Volks,
I sheared off my crankshaft pulley last weekend on my 82 Diesel Westy.
The center portion of the 2 belt pulley remained bolted to the
crankshaft flange, but the rest of the pulley broke, in a circular
fashion around the portion that stayed bolted on the flange. This seems
ridiculously odd to me. I have had difficulty finding one as this pulley
is specifically for the Diesel Vanagon only. VW says that only 3 of
these exist in the US in thier distribution system. I am concerned that
I should consider having something beefier than stock spun on a lathe.
The VW parts guy said this is not a high failure item, but that
obviously the Diesel engine pulses much harder than the gas and that
apparently the stress causes fractures that eventually leads to failure.
I guess if a new one lasts me another 15 years I'll be okay. Any
comments from any Dieselees? Has this happened to anyone else.
Mark Magee
87GL
82 Diesel Westy
Kemah TX USA