1996 crank shaft/s-belt need serious help!!!

I have a 1996 Nissan Maxima GLE

so heres what happened.

I was on the way to talk my friend home the other day and when i pulled out of my neighborhood there was a very very metal type noise. i pulled over really quick and turned the car off because there was alot of debris in the road so i thought i was draging maybe part of a bumper or something. nothing under the car so i got in and started it up for a moment to see if the noise came back and yes it did. turned it back off. looked under the hood and my serpentine belt was just hanging there (which i expected to happen soon because it started squeaking not long ago). we proceeded to push the car back to my house (about 1mi uphill).

so heres my problem
i wanted to ignore the grinding noise i herd and pretend there was nothing wrong with the car and i just had to replace the belt.
I got a new belt and went to go put it on the car. upon removal of the old belt the CIRCUMFERENCE portion of my crank shaft pully slipped off with it.
not the whole pully, just the outside circle of it with the grooves for the belt to fit into. also the pully portion underneath where the circumference rests there are some chips knocked out of the edge of it. Just looking at this in combination with the noises i herd lets me know there is something horribly wrong with my car and it is truly a dark dark time for me...

could the grinding noise have been just from the circumference slipping around the pully???

I need some opinions on this and estimates on pricing to fix such a problem. (hoping that i dont need to replace the entire crankshaft itself)

thank you for any assistance.

After a little research i discovered that the circumference part is called the "Harmonic Balancer". And a little further research is showing me that a crankshaft pulley cost about 150-200$ or so. Its gotten to dark for me to work on this anymore today. A plan i have in mind is to take off the harmonic balancer completely and see if the grinding noise continues upon starting the car. I have a good reason to believe that was the source of all the noise since it was loose and scraping against the rest of the pulley. the real question is what would cause the balancer to detach from the pulley??? i called a friend of mine who is a ASC certified mechanic for about 10 years now and he seemed rather confused that it was able to come off like that. also my uncle who has been an engineer for the past 20 years was really confused on how it came off too.

So basically i came to the conclusion that i need to replace my pulley and see if it works. at this point of the cars life (270k miles) it wouldnt be worth it to fix much else past a pulley problem.

if anyone has any info for me please let me know.

After a little research i discovered that the circumference part is called the "Harmonic Balancer". And a little further research is showing me that a crankshaft pulley cost about 150-200$ or so. Its gotten to dark for me to work on this anymore today. A plan i have in mind is to take off the harmonic balancer completely and see if the grinding noise continues upon starting the car. I have a good reason to believe that was the source of all the noise since it was loose and scraping against the rest of the pulley. the real question is what would cause the balancer to detach from the pulley??? i called a friend of mine who is a ASC certified mechanic for about 10 years now and he seemed rather confused that it was able to come off like that. also my uncle who has been an engineer for the past 20 years was really confused on how it came off too.

So basically i came to the conclusion that i need to replace my pulley and see if it works. at this point of the cars life (270k miles) it wouldnt be worth it to fix much else past a pulley problem.

if anyone has any info for me please let me know.

Never heard original pulley to come apart. Maybe its aftermarket pulley?

Anyways go to JY and get one for 20$ (?). For takin old out, u need tools - ask friends for a shop that is known for good performance. Easy 15minute job with tools.

If that bad pulley is all there is wrong: be on top of the repair: some ppl come day later and have 2000$ bill waiting. Dont let it happen, ask for total price and dont leave the car. U might find it 'at race track' next night...

Never heard original pulley to come apart. Maybe its aftermarket pulley?

Anyways go to JY and get one for 20$ (?). For takin old out, u need tools - ask friends for a shop that is known for good performance. Easy 15minute job with tools.

If that bad pulley is all there is wrong: be on top of the repair: some ppl come day later and have 2000$ bill waiting. Dont let it happen, ask for total price and dont leave the car. U might find it 'at race track' next night...


thank you for your advice. I never take my car to a shop, i have been a do it yourself guy for many years now. only time i ever let the shop do my car was a reliable source did my water pump for me because i didnt have the tools or time to do it and they did it for cheap + tuned me up, changed my oil, and aligned my car all for 400$ due to buisness reference.

anyway my uncle is an engineer and has a garage full of tools. everytime we work on my car together he has some new crazy tool for me to play with. only problem is he has to have to time to come help me out cuz i got a few socket wrenches and thats about it. the real question here though is "What caused the balancer to break off the pulley???". it is a question that has us totaly befuddled. None of us have even herd of this happening. I assume under closer inspection (once i get a shop jack over here) i will be able to see if something is wrong with the crank shaft itself.

If anyone has any experience with this question or a reasonable answer to how the harmonic balancer busted off please let me know what i will be looking at. I got about a days time before my uncle will be able to come over to inspect with me, it would just be nice to know any background on other causes of the situation to give us a rough idea of what we are dealing with in the long run here.

thank you.

thank you for your advice. I never take my car to a shop, i have been a do it yourself guy for many years now. only time i ever let the shop do my car was a reliable source did my water pump for me because i didnt have the tools or time to do it and they did it for cheap + tuned me up, changed my oil, and aligned my car all for 400$ due to buisness reference.

anyway my uncle is an engineer and has a garage full of tools. everytime we work on my car together he has some new crazy tool for me to play with. only problem is he has to have to time to come help me out cuz i got a few socket wrenches and thats about it. the real question here though is "What caused the balancer to break off the pulley???". it is a question that has us totaly befuddled. None of us have even herd of this happening. I assume under closer inspection (once i get a shop jack over here) i will be able to see if something is wrong with the crank shaft itself.

If anyone has any experience with this question or a reasonable answer to how the harmonic balancer busted off please let me know what i will be looking at. I got about a days time before my uncle will be able to come over to inspect with me, it would just be nice to know any background on other causes of the situation to give us a rough idea of what we are dealing with in the long run here.

thank you.

Pulley: why why is why but not when

The crank bolt needs heavy duty socket, extension, possibly pneumatic bolt gun or 'six foot pipe' to open the cranck bolt... may open easier but be prepared for big bolt trouble. Someteimes need a puller to get the pulley off.
Then engine has to be kept stationary, either using ol belt and keeping it steady with the belt or taking out starter and blocking from the gear/tooth ... hmm eh your pulley is toast, no need for the old belt trick :(shieldin the pulleygrooves)

I got my old pulley off this morning actually. we used a small wounder bar to lock the teeth. came off rather smoothly with a little bit of force. I cranked the car up for a second to check for additional problem noises and everything was good. which lets me know that its just the pulley was bad. I was kinda scared there was gonna be a big crack in the crank shaft or something seriously wrong (because what would possibly make the balancer split off the pulley???) but, all was clear.

I finally located a cheap enough pulley and all should be good in the morning when i pick it up.

Thanks for your help.

:)

I got my old pulley off this morning actually. we used a small wounder bar to lock the teeth. came off rather smoothly with a little bit of force. I cranked the car up for a second to check for additional problem noises and everything was good. which lets me know that its just the pulley was bad. I was kinda scared there was gonna be a big crack in the crank shaft or something seriously wrong (because what would possibly make the balancer split off the pulley???) but, all was clear.

I finally located a cheap enough pulley and all should be good in the morning when i pick it up.

Thanks for your help.

:)

Was the broken pulley Nissan original?