Crankshaft pulley wobble - anything to worry about?

[YangFJ40]

Put in my motor a few weeks back and when I first started it up I noticed the crank pulley has wobble in it and more than it used to before the rebuild. I looked up the prices and they are pretty ridiculous in my opinion and I frankly don't any money right now. Just wondering if this is anything to worry about. So far with the first 250 miles it hasn't done me wrong.

 

[sggoat]

First of all I would check to make sure the pulley is not loose. Loosen the belts and see if it can be moved at all. If not, the pulley may have been damaged during the rebuild, causing the wobble. I'm assuming there are no oil leaks at the front. Easy to put a dial indicator on the block/pulley to check the run-out.

 

[gr8ful]

I can't speak directly to cruiser's in this scenario, and I think that it could definitely be an indicator of larger issues. But I can also say that the main crank pulley on my '65 Galaxie convertible (ford 390 v8, with some performance builds) has wobbled a bit for 20 years with no issues. Sometimes the pulley itself just isn't mounted 100% flush, and you can't really see it until it is turning. But by then, nobody wants to undo all the work to set it right. My biggest fear whenever I open the hood & see it, is that it might throw a belt on the, "bad side" of the wobble. But to date, that has never happened. It isn't a daily driver, because it is a good weather only vehicle, but I don't hesitate to drive it anywhere when the weather is nice, so it does get miles.
Best,
abe

 

[White Stripe]

The crank pulley is pretty vital and affects the smoothness of the engine. If its wobbling then its bad. You may get away for years running it this way, or it may damage the main bearings. If it were me I would replace it asap, sure its expensive, but do you really want to play russian roulette with your motor? That could be way more expensive and more work just because of a bad pulley that you knew had a problem. Mine was wobbling at one time-I replaced it-wobble gone, and motor seems to run a bit smoother.

 

[shawnfj40]

Crank pulleys are hard to "see" a wobble optical illusion comes to mind when they have been painted. I would setup a dial indicator on the suspected wobble (you can fashion a fixed point to watch if you don't have an indicator). Pull the coil wire and crank the motor to measure runout on the pulley.

 

[firestopper]

I would also check with indicator. Crank pulley wobble (depending how bad a wobble) could result in a leaking front seal at the very least.