4th Generation Maxima (1995-1999) Visit the 4th Generation forum to ask specific questions or find out more about the 4th Generation Maxima.

Jiggling crank pulley....

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 03-20-2006, 06:27 PM
  #1  
Old enuf to pick his own gears
Thread Starter
iTrader: (4)
 
d00df00d's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 5,036
Jiggling crank pulley....

My crank pulley looks like it's spinning SLIGHTLY off its axis, and I can definitely hear a little rattling/scraping noise coming from it. I see the jiggling when I view it face-on, but from above it looks normal. The belts are tight, none of the other accessory pulleys are moving strangely, and I don't feel any play in the crank pulley when I remove the belts.

My coworker says I might have spun a crank bearing. Anyone wanna tell me different?
d00df00d is offline  
Old 03-21-2006, 04:14 AM
  #2  
Member who somehow became The President of The SE-L Club
iTrader: (19)
 
njmaxseltd's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2001
Posts: 16,033
Your coworker has no clue what he's talking about.

The crank pully has a rubber isolation sleve that runs around it. Check to see if it's starting to let go, you'll see the rubber starting to crack and break down. Replace it if thats the case. Remove the right front inner splash shield to get a good look at it.
njmaxseltd is offline  
Old 03-21-2006, 05:34 AM
  #3  
KaZ
Supporting Maxima.org Member
iTrader: (5)
 
KaZ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Richardson, TX
Posts: 471
Originally Posted by njmaxseltd
Your coworker has no clue what he's talking about.

The crank pully has a rubber isolation sleve that runs around it. Check to see if it's starting to let go, you'll see the rubber starting to crack and break down. Replace it if thats the case. Remove the right front inner splash shield to get a good look at it.
Mine went when my Wife had it up in DC for the weekend (300 miles away, D'OH!). Had to rent a auto-dolly from UHaul, drive my truck up, tow it home, and then find a used crank pulley here on the forum... no fun. =( Plus I got a speeding ticket for doing 75 in a 65mph while towing the car home, which just added insult to injury... =(

Definitely look into getting a stock crank pulley to replace it or possibly look into getting a Motorstorm UD Pulley... =/
KaZ is offline  
Old 03-21-2006, 05:43 AM
  #4  
Old enuf to pick his own gears
Thread Starter
iTrader: (4)
 
d00df00d's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 5,036
Originally Posted by njmaxseltd
Your coworker has no clue what he's talking about.

The crank pully has a rubber isolation sleve that runs around it. Check to see if it's starting to let go, you'll see the rubber starting to crack and break down. Replace it if thats the case. Remove the right front inner splash shield to get a good look at it.
I checked that.... The rubber ring looks okay from what I can tell, and it's pretty uniform all the way around.

The thing is, even the bolt is moving around (the same way as the pulley). I would think that if it were just the rubber letting go, the bolt would look like it's just spinning in place, no?
d00df00d is offline  
Old 03-21-2006, 06:11 AM
  #5  
shift_Puff
 
95mtlMAXSE's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 536
I had the same problem with my old jetta. I never fixed it(car was a piece of crap). What i suggest you to do, is change the pulley(udp), put a new rubber ring and see if it works. I doubt the crank is off, cause the motor wouldn't run well. Other then that, i'm clueless
95mtlMAXSE is offline  
Old 03-21-2006, 06:27 AM
  #6  
Old enuf to pick his own gears
Thread Starter
iTrader: (4)
 
d00df00d's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 5,036
In what way would the motor run poorly if there were something wrong with the crank? It doesn't feel like it quite pulls as hard as it used to and my mileage is definitely a little on the low side, but those could be due to my driving and the big sub I put in the trunk recently. My engine isn't vibrating uncontrollably or sounding particularly strange at any RPM...
d00df00d is offline  
Old 03-21-2006, 09:13 AM
  #7  
Old enuf to pick his own gears
Thread Starter
iTrader: (4)
 
d00df00d's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 5,036
Here's another thought.

I was talking some more with my coworker, and he's thinking that the problem might be the water pump. I've had a coolant leak for some time now that is really hard to trace, but from what I can tell the water pump is the most likely source. Maybe the bearings have gone bad and it's shaking on the timing chain, causing the crank pulley to oscillate?
d00df00d is offline  
Old 03-22-2006, 04:15 PM
  #8  
Old enuf to pick his own gears
Thread Starter
iTrader: (4)
 
d00df00d's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 5,036
No help...?
d00df00d is offline  
Old 03-22-2006, 06:59 PM
  #9  
Senior Member
 
BlackMaxdout's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 497
Originally Posted by d00df00d
In what way would the motor run poorly if there were something wrong with the crank?
thats a very bold question.

Well, if the bolt on the end and the pulley are wobbling together, and that rubber is still solid, I would be wary that maybe the crank bearing on that side is going bad. Never heard of that before on a maxima, but it's usually caused something unbalanced. Crank walk can result. Engine would definitely run bad. If it's a completely spun outer bearing, it's alot less worse than a spun con rod bearing. I'd still be pretty apprehensive about what you just described.
BlackMaxdout is offline  
Old 03-22-2006, 07:01 PM
  #10  
Senior Member
 
BlackMaxdout's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 497
Originally Posted by njmaxseltd
Your coworker has no clue what he's talking about.
How do you figure? A spun outer crank bearing would definitely give visual symptoms like that. The bearing could still be intact, but on it's way out.
BlackMaxdout is offline  
Old 03-22-2006, 07:33 PM
  #11  
Old enuf to pick his own gears
Thread Starter
iTrader: (4)
 
d00df00d's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 5,036
Originally Posted by BlackMaxdout
thats a very bold question.
Yeah, I was worried that that would come across wrong. I was asking about specific warning signs (vibration, thrashy sound at high RPMs, etc.) to look out for. "Poor running" is a pretty general term.
d00df00d is offline  
Old 03-23-2006, 04:27 AM
  #12  
Member who somehow became The President of The SE-L Club
iTrader: (19)
 
njmaxseltd's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2001
Posts: 16,033
Originally Posted by BlackMaxdout
How do you figure? A spun outer crank bearing would definitely give visual symptoms like that. The bearing could still be intact, but on it's way out.
The crank will not move around if one bearing spins out of place. You'll simply loose oil pressure.

It the crank shaft was moving, even the smallest amount do to play in any bearings, the car would **** oil out of the crank shaft seal.
And again, you'd have absolutely no oil pressure with a situation like that.
njmaxseltd is offline  
Old 03-23-2006, 04:49 AM
  #13  
Old enuf to pick his own gears
Thread Starter
iTrader: (4)
 
d00df00d's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 5,036
It does look like I'm losing oil from that seal, but it's only a few drips here and there... nothing huge.

Is the water pump theory looking plausible then?
d00df00d is offline  
Old 03-23-2006, 06:57 AM
  #14  
Senior Member
iTrader: (7)
 
s0ber's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 3,834
free bump, in interested in teh results.
s0ber is offline  
Old 03-26-2006, 12:21 PM
  #15  
Old enuf to pick his own gears
Thread Starter
iTrader: (4)
 
d00df00d's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 5,036
Thanks for the bump, s0ber.

For you and anyone else who cares, it looks like the water pump was indeed the cause. I just finished replacing it and based on a cursory examination, the old one looked like its shaft was bent by about ~2 degrees. The crank pulley looks MUCH better now, except for some minor vibration. It does have radial cracks in the rubber ring, which is not unexpected above 125k miles. I guess I'll be replacing that later.

But yeah.... chalk one up for weird stories.
d00df00d is offline  
Old 03-26-2006, 09:01 PM
  #16  
Senior Member
iTrader: (4)
 
zazon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 678
yeah ive actually got a similar problem atm... unlike you though i can however feel the engine idling funny, see some lateral movement in the crank pulley from above, and hear a squeak coming from somewhere. i'm going to investigate this further this week, i havn't been driving the car much and it just started. grrr.
zazon is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
TKHanson
5th Generation Maxima (2000-2003)
6
11-24-2018 01:39 AM
chisam14
6th Generation Maxima (2004-2008)
1
11-06-2018 08:56 PM
zmcneely13
4th Generation Maxima (1995-1999)
1
09-26-2015 02:26 PM
msellas
4th Generation Maxima (1995-1999)
2
09-23-2015 09:16 PM
conansriver
5th Generation Maxima (2000-2003)
0
09-11-2015 10:26 AM



Quick Reply: Jiggling crank pulley....



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 07:49 PM.