So we pulled the car apart today to do the "keyway fix" on the crank.
The big bolt wasn't very tight, but, there was no evident damage on the crank or keyway, so we just stuck the new bolt in with loctite and put it back together.
The crank pulley is still wobbly? I'm assuming this means the rubber on the balancer portion has failed? I'm thinking that is the only logical answer since we now know the keyway is good, there is a fresh crank bolt torqued to spec (1.6 car tightened to 85ft-lb).
Am I correct in my diagnosis?
toconn
New Reader
5/18/13 5:18 p.m.
I'm not a miata owner so I'm not intimate with the details, but if the woodruff key fits snugly inside both both the pulley and the crank keyways, I agree that your problem must be elsewhere. You're sure that the pulley is seating properly? No dirty or damaged contact surfaces or anything?
From what I could tell yes. I also rule that out since it went from "not wobbling" to "wobbling" before we had taken anything apart.
It's quite possible that the accessory pulley is failing. One way to check is to set the car to TDC using the "screwdriver down the plug hole" method and see if the timing mark lines up with T on the timing scale. If not, then the two halves of the damper are moving independently.
Keith, I'll do that tomorrow.
There isn't anything else it could be though, I'm thinking there really isn't.
