GSX with possible Crankwalk

[ZeRoVD]

Hi, I'm new to these forums and I'm currently looking at buying a 1995 GSX. I have read a few things here and there about crankwalk, mostly repair costs and a little about what it is, but I'm not really a car person at this point(first car, so hopefully I'll be learning something). The woman selling it had a few papers from a mechanic and while I didn't have much time to look at it while I was there I saw the words crank walk while skiming through it. I think it had a > 2000-4000 next to it, but i'm not so sure about the > sign because the mechanic had bad handwriting. I asked her about it and she said the mechanic hadn't told her much but it had to do with replacing the timing belt. I didn't think this had anything to do with a timing belt. Does it? And if so will replacing that help avoid crankwalk? Now if I was right and the timing belt had nothing to do with it then what are the effects of crankwalk? Will my car still be driveable? I'm not going for performance here, but I would like something that still has decent acceleration and top speed(other car I'm looking at is an 97' integra just in case crankwalk ruined this car, but I would much rather have an eclipse). Do I have to get it fixed right away? If I just wanted to drive it that way would it cause other problems? Hopefully someone can help me with this. I tried searching the forums but most posts get too technical for me.
Thanks!

[ZeRoVD]

Oh and just a little more information.
It's a 95' GSX as I said.
5-speed
71,000 miles.
Stock

[gthompson97]

crankwalk is way overrated. i'm surprised the mechanic even knows what it is. what crankwalk is defined as is "more than normal end play in the crankshaft" that means that the center thrust bearing has worn out and the crank can no longer stay in it's exact place. don't be worried by the words though. if it's still in the shop, nicely ask the mechanic if he will measure the endplay of the crankshaft. (i'm not sure what the specs are but someone else on here might). what happens is the crank moves around too much and takes out the crank sensor and shuts down the whole car. it's not driveable with crankwalk nor will it last long at all. if it's out of spec, i wouldn't buy the car unless you want to be putting in a new/rebuilt motor. if it's in spec, go ahead and buy it, you'll love the eclipse.

[ZeRoVD]

Ok, well I'm having my own mobile mechanic go look at it. I hope he can check it out, otherwise I'll have to take it into a garage. The wierd thing is, it drove great. Shifting seemed normal and it sounded good. So I don't know if it's just within spec or it hasn't fully kicked in yet.

[gthompson97]

maybe it's not crankwalk. maybe you just need to have the timing belt changed. timing belt's are supposed to be done at 60,000k and it looks like you're a little over. my guess is that if it drives great and sounds good, it's not the crankshaft. maybe the mechanic wrote timing belt because it needs to be changed and for some reason he associated it with crankwalk. just my $.02

[kjewer1]

Just bring a dial indicator with magnetic base. Spec is .003 to .007 IIRC, with the service limit at .009. There is a lot more info in my thread on RKO, which should be linked to in the faq or one of the other stickies.