Car repair question:

Al A. · 2004-10-25T23:06:11+00:00

Hi All, I also posted this question to but here at RCM weknow EVERYTHING, so here goes: I have a chance to pick up (for near zero cost) a 1994 Subaru Legacysedan. It has a 4 Cyl. enging,75K miles,generally decent body, etc.not sure of too much else at this point. I'm going for a closer looklater in the week, but hoped to gather some data first. Like all such deals, something is wrong with it. In this car, theharmonic balancer came loose about 3 months ago, and it messed up theslot in the shaft that the woodruff key for the balancer fits into. Atthe time, the owners mechanic advised that pulling the crank to fixthe slot was not a viable option, but offered (as a no cost and"what-have-you-got-to-lose" type of repair) to put the key back in andfix it in place with JB Weld. Well, it held for about 3 months. last week, it came loose again, andseems to have scarred up the ID of the balancer. He went out andbought a new car, and offered me this one on a "gimmie whatever it isworth to you" sort of offer. My thinking is that I could put a new key in what remains of theslot, and zap in the missing metal from the slot with the MIG machineand dremel to fit. Or maybe make a fake key out of something the migfiller will not stick to (graphite, copper or whatever) put in placeand weld around it. Then pull it out, leaving a vague woodruff keyseatshaped hole. Or gimmie a better idea. I would likely need to replace the balancer as it looked prettygouged up, at least at a glance. I work with the owner, and a pretty good friends with him, and whenthe balancer is not flopping around, the car runs great. If I couldeffect a decent repair, this car would make a great cheap to runaround towner. Anyone know if this is a common problem with Subarus? How do you guysrate the likelyhood of a sucessful repair? Any thoughts, comments,alternative ideas for repairs, etc?Thanks, your input is much appreciated.AL

Oct 25, 2004 25 Replies

Rate this thread:

Rex B 21 years ago

||On Tue, 26 Oct 2004 14:14:16 GMT, rex@@txol.net (Rex B) wrote: || ||>On Tue, 26 Oct 2004 00:07:05 -0500, Don Foreman ||>

||>||Here's what I did (snip) ||>|| making a new slot on the opposite side of the ||>||crank from the one that was barfed. ||>|| That made ||>||a new keyway that a new key fit tap-in snug. ||>

||>||Knocked the burrs off the barfed keyway, put on a better harmonic ||>||balancer from the junkyard. ||>

||>Seems to me tha having a HB 180 degrees out from intended mounting would render ||>it inneffective. Most I've seen have an assymetric weight cast into the ||>balancer, which gives the assembly the correct... balance. ||>Texas Parts Guy || ||I bet timing was a bit of a pain also.

No problem if you have a lift Texas Parts Guy

Vote

Al A. 21 years ago

Hey, thanks to all who replied. Lots of great ideas. I am going to take a look at the car tomorrow or thursday. It sounds to me like there is a good chance of making a decent repair. If things don't look too bad, I am going to attempt this. I'm thinking that the best approach may be more obvious when I get a better look at how everything goes together.

If and when I do this, I will report back how it all goes. Thanks again!

-AL

BTW - I also posted this question to alt.autos.subaru at the same time I posted it here. Score:

RCM - 22 replies AAS - 1 reply

RCM. Why shop anywhere else? :)

Vote

Al A. 21 years ago

I have heard the term "dutchman" used for those little football shaped plugs that you see in the outer layers of plywood, that the mill uses to fill in knot holes.

I don't know where the term comes from either.

Vote

Jon Grimm 21 years ago

round pins make awful keys.

We spent days repairing part of a cnc lathe turret that had been repaired that way, um, 3 times

if it didn't work the first time, or the second...

Vote

Martin H. Eastburn 21 years ago

I think you will find the Dutchman is a wood workers Bow Tie shaped reverse wedges that hold two adjacent pieces together. It might be a larger group of in-planted clamp.

Martin

Vote

jim rozen 21 years ago

Then they have "dog-bones" that hold large flywheel rim pieces together. Todd Engine, and all.

Dutchman? That was always understood to be a clever, non-tradional way of keying something to a shaft. I always thought the deriviation had something to do with clever german (deutch) toolmakers.

Jim

Vote

Join the Discussion

Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.

Didn't find your answer?

Ask the community — no account required