Crank Shaft Damage

Pics of the key seat?

 

If the shop owner took responsibility that is huge. As mentioned above if they do the repair/replace of everything but the crankshaft how long will they warranty it, lifetime isnt going to happen, one year... maybe. The problem as I see it is you will be driving around with an unknown in the back of your mind, do you trust it enough to go across town, across country?

 

I count 4 keyway problems I've heard about on these on about the last month alone
....used to be rare

and really no way to test it when you buy one

implications are huge.....new engine!!

 

That’s my biggest hang up. I take this thing on a lot of trips and want to trust it as much as I always have but now I have a reason for doubt.
I mean, is that replacement woodruff key truly likely to fail?

 

Thats exactly why I suggested you do this in front of the toyota techs, at toyota, should have had the tech & owner inspect it at the toyota dealer.......
Had something in writing before ping ponging....

I would also under no circumstance allow them to get away with not reimbursing you for toyota teardown...
But thats me, I know a thing or 2 & know how to get what I want,
Theres many ways than one to turn up the heat on the pressure cooker...

 

sorry didn't grab anymore photos but the keyseat looked fine, the key itself wasn't super shaved down either

 

It looks like they might have not tightened the crank enough to hold the balancer on tight enough, allowing the balancer to smack back and forth on the key if the key wasn't actually "shaved down."

The crank / balancer is a slip fit and if they can clean up the crank surface to get the balancer to slide on smoothly, I'm not sure what could make it not work out moving forward (as long as they tigthen the crank bolt enough).

 

Right.

Big picture wise, I’m concerned that iff that thing made so many revolutions that it shaved down the crankshaft enough for that key to have play, it can be a ticking time bomb…

 

The woodruff key should fit snugly into the groove in the crankshaft and the harmonic balancer should fit snugly onto the crank assembly. The crankshaft bolt is a one time use bolt. What/how do you describe a snug fit? You generally have to take a sharp chisel to the portion of the woodruff key that projects above the crank and a few taps from a hammer it pivots out. I would slide the harmonic balancer onto the crank without the woodruff key to get a feel if there is any play between the two and then slide the woodruff key in the goove in the harmonic balancer to see it is a sung fit there too.

 

Tuna
BIG hurdle accomplished as Glamisman stated

Sounds like shop reasonable/fair

IMO
Would “negotiate” some sort of specific mileage warranty specifically dealing with the concerns about the W key potential failure(your concern)
“Lifetime” will not happen.
At this point, all about reasonable nego.
between the two parties
I think 5k-8k miles in the “gentleman agreement “ is fair. SPECIFICALLY for your concern.

now if you told shop you will drive the taco for another 10yrs +……only would expect
5k miles

 

Absolutely. Big relief that they owned the mistake and are willing to do something about it. Good advice on the warranty. I’ll see what I can negotiate and get it in writing.

 

Drove truck home today. Woodruff key, crank pulley, harmonic balancer, and crankshaft bolt were all replaced and documented. Owner added note to the service paperwork that the work is guaranteed for 5,000 miles. Running strong so far. And hey, it's a Toyota, you can hardly kill these things if you try.

 

Freakin Awesome

great job!!!

I think 5k is very reasonable
Way to Use Your Words in communication with shop…..A + job.

 

Sounds good. I wonder if he used red locktite [600 series] on the crank snout/balancer as an added precaution against it loosening up. Done right, that would probably outlast the rest of the engine.

 

I just read through the thread. Here's hoping all is fixed! Thanks for posting your saga...

I learn a lot reading about the experience of others on this forum and have a better understanding of what to watch out for. I've had 4 timing belts done over the years with 15k on my last one. All good so far.

 

Perhaps the 3vz does or would do that?
Not at all sure the 5vz would, mine was put through the ringer for the longest of spell until it finally broke into the moving engine fan blade...oh eez what the hell was that whoosh whoosh whoosh
Noisy clutch throw out bearing my bloody bum

 

Red loctite isnt something you would want to use on a front crank bolt & shouldn't have to...
Not like the threads were compromised, so zero chance of bolt coming loose..
If theres a tolerance issue between the crank snout & dampner, or a wollered out keyway slot in the crank, & the dampner pulley will eventually do the same thing as prior, red loctite isnt going to do anything but make things more difficult to pull apart...

Not trying to be negative Nelly here but 5k warranty coverage is a slap in the face on something they damaged from the get-go....
That throws huge red flags in my book, they dont have confidence in their own "solution" repairs...
just saying...

It is what it is at this point & hope its behind you!

If it doesnt make noise, you truly wont know how its holding-up till you do the timing belt next, get the dampner off, if you keep it that long...

 

I was gonna say.. minimum warranty for a legit shop is like 12 months/12,000 miles

 

It that problem doesn't show up again in 5k miles, it isn't going to.

 

Not a 100% accurate statement, we have no idea what happened from the get go...
We also dont have 100% proof that the cut-out in the crank isnt compromised / wallored out..
Toyota did see something where the felt the correct repair was a crank, that wasnt just cuz of a little marring that could have been cleaned up with some emery cloth...
Wasnt cuz it needed a replacement keyway only...