Thread: Crank pulley failed - HUGE problem and eventually an engine rebuild

That is not good...I originally thought it was the snapped oil pump housing..

that just seen the confidence in the 2.7 plummet even further ...

182k was the timing belt done recently ?

Bulletman

Originally Posted by Bulletman

That is not good...I originally thought it was the snapped oil pump housing..

that just seen the confidence in the 2.7 plummet even further ...

issues with the D4 2.7 engine are very rare,they were modified from the D3.

Talk to any Indie,and they will agree.MAny say they have never seen a crank failure in the D4 2.7 either,unlike the D3 2.7 and 3.0l.

The 3.0L is actually more problematic than the 2.7 D4,although there are more of the 3.0l around.A search on here will confirm.

As for the OP,never seen anything like that,hopefully Dazza or JC will chime in.

which side cam pulley ?, have they taken that side rocker cover off to see if the chain is intact ?
frequent oil changes?

Originally Posted by discorevy

which side cam pulley ?, have they taken that side rocker cover off to see if the chain is intact ?
frequent oil changes?

Chain failure was my first thought when i saw it.

I don't recall which side. All belts, oil and more than usual service history in my car. It is highly maintained.

For the purists in the group I have added a few open heart surgery shots.

Not how the average person wants to see their car. Once the shock had settled I was pretty proud of the outback souvenirs gathered over the years though.

Note the small bearings on the camshaft clamps. Hoping they were all collected. Apparently the clamps on cylinder two (drivers side) all failed.

What went first is the real question, did the cam lock up and the belt was strong enough to break the pulley?
I wouldn't think a pulley would let go. The can may have seized and it was the weakest point?

At the end of the day the question doesn't matter the result is no good. Sorry to see your car like that. Unfortunately it's unseen which is not good for you or anyone else.

Have you got a photo of the piston? Did it get a valve strike?

Originally Posted by josh.huber

What went first is the real question, did the cam lock up and the belt was strong enough to break the pulley?
I wouldn't think a pulley would let go. The can may have seized and it was the weakest point?

At the end of the day the question doesn't matter the result is no good. Sorry to see your car like that. Unfortunately it's unseen which is not good for you or anyone else.

Have you got a photo of the piston? Did it get a valve strike?

Good point. It was impressive when the roof blew off at Chernobyl but a few things had happened prior.

Originally Posted by josh.huber

What went first is the real question, did the cam lock up and the belt was strong enough to break the pulley?
I wouldn't think a pulley would let go. The can may have seized and it was the weakest point?

?

The pulley went first. I didn't know at the time, all I realised was the car had stalled at a stationary part of rush hour traffic! (total PITA) It wouldn't restart either. Tow truck to home and then next day to the mechanic shop. He was very baffled. I saw a neat trick with a short wire and a fuse removed, which obviously bypassed the starter button so he could crank the engine over continuously and listen / look for issue. Other than a bad sound, no starting and no fault codes.

Later that day he said "you won't believe this, its the pulley". He had a few spare engines in the shop and so swopped over a used one. Turned the belt and it rotated the cam. So next day put a new belt on The car appeared fine. It lasted another 2,600km before next fault. Now it was suddenly shaking like an earthquake and I could only guess that one of the pistons was misfiring.

Managed to get it to the mechanic again. He was concerned this time ! I was thinking I might looking at a dead engine. Massive credit to the bloke, he was so thorough in working out what the heck had happened.

No piston damage. Had everything checked out.

But the big uncertainty in all the story is why, which we just couldn't figure out.