What exactly is the 1.9 crank pulley problem and best fix..

[Kudagra]

I got a free '85 Jetta turbo diesel because of a crank bolt problem.
 It happened about 10,000 miles after he had the timing belt changed.
 The second 1.6 TD engine I got my hands on had a new topline head on it and a crank bolt that wouldn't come off without breaking the impact socket ... after we welded the impact socket to the crank bolt it came off real easy (due to all that heat).
 They put that bolt on real good. When we got it off, it was obvious the keyway in the nose of the crank was messed up.
 Long story short I got it running but compression was low so I pulled the engine apart and the pistons didn't have any valve marks in them .... but they were also used (the rings were slopping around in the grooves) NA diesel pistons (looked close and the squirter jets slots were ground into them).
 New head, lame pistons, something happened to it.
 It could have been a broken belt that caused the crank keyway to look bad ... or it could have been a crank bolt incident that caused the "rebuild".
 Every once in awhile I hear of another 1.6TD for sale because of the crank bolt messing up.

All I know is I had to heat up the bolt to get it out. And looking at the backside of the crank pully the tiny 1/4 keyway was hammered on the clockward side.

[VwPodRacer]

The best thing to do with the 1.9L Crank issue is if you remove the Crank Sprocket you are best and recommended to install a new bolt that holds the sprocket in place. If you remove it and install it with the same bolt what normally happens is the bolt breaks and or fails which causes the failure. The bolt is only supposed to be used once and if removed should be replaced. :lol:

[wyldman]

It's not really the bolt that is the problem (although it can break if not replaced).The crank,and\or gear can fail even with a new bolt properly tightened.The bolt does not have to come loose for it to fail.

[935racer]

IF you catch it soon enough there is actually a "kit" to install, updated bolt and harmonic balancer witha  new crank sprocket. I have a customer I did this for about 4o,ooo kms ago and its running awesome, of course his crank was mint when I did this, I think he now has a total of 260,000 kms on his engine, hes got one of my dp's, full exhaust, giles pump etc.

[jimbrown618]

IF you catch it soon enough there is actually a "kit" to install, updated bolt and harmonic balancer witha  new crank sprocket. I have a customer I did this for about 4o,ooo kms ago and its running awesome, of course his crank was mint when I did this, I think he now has a total of 260,000 kms on his engine, hes got one of my dp's, full exhaust, giles pump etc.

Just going thru some old posts on crank bolt stuff. Does anyone have info on mentioned "kit"?  Cheers.

[commuter boy]

I have never had one fail that I had put back together.

Bingo.  My dad's a VW diesel mechanic back east, and his experience has been the same.

His talking to other "regular" VW mechanics tells him they do timing belts by just undoing the crank sprocket bolt with an impact gun, because it's fast and easy.

When time comes to put it back together, they don't use the proper torque procedure and use a new bolt.  A while down the road, wobble, wobble.

He's never had one of his come loose.

[myke_w]

would a tdi pulley / balancer help to correct the problem?
 anyone ever find the later updated #?

[gnavs]

some good info here, whats a new tdi crank worth?

[myke_w]

ETKA says the damper / pulley # is 028105243t but that doesn't have a power steering v-belt pulley on it.

see link

http://worldimpex.com/parts/german-crankshaft-damper_272089.html