When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Recently I took my Maxima off the road for a failing waterpump. When I took off the crankshaft pulley the key in the keyway was nowhere to be found and the crank snout has some damage:
...
...
...
...
...
...
A friend of mine that has a lot of experience in the z31 VG30E community said this wasn't a big deal and that he's seen and ran with much worse. I wanted to get a second opinion here before I got much more involved.
Same person indicated that I would be alright because "the key/keyway is just for alignment purposes, it's the crankshaft bolt that holds the pulley in place."
that doesn't look too bad, I have seen the shaft have severe damage. What you're looking for is called a woodruff key, which you can find any auto part stores, they sell it.
This can be carefully welded up with a TIG at low current.
1 - not while in the engine bay unless you're very good bending/working around tight spaces or have a lift
2 - massive cleaning will need to be done prior
3 - the extra heat might not be great for a crank with a history of not so strong snout
4 - the low current won't penetrate the base metal so you're just kinda JB welding it
A flex head torch with a short cap and short tungsten will work fine. You don't need 150-200 amp to weld that up as there is a cavity in the shaft, so the effective thickness and mass is pretty low. 70-80 amp should be fine. No need for massive cleaning, his shaft is perfectly clean for TIG as it is. Go slowly and you'll be fine. Yes, it's a small diameter round and irregular shape, so gas can be tricky, but doable nevertheless.
06-07-2017, 01:53 PM
