Crank Shaft Pulley/Bolt/Keyway Loose - Honda Prelude Forum

mnman2 · 06-02-2011, 02:39 PM

So i fired my 98 Lude on last night to go to work and heard an awful noise. Immediately popped the hood and noticed my crankshaft pulley/Bolt was loose and wobbly making a ****ty sound. I immediately turned the car off and have not ran it since. Is there a way to fix this at my house with the proper tools or should i have it towed to the local Honda Dealer and pay some rediculous labor fees?
Help Please

itsthatprelude · 06-03-2011, 06:44 AM

Mine was doing the same thing, But mine came from the previous owner putting the bolt in crooked, so when i went to replace everything, the bolt broke in half in my crank. yea it was bad.... also, the notches on my pulley were worn veeeery badly.. If i were you i would just do the work yourself. Save yourself alot of money. just get a new bolt and pulley ...

lol and make sure you put the bolt in straight.

pIERCE · 06-03-2011, 10:37 AM

Yes there is a possible way you are ok, but your crank pulley may be shot. In fact, if enough damage was done then your crank is shot. Get in there and start CAREFULLY tearing it apart and see what is damaged, if the bolt is bent, or stripped or broken, or the crank is damaged, you may want to simply swap motors.

Unfortunately what happened to you actually happens to a lot of luders, not sure why, some think it's previous T-belt jobs done improperly, some think it's bad luck. All I can say is things need to be replaced.
Good luck.

BlaqkLabeL · 06-03-2011, 01:52 PM

I've had the same problem. Here you go

Installing crank shaft pulley
Lude is effed
How to tighten the crank shaft pulley?

mnman2 · 06-03-2011, 05:26 PM

So i got a call from the dealer today and they said i need a new Engine....
I dont remember exactly what he told me i was so upset and furious during the phone call.
I had just bought the car from a private seller on Saturday May 28th and drove it for 4 days before this happened in my driveway idling....
I called the guy and he said he didn't know anything about it (yeah right!) and pretty much told me to go F myself.
The dealer said it was a problem from the previous owner and nothing i did
Something about the key way completely missing, a shady weld job and something possibly loosening/breaking causing the bolt/pulleys to come loose but not completely off. The belts were still on, just the CS bolt and pulleys were loose and rattling when i popped the hood....
SO
I am not sure of the damage but im assuming it is quite bad?
should i junk the car, the body is in ok shape but needs work, drop a new engine and how much would that honestly cost or try and get this fixed.
I'll update once i figure out exactly what is wrong, in the meantime does anyone know a good Attorney in Minnesota?

pIERCE · 06-03-2011, 07:52 PM

Wow man, that is terrible. The cheapest JDM h22 you can find is $1k+ shipping. Go that route if you're looking for economical ways.

mnman2 · 06-03-2011, 08:02 PM

Yeah i am not happy right now...
Thanks for the links Blaqklabel, those were encouraging and helpful links.
I found a few other forum posts about this problem and it seems like unless i ran it during the loosening of the bolt or it completely fell off while running i may have not done serious damage unless the damage was already previously done by the last owner and he just rigged it up long enough to dump on me.

I have a feeling the dealership just assumed the engine was shot after the crankshaft bolt/pulleys came lose without actually running a compression test or anything else but i don't know for sure yet.

I will be stopping by tomorrow morning so hopefully i learn more than "You're F'ed" without a solid explanation.

BlaqkLabeL · 06-04-2011, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mnman2

Yeah i am not happy right now...
Thanks for the links Blaqklabel, those were encouraging and helpful links.
I found a few other forum posts about this problem and it seems like unless i ran it during the loosening of the bolt or it completely fell off while running i may have not done serious damage unless the damage was already previously done by the last owner and he just rigged it up long enough to dump on me.

I have a feeling the dealership just assumed the engine was shot after the crankshaft bolt/pulleys came lose without actually running a compression test or anything else but i don't know for sure yet.

I will be stopping by tomorrow morning so hopefully i learn more than "You're F'ed" without a solid explanation.

I dont think your car is ruined, this has happened to a lot of us.

A new pulley, key and bolt is going to cost about ~$110.
Borrowing a torque wrench ~$0
Then you'll have to loosen the tensioners to put the belts back on. New belts are recommended but not necessary unless your belts have snapped. I used my old belts since they didnt break.

Overall, you'll spend more time waiting for your part to come in than actually working on the car.

mnman2 · 06-04-2011, 11:51 AM

So i went to the dealer today to discuss my options and i learned that there was not even a crankshaft bolt in place, the end of the crankshaft was somehow welded to the keyway or something, long enough to hold in place before breaking and therefore loosening.
I am assuming this incident had happened before to the last owner and who knows what happened whether the bolt was stripped or he damaged the crankshaft and the guy just threw it away and decided to weld it back together without replacing the bolt or whatever.
My only guess is that there is internal damage from the last time it happened if not from this incident.
The dealership told me it would be cheaper/same cost to put a new engine in instead of pulling the whole thing out to check the crankshaft and do a compression test, then replacing the bolt and whatever else i needed.

I know just replacing the CS bolt, pulley and keyway may sound like a valid option, but it seems like there may be more damage than i thought making that quick repair kind of pointless as i may need to replace the whole engine anyways...

Anyone have any good resources for buying an Engine USDM or JDM?

pIERCE · 06-04-2011, 05:00 PM

Hmotorsonline.com is the place to go.

http://www.hmotorsonline.com/shop/sc...age&item=30029

indylude18 · 06-04-2011, 07:05 PM

First thing I'd do is get some advice from a lawyer. You have evidence that the seller knew the car had a problem, ghetto rigged it, and sold it without disclosing the problem to you. If you bought the car from a dealership, I know you'd be able to get your money back. Since it was a private seller...I dunno. You might be able to get it back, or at least make things difficult for the asshat that sold you the car.

You sir, have been played

.

mnman2 · 06-04-2011, 10:38 PM

Thanks for the link $999.00 seems like a fair price and adding $200 for the ecu+ shipping. Im assuming i need to buy an ebay wiring harness as well from what the faq says along with xfering a few obd2 parts.
I have been searching the local yards all day, at least the ones that were open and not having much luck.
I will be in contact with an attorney monday morning to discuss my options i really cant start working on the car if i do pursue legal action in case the judge rules that the owner take the car back and i get my money refunded so right now im waiting to see what i find out.
Wish me luck!

In the end i may have a JDM h22a As long as i can find someone to install properly.

lilredlude · 06-04-2011, 10:48 PM

i'm pretty sure you're going to have to find the shop that did the weld job and subponea the records to prove he knew it was wrong. just going on what a shop says he should have known probably isn't going to get you far. good luck finding an engine. hmotors is good, i've bought engines from them before.

minilogoguy18 · 06-05-2011, 09:32 AM

Dunno where you're getting your swap info from but all you do is let Hmotors know that you want an OBD2 engine and NOT and OBD1 and it will drop right in. Use your existing ECU, wiring harness, fuel rail and distributor.

I also wouldn't suggest just dropping it right in as many have killed them that way, you need to change the timing belt, all seals behind the timing covers, water pump and do a tune up before swapping. Some of the other seals that are easier don't need to be changed right away but they will start leaking not long after the swap, even though it's low mileage they all become brittle from sitting around.

A motor swap is more money than some are making it out to be, especially if you are paying someone to do all this, it's gonna be a few grand in the end.

pIERCE · 06-06-2011, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by minilogoguy18

Dunno where you're getting your swap info from but all you do is let Hmotors know that you want an OBD2 engine and NOT and OBD1 and it will drop right in. Use your existing ECU, wiring harness, fuel rail and distributor.

Ask for OBDII engine = $2-300 more

Swap all parts from his motor to convert to OBDI = Free but time consuming.

minilogoguy18 · 06-06-2011, 05:01 PM

^Yes and on top of that you'll need a conversion harness and OBD1 ecu so it's not even free or cheaper to go OBD1 unless you plan on modifying the car. If you have plans to mod then OBD1 is the way to go from the start.

pIERCE · 06-06-2011, 05:59 PM

I said that wrong, I meant to convert the OBDI motor to OBDII. That would be technically free.

mnman2 · 06-06-2011, 10:05 PM

So i found an h22a4 with 89k at a local yard today for $750 i think i may go with that. I am still going to look around tomorrow but i think thats a good price.
I will be checking and replacing as needed, seals, tensioner, timing belt and water pump and transfering most of my newer belts.
I am also investing in an exedy oem clutch and fidanza 8lb flywheel.

As for the legal side i Am still deciding whether or not to pursue a claim in small claims court.
****ty thing is i have to file the claim almost 2 hours away from my house in the county of the defendant. Why can't you fill the form out at your local courthouse and have them fax it? Conciliation forms come with a $75 app fee as well...
If i claim he owes me more than $2500 i have to personally find or hire a person other than myself, unrelated to me, to personally serve the court summons to this asshat.
Its common to wait a month or more before the hearing is actually held and another month for the ruling if nothing can be determined during the hearing.
Im beginning to think this may not be worth it