Mongo

I'm not sure whether I still have rod bearings or not; but I do know I had 1.5-2 bar of oil pressure in my motor before I shut it down due to what happened.

My crankshaft pulley bolt backed out on the freeway today at about 60 mph in traffic on a 2 lane road that has NO SHOULDERs. I had to drive for another 2 minutes at 1.5-2 bars of oil pressure to a shoulder off the freeway. When I stepped on the clutch finally, the bars dropped to 1, the "!" light comes on and I killed it immediately to prevent any knocking.

I didn't hear any knocking, but I'm well aware that you need a very tight crankshaft pulley bolt to drive the oil pump. I lost my powersteering/crankshaft pulley along with the bolt in this. I'm wondering if I may have had any engine damage. I did hear what sounded like a whirring.

When I came to a stop, after talking to a friend who told me to pull the coil wire and crank it to see if the timing belt slipped with the pulley bolt, I cranked the car and it sounded fine cranking. The motor didn't seize. Again I didn't hear any knocking, but is there any other way to tell there is the possiblity of damage to rod bearings here with low psi like that? Another thing that could have helped the car was that I have a cross-drilled crankshaft.

xsboost90

if you had oil pressure you "should" be fine, especially if you werent getting on it at all... I should have a pully/bolt if you need one. I doubt the timing belt would be affected by this unless your entire a/c pully came off...

Mongo

I have a pulley bolt, and a friend is gonna give me a pulley to put back on my car too. I hope that's all I need or it's Merry #&@ing Xmas for me

xsboost90

could always drain the oil and check the plug for copper colored debris.

sharky47

Unless the TB pully came of the shaft, it's keyed - so timing should be fine. You also had oil pressure, not super high - but pressure nontheless. You should be ok - make sure you get that bolt tizight!

MichelleJD

Agreed. It's scary, but you should be alright. Mine backed out, but it was at a gas station. Pulled to the pump - 4.5 bar. Cranked it after fillup - 0. Reeeaaaally scary

Mongo

There was more than a crankshaft power steering pulley that is in need of replacement. Apparently the Woodruff key is shredded on my crankshaft. No Big Deal. It does however, look scary as hell when you're cranking the motor and you see your balance shaft gear wobbling like a drunken hobo. Makes you wanna cry when your friend thinks the front of the crankshaft is bent

Zero10

I can't imagine bending the crank....
Now, demolishing the keyway and the inside of the pulley, that is another thing.
You might be in for some bad news. Try not to stress out too much until you get the pulleys off and take a closer look. Post some pics if you can.

Mongo

I already did. Lots of metal shavings. The woodruff key is pretty mangled.

StoogeMoe

Sorry to tell you this, but if you lost your crank bolt, you didn't have any oil pressure. The only way is if you had some friction between the crankshaft and the drive gear. Why Porsche didn't key that drive gear is beyond me, but that's what we have to live with. Maybe your gage doesn't read below 1, and that was your zero level. You might want to drain your oil and do a check for piece of mind.

____________________________________
1986 944 NA - Guards Red - 91k miles - minty
1983 944 NA - Platinum metallic - 8000 mi beginning a new life
1985.1 944 NA - Guards Red - donor car
1984 911 Carrera Coupe - Guards Red (gone, but not forgotten)
"If you're not living on the edge, you're not living"

Mongo

The car cranks fine Moe with no rods knocking on it. My gauge was reading right. I may have dodged a bullet here. I'll find out when I get it all back together tomorrow night. It's impossible to find a woodruff key for a crank in San Diego today

xsboost90

if the key was being shredded it still could have had enough to keep pressure- i had that happen on my supra once, bolt backed out-doesnt drive the oil pump thankfully- and pully came loose- Keyway honed out the pulley 1/8" all the way around and then eventually bent the crank bolt.

Porsche-O-Phile

How'd you tighen that thing?

josephsc

The first time I ever did a timing belt, I installed that weird washer thing behind the bolt backwards -- ended up shredding the PS pulley and the woodruff key after driving the around for about a day. The car was fine afterwards though.

Mongo

Jeff, I hit it with a 250 ft/lbs air gun about 10 months ago. I didn't use Loctite Blue though on the end of the threads.