This might be a little OT for the subforum, but I know this is where the brains hang out. What would be the likely hood of a crank shaft failing? My Motostrom UDP took a major dump yesterday, and I do mean dump there are about 3 quarts of oil on my driveway and surrounding streets. The pulley is just wobbling around pretty badly and Im guessing that lead to the CS Oil Seal going out. The only good news so far is the engine didnt over heat or seize up. I just hope I didnt take out the CS.......................

 

That is very unlikely. Being NA, on a well lubricated engine, that is not ubber reved a- la RB26 8500rpm style, doesnt put enough stress on the crank to damage it. The rods would go out long before the crank on an ubber rev scenario.

Its possible that the pulley's bolt might have came loose little by little over time and allowed for play, that play could have easily caused cracks over time.

I suggest get down in there and remove the crank bolt to see if its broken/ loose.

Also, is it possible something on the road might have kicked up and hit it? Im just shooting ideas in the air.

 

No it definitely loose over time. I heard a noise and could never track it down. I figured at some point the noise would expose it's ugly self, but I never imagined this

 

damn.... out of all things, that had to happen huh? how is the pulley wobling? is it wobling like its loose, or wobling like its bent?

 

Its wobbling like its loose.

 

The VQ35 crankshaft will rev to 10k+ RPM before snapping. Remove the pulley and go from there.

 

Any odd vibrations when the engine is on? Strange noises coming from the bottom end?

 

No odd vibrations and the only noise was coming from the c/s pulley, I think. It was like a rattling noise sort of like when a tensioner pulley bearing is going out. Everything did run fine.

 

I think it's safe to say the engine would be far from smooth if the crankshaft was compromised in any significant way structurally. Maybe the crank pulley bolt backed out, maybe the threads were stripped. Who knows. No real way to tell until the pulley is removed and the area is observed.

 

Yeah, I know I need to do a visual inspection. Im going to do that tonight when I get home from work. Ill post up some pictures of the carnage. I just wanted to see if anyone had seen one of these break.

 

Damn... funny you mention, cause about a month ago I was headed to Florida and, well on the way my Motostorm UDP broke. Yes, I did say broke. I thought it was the belt and while doing an emergency repair in a Wal-mart parking lot, I found it was the UDP itself.

More specifically, the inner ring and "spokes" separated from the outer ring, where the belt goes around it. I'm sorry I didn't take pics, cause I live 5 mins from Brett's shop and walked in and he gave me a replacement. You might want to let him know about the problem. It could be a bad batch or issues with the machining, but whatever, it looks like I am not the only one.

So, as far as your question in your post, I don't think it's your crankshaft you have to worry about.

PS_PM me if you need Brett's contact info.

 

Wow. I wonder how many other people have had problems with their pulleys? Ive had mine on the car for about 2 years now and never had a problem till about 3 months ago. That is when the noise started. My suspect is the brass ring that was pressed on to the back of the pulley. Im not sure though. I wont be tearing anything down till I get the replacement OEM pulley in a few days.

Stay tuned............

 

Well, its not as bad as I thought so I hope things turn out fine.

 

The damage report is in. I got the new pulley yesterday and started pulling everything apart. The damage is WAY worse than originally though. At this point I would be happy with a broken crank shaft. Other than me driving the engine till it blew or seized this is probably the worst thing that could have happend. I will be digging into it further tonight and hopefully have it completely fixed on Saturday with the help of a mechanic (this is a little outside my tallent).

Metal shavings in the timing case and oil pan FTL!

 

What are everyone's opinions on how I should handle this with Motostrom. What would be fair?

 

damn warner!! i still have the 3.5 block if u wanna buy it back from me lol jk hope u get ur car running soon

 

Hang on to it! I may want to buy it back at some point. I dont know that even with a very good inspection and cleaning this engine will ever be 100% free of metal bits.

 

aight bro! u let me know

 

wow. sorry for your luck (sincerely)...

Haven't had any problems with my Motostorm but I'm gonna check and retighten the bolts on the REF ring now for sure!

What's your assessment? Was the main part of the pulley still properly in place, held on by the crank bolt? Was it just the REF ring that came loose on the back and starting chewing the TC cover?

 

It was the ring. This is what made the pulley look like it was wobbling. The crank pulley bolt was still securely in place. I mean securely! I broke a chrome 19mm socket trying to loosen it. I used a 3 foot breaker bar and an impact 19mm socket and finally broke it loose after wedging the bar in the LCA and cranking the engine a few times. Its fair to say it was on there VERY tight.

 

Holy crap. What a bad one! Next oil change I'll feel behind my MotoStorm UDP to make sure those timing ring bolts are flush. This is the 1st time i hear of a problem with this pulley, or any other UDP for the Maxima for that matter.

 

I havent heard of many problems either. Locktite was used on these bolts to hold them in so this is very wierd

 

it almost looks as if the bolts sheared off... I can't really tell in the pics.

 

Yes, 2 of the 4 bolts came out far enough to be completely sheared off. I imagine this happened when they finally wore through the timing cover. If you look directly below the bolt above the c/s you can see a big chunk of the cover missing. I suspect that is what sheared off the heads of the bolts.

 

holy crap... that makes sense now. I was trying to figure out the groove in the timing chain cover.

Well I got an extra crankshaft oil seal for the 3.0 if you want (i'm not sure if it works on the 3.5 though)

 

Thanks, I believe they are the same, but I already picked up one for a 3.5 at the dealership. I have pretty much everything I need as far as parts. Stephen Max came through with a T/C Cover last night. Now I just need a lot of luck to get all the aluminum bits out. The fact that they are aluminum complicates things since a magnetic drain plug will do nothing for me.

 

Ok thanks, that's what it looked like from the pics but I wanted to check. I'm definitely gonna check the bolts now before I put the pulley on the new engine.

 

Id find the highest grade/most permanent Locktite you can and use that as well. Hell have them welded and ground down

 

Haha yeah the loctite is a given I just didn't bother to mention it. If mine are still tight after 1.5 years of high revving then I won't be as worried, you may have got a fluke there, maybe they were never tightened/locked properly to start with?

 

The oil pump pick up screen should catch most big bit. If the aluminum particles small enough to get through the pick up screen, then im sure the oil filter will catch them. For big chunk, i'm sure they would be laying in the bottom of the oil pan. Another thing would be to flush the oiling system with some atf..

 

Red Locktite was used. They should not have backed out.

 

Any ideas as to how it happened then? Have you contacted Motostorm, do they have anything to say?

 

I have no hypothesis on how they backed out but some how they did. The point still remains that its a very poor design. There is now a proven flaw in this product and it has a major mechanical ramifications. If anything at all, the bolts should have been from the front of the pulley and not the back. This way if they backed out there would be more than likely no serious damage to the engine. Ideally the timing ring should be machined into the pulley like the OEM one. Looking back I would have GLADLY paid and extra $20-30 for that. How I wish I knew what I do now 2 years ago when I bought this.

I sent an email to Brett today, but have yet to get a response. I have some phone numbers for him so if by Monday I have no response still I will call.

 

Does the unorthodox UDP have the ring machined/welded onto it?

I used to have a motorstorm and never had a problem with it. The guy who has my old engine now did not have any problems either.

 

I would get them to pay for it. It is not YOUR fault so they should back their product.

 

Ok, so its even worse than I thought. Good thing your able to get it taken care of. That is a scary sight. Glad the engine didnt blow up or anything.

 

Alles gut. For now at least. I finished up the job on Saturday. I still havent heard anything from Brett @ Motostrom. I will call him today and see how far I can get. I have a bad feeling I will probably never get to talk to him. Here are a few more pictures of the carnage.