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Civic sedan: 1997 150i

so on my home from the shop I notice at a stop that as I push the clutch down and put the gear lever into neutral, there's a soft, slight rattle before the normal sound my car makes when it's Idling, I make a stop at the garage for fuel

after I'm done getting fuel, I start up the engine, only this time the rattle is louder and I can feel it shaking on my foot that's on the clutch. I drive home slowly and after having a look I find that it's the motor that has two belts connected to it seems like the main motor/'turning thing', cos it's turning everything else on the belts and even though it doesn't look very loose, my front wheels (front wheel drive) and gear lever is shaking

can anyone tell me what that double wheel turning the belts is called and whether it's just that that's loose or could it be a more serious problem? I need my car running by saturday morning.

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Your 'double wheel turning the belts' is called the crankshaft pulley. Some vehicles have a pulley assembled in two 'halves' and are bonded together to form the crankshaft pulley. In the bonded arrangement it now becomes a 'crankshaft engine damper'. If the bonding becomes detached to any extent the damper will allow and even cause engine vibrations, and will need to be replaced. You say you get noises and vibrations when operating the clutch pedal. In this event your problem will more than likely be your clutch release bearing or clutch diaphragm spring failing. In either of these events you will need to have your clutch overhauled. Let your local repair shop advise on which end of the engine is at fault.

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  • mechanic sent me images of it, crank pulley connection between the small and big half broke, or some piece of metal got in there while it was turning and it broke – pythonian29033 Aug 5 '14 at 14:10
  • is it possible that a broken crank pulley bolt can get stuck in the crankshaft? that's what the mechanic is telling me, but that doesn't make sense to me, cos the car still droke, if that was the problem wouldn't the car not go at all? – pythonian29033 Aug 5 '14 at 15:09
  • If the crankshaft pulley bolt worked its way loose and was subsequently battered about by the loose pulley, then yes, it could shear the bolt. Your mechanic may have enough bolt left sticking out of the crank to MIG weld an old socket, or suitably cut down bolt to allow the remaining piece of the bolt to be extracted. The bolt may also be able to be drilled with a really good quality drill and then use 'extractors' on it. It is though a precarious situation to save the crank. – Allan Osborne Aug 5 '14 at 15:43
  • guy asked to replace the crank etc. I went to take a look, it was broken off right in there. so a new crank was bought and pulley/woodruf key and I'm having a new clutch plate. cost me the equivalent of about $500 – pythonian29033 Aug 12 '14 at 9:44

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