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Woodruff, UT Car Consumer Discussions

Re: Glass covered headlights on a 380SL [fintail]

by burdawg on Mon Nov 10 14:24:56 PST 2008

The cam timing could also be different. I'm not sure about 380's but 280's had offset woodruff keys for the cam gears to vary the timing.

Re: my 323 might come back from the dead... [needwheels2]

by 323gtxrfreak on Sat Jun 14 12:31:38 PDT 2008

These crankshafts have a known design flaw being a short crank snout. Mazda later redesigned it. When the timing belt is changed if one is not paying attention the woodruff key can be put in backwards if this is done it will wallow the keyway out along with destroying the key. yes they can be welded in but then you risk burning up the front seal which will leak and i mean bad not to mention if you use the old timing gear and it is not properly lined up it will rub a hole in the oil pump. There is abetter fix that works without replacing the crank. You will need a good woodruff key and a good timing gear. I got mine from an old engine at the salvage yard. Then you need a new front seal and a tube of octite pressfit along with atube of loctite blue. Then go to http://www.miata.net/garage/hsue/LoctiteCrank1.html. Matter of fact just go there first. The timing belts on these can be changed without taking the crank bolt loose just a bit more work but worth it to not have to worry about this problem. THese cars are worth the repair they are known to get 300,000 miles when cared for properly. I have done it all welding and the loctite repair. The welding of the pully to the crank works for awhile but the loctite repair worked even better. THe weld will torch the seal and even when I used abottle of water onit the weld wound up breakiking after wearing a hole in the oil pump. I cut the weld out and done the miata repair just as described and got all the mileage still left in the engine. Hope Iam not to late I just saw your post.">

Re: my 323 might come back from the dead... [needwheels2]

by girlcarbuilder on Mon May 19 10:09:50 PDT 2008

I smell fish. First, there are no cotter pins on the crankshaft! There is a woodruff key in the front that holds pulley and gear from spinning. Very rarely do they ever cause trouble. If ever! At the worst the gear might be worn, but that is even very rare. He wants to buy the car for $200.....he knows it is cheap on gas. You need to try to find a way to look at some parts and see what they look like new. Search the net and see what a woodruff key, crankshaft timing gear for a belt and the nose of the crankshaft looks like. Never a good idea to swap parts from one engine to another without doing the proper machine work needed. Oh, machine shops that do enigine work do have to rebuild crankshafts at times by adding metal by welding it on and re machine the whole thing again.

Re: 1985 mercedes 300td won't start [rcasto]

by burdawg on Mon Mar 10 06:45:11 PDT 2008

If the chain is still on the cam gear then I doubt it's broken. It could be many things - chain is stretched past the point of the tensioner range, broken woodruff key on the crank gear, bad crank gear, broken crankshaft (does the harmonic balancer/pulley turn when the engine is turned?), many others I'm sure. The only way to know for sure is to pull the front cover and look.

Re: 99 f250 sd 5.4. Computer says engine not running [balfour]

by mickeymouse2 on Wed Dec 19 20:07:52 PST 2007

You didn't specify if you have a Dual Overhead Cam DOHC or just the 5.4L. Will run, probably like crap, wont rev up. Black soot, yada, yada, PCM indicates not running. Not much to go on because I'm not there to figure it out, but here is my opinion. Black soot most likely indicates either too much fuel or improper combustion. Not being able to rev the engine up indicates improper timing of the engine. What I gather is the PCM is confused as to where TDC is (top dead center), and cannot time the engine properly. The cam sensor is used by the PCM to synchronize fuel injection with ignition controls and timing. The cam sensor uses a single vane driven by the camshaft to send a signal to the PCM. On 5.4L DOHC if one of the timing chains is off by one tooth you will experience this problem. Wrong cam shaft with the vane in the wrong place will also cause this. Pulse ring slipped over woodruff key and out of position giving false info to crank sensor, On 5.4lL I would suspect a problem with the synchronization between the crank shaft sensor and cam sensor. Recomend check pulse ring on crank shaft dampner and proper location of the single signal vane on the camshaft used by the cam sensor. If your going to show this to your mechanics, mention dead time the engine and verify proper alignment of timing marks, camshaft vane, and pulse ring on crankshaft. Good luck with it.

Story From Montgomery Advertiser

by tpfilm1 on Sat Jul 14 20:06:27 PDT 2007

July 14, 2007 Montgomery Hyundai plant rolls out first 2008 Santa Fes By Cosby Woodruff Hyundai began production of its 2008 Santa Fe sport utility vehicles Monday, when the plant reopened after the July 4 week. A handful of Santa Fes -- Hyundai won't say exactly how many -- were declared "pilot vehicles." Then the company put those first vehicles through the wringer. Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama puts every vehicle it makes through the paces on a 2.3-mile test track at the plant. But when the car company changes the model year, the new units get an even tougher workout to ensure that all the changes in the new year's models work as planned. The pilot vehicles are used strictly for testing. They never will leave HMMA, according to Jason Pezold, assistant manager of line inspection. "We hold them here for transportation around the property," he said. Only after the pilot vehicles pass a series of benchmarks will HMMA send the 2008 vehicles to Hyundai dealers. Because changes to the Santa Fe were minor and mostly cosmetic this year, that testing goes fairly quickly, Pezold said. In fact, the Santa Fe could start shipping to dealerships as early as today. "So far, so good," Pezold said when asked how the pilot vehicle inspections are going. "This is a minor model change. There are no external changes, and to the buyer, it will be very minimal." Pezold said HMMA vehicles overwhelmingly pass inspection, but that inspectors are told to fail every vehicle that has questions. "We are focused on customer satisfaction," he said. "Our fallout is very small." HMMA went through the same pilot vehicle procedure about three months ago when it changed the Sonata from its 2007 model to 2008. Hyundai's mid-size sedan stayed much the same from one year to the next, but it did have more changes than the Santa Fe. Still, HMMA testers found no major problems. "From my perspective, it went very well," Pezold said. Hyundai officials said the minor changes to both the Sonata and the Santa Fe point to the vehicles' popularity with consumers. The Sonata is Hyundai's best-selling unit, and the Santa Fe has the fastest-growing sales numbers. Vehicle inspection at HMMA begins as soon as the final touches are put on a new unit. After it is started for the first time at the end of the assembly line, it is pulled to the inspection booth, where a team checks the outside of the vehicle. The driver follows instructions on a video screen while the vehicle sits on rollers, then slams on the brakes. On the track, the vehicle really gets a workout. Kevin Vinson, one member of the test-driver team, gave a quick rundown. Everything from the power mirrors and windows to the sunroof are tested. The air conditioner, heater, audio system, instrumentation and remote entry keychain are checked. Finally, Vinson takes the vehicle on the track where it's put through sudden, hard S-turns, sudden stops, accelerates to highway speed then checks the alignment by releasing the steering wheel. Grooves in the pavement simulate rough roads, and a hill allows Vinson to test the parking brake. Then the vehicle heads for the shower booth, where it is sprayed with heavy streams of water to test door and window seals to test for leaks. If the unit passes every test, it is sent to a company called Montgomery Vehicle Processing that checks the inspection then sends it out a special door -- called the Money Door -- where it is handed over to Hyundai Motor America, the company's U.S. sales arm. The rare vehicles failing Hyundai's test are sent to a special area of the plant, where workers repair or replace defective parts. Hyundai worker Kevin Vinson tests a 2008 Sante Fe.