way is fine and the bolt is torqued correctly then the pulley has to be bad. the stock ones are expensive they are like 95 bucks. but if i were you i would get a new underdrive for a extra 20 bucks if that. well good luck.

btw my key was on my n/a is turned sideways and the pulley wabbles. and its been like that for 75k, and still runs awesome

Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 4:00 pm
by Project_Legacy
it is basically just the pulley thats wobbling anyways correct? all that would be effecting would be the accesories its running. id get a new pulley/aftermarket if i were you.

Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 6:16 pm
by BAC5.2
The torque spec on the crank pulley goes up every single year. Year after year.

Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 5:25 pm
by Project_Legacy
yea when i first did my motor swap, i torqued it down to the book specs. i noticed it was loose a couple days later and found a discussion on here about it. i checked the keyway(it was still ok) and tighted that shit up with the quickness to about 130ft lbs. it has never been loose since, but im always scared it is, and i check it every once in awhile.

Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 6:06 pm
by BAC5.2
I check the crank pulley with every oil change.

Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 6:29 pm
by skid542
Mine's torqued to around 120-140 and has a little blue loctite on it. I learned my lesson once already...

Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 1:35 am
by Brat4by4
Well married life has pretty much killed my messin with cars time for the last 3 years, not to mention a one year old baby thrown in the mix, too. I didn't want to start the 33rd thread on this so here goes...

I just got around to cleaning my K&N air filter, changing, the plugs, and general maintenance stuff... tonight I see this:

http://www.personal.kent.edu/~whardin/l ... pulley.wmv - Right clicky - Saveas

What's the diagnosis? I know there is a large number of people on here that have experience with this fond EJ tendency. Is my rubber lining in the pulley bad or does it look worse? Hopefully I don't need to yank the pulley off soon, I'm in the middle of a timing belt job on my '89 wagon! :) Thanks.

Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 4:47 pm
by Legacy777
I wouldn't drive that car, or at the very least I'd take the pulley off for inspection. That's not good.