Yes, this happened to me.  I replaced the crankshaft and water pump pulleys
with VW Rabbit items.  I used the largest single-belt cast iron pulley I
could find, along with the smallest water pump pulley.  No further
problems, and it runs cooler on steep climbs.

Mike <mjcatlin@dcn.davis.ca.us>
'82 diesel
Davis, No. Calif., U.S.A.
----------
> From: Mark B. Magee <condor2@FLASH.NET>
> To: Vanagon@GERRY.SDSC.EDU
> Subject: Sheared Crankshaft Pulley 82 Diesel Westy
> Date: Thursday, September 04, 1997 6:23 AM
>
> 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