So my crank pulley came off while driving...

[whiteghost]

two hours ago and the car overheated (though I doubt the accuracy of the gauge a bit). I was able to find the pulley on the side of the road but not the 38mm nut that was supposd to keep it on the crank. Online searches have yielded no vendors that sell this nut. Does anyone know a source?

Also, has anyone heard of this happening before? The tourque spec on this sucker is 181ft. lbs. ,and I definitely didn't verify it was that tight when I went through the car after buying it a few months ago. Live and learn. Is some loctite blue in order to keep it on?

[pope]

My thought on the subject about Loctite is not on a part that gets torqued to 181. Loctite is for lighter torques that need to stay in place either throught vibration or repetitive motion. I think that nut was only hand tight. If you dont believe me, wait till you have to retouque the nut, then you will understand this as you will have to practically stand on the torque wrench to get it to spec.

vickauto.com has the nut
Part number 57-0392 $6.45 1971-83

Not knowing what year you have, I hope you did not bend the valves from hitting the tops of the pistons or aux shaft!

[Curly]

Not knowing what year you have, I hope you did not bend the valves from hitting the tops of the pistons or aux shaft!

It is possible for the crank pulley to come loose and fall off thus throwing the belt drive to the alternator and water pump (causing the overheating ) without the cam belt drive pulley coming off as well, therefore not damaging valves and pistons.
I've never had one fall off, but did have one come loose and rattle around after the nut fell off. It was tightened up properly before hand too. Check that you haven't damaged the keyway, the crank surface or the internal face of the pulley before you throw it all together again. Personally I don't like over using Loctite, it does work wonders, but it's also a bugger having to clean the threads each time you rermove and replace an item.
For extra security I've gone for the lockwire method.

[mdrburchette]

The lockwire method as Curly points out is a great added security and the tool can be bought for as little as $25.

[whiteghost]

Thanks a ton for the quick replies.

Pope- I appreciate the part #.

It doesn't seem that the timing belt has slipped as the car drove normally (but hot) for the 2 miles it wasn't turning the water pump or alternator. The keyway on the pulley was marred a bit, but I haven't had a chance to check the threaded part of the crank. The strange thing is that my crank pulley has three groves for V-belts but only uses 1 to drive the w.pump and atl. The car is a 1980 FI spider, but I'm thinking the pulley is from a different year/model.

[whiteghost]

Well, the nut is out of stock at Vickauto.com so I'm going to go see if I can get one off a car that's rotting behind someone's barn a few miles from me. Wish me luck and strength!

[mbouse]

do you have the keyway?

[whiteghost]

Yes I have a key (not the one that was on it), and the channel on the crank pulley is in decent shape. Does anyone know if a 1.5" socket will work okay instead of a 38mm? None of my mechanic friends have a 38mm and I don't really want to spend $20 on one.

[mdrburchette]

38mm should be the same as a 1.5"

[whiteghost]

So I sourced a 38mm nut and crank pulley from the 77 spider I found rotting behind a barn a few miles away and put them on. My crank pulley was too far gone (keyway badly marred) to re-use. In the process of installing it, I found a leak in my radiator and discovered that the radiator fan turn on switch was done, so I wired a new manual switch into the car so I can controll the fan's turn on/off.

Does anyone know of a good non fiat radiator I might be able to find in a junk yard that will be of comparable size and with similar outlet/inlet locations. If not I'll just have to do some j-yard crawling!!

Thanks,

Sam

[So Cal Mark]

check some of the old Volvos