[s-cars] [s-cars} Was Bad CPS - Now Bad Crank Pulley

[Matthew Russell]

Interesting thread, and interesting theories.... (unfortunate 
situation, of course!) -that I hope has a positive final outcome.

Just a tidbit of info here, and I may not be fully understanding all 
the parts and how they all relate to one another as I've not done my 
own T-belt replacement, (having recently acquired my own garage) ... 
but wanted to mention something.

I've seen several instances where pieces are pressed together when they 
are assembled, (as opposed to a cast part), and those pieces have lost 
their original alignment with themselves when they failed.  I'm 
speaking specifically of certain dirt bike and ATV camshafts whose gear 
is pressed onto the camshaft from the factory with no alignment marks.  
Under certain conditions the gear has spun on the cam making diagnoses 
of a poor running/no-start condition very difficult.

I'm just wondering if that's what happened here - the balancer pulley 
got out of alignment with the keyway as Tom suggested.  He asked if 
anyone knew if this was possible? Yes, I think so... but I don't know 
enough about the Audi balancer pulley assembly to conclude 100% for you.

my .02
-Matt, CO
92 s4


> Message: 7
>

> Tom,
>
> It really is almost impossible to reinstall the crank pulley 
> incorrectly if
> the key is intact.  Further, they would have no reason to remove it to
> change the CPS.  Yes, they removed the timing belt, but they most 
> likely
> only removed it from the cam sprocket, not the crank.  I sincerely 
> doubt the
> dealer would have both been inept enough to remove the lower pulley to
> change a CPS and also somehow manage to re-install it incorrectly.  
> When the
> belt was reinstalled, if they lined it up with the timing marks, it 
> went on
> the same way it came off.  Agreed there is a possibility they could 
> have
> accidentally put the belt on wrong and then concocted the "bad pulley" 
> story
> to cover the mistake - a real stretch for Fairfield Audi.
>
> Unless, of course, the harmonic balancer failed in such a way that the
> timing mark on the balanced moved in such a way that it was no longer
> correctly related to the key on the sprocket.  That may have resulted 
> in the
> belt coming off right but going back on wrong (despite being in line 
> with
> the timing marks).  If that's the case, it's tough to blame the dealer
> 100%.  I can't say that I would have caught that and I've done a belt 
> or
> two.  Does anyone know if this is possible?  Seems worth considering 
> given
> that the parts price must cover more than just the sprocket...