Hey all - as many of you probably have had happen - my crank bolt loosened on my 1998 Montero Sport and sheared the roll pin. My problem is that the roll pin is sheared in the lower timing belt gear(pulley). My question is - since these roll pins are so hard to deal with - is there emough clearance to drive the roll pin through the gear? Will it fall out before it hits the block? Will I be able to get it out with a magnet if it falls out the back of lower timing gear? What is the lenght of a new roll pin? About 3/8 to 7/16 of an inch of the pin was stuck in the crankshaft pulley and it has been removed. Any help here would be appreciated.

Lets see if i have this clear the woodruff key,"roll pin" has broken in half? leaving one secyion in the crankshafy and the other in the crank timing sprocket? If correct. so yu are trying to remove the portion of the key that is in the crank sprocket without removing the sprocket or the timing belt? I had this happen before on a Mirage Asti VZ-R , altho the crank bolt had never loosened. But it broke the pin , the A/C compressor going bad is wut actually did it. The internal shaft in teh compressor binded and put stress on teh harmonic balancer which broke the woodruff key ,. On removing the crank sprocket i saw on the inner section it had gouged the shaft where the woodruff key slot was. Being the key broke it might be wise to try and inspect the crank and crank timing sprocket for any gouges so the key will fit correct without any play.

Not the woodruff key - it keeps the timing gear from spinning on the crank - I am talking about the roll pin - it keeps the harmonic from spinning on the crank bolt.

My excuses LoL , well the pin is not that long . Is it a 4cyl or 6cyl? On most Mitsubishi's Pajero's etc have 2 type of harmonic balancer bolt systems. Most 1997 up engines except for mainlly the 4G6 series of 4cylinders the harmonic balancer bolted to the crank timing sprocket via 4 bolts. with a roll pin as a centering device to keep the harmonic balancer alinged in correct position for instillation , it dos not to my knowledge serve the purpose of doing the same job as designated as a woodruff key , the 4 bolts serve the main securing and keeps the harmonic balancer in correct rotation. On later Pajero's the harmonic balance bolts with one center bolt and it slides over the crank shaft end with a keyed section for the woodruf key.

I could be very well wrong in this situation. If so said . The crank sprocket is pretty deep , the roll pin goes in no more than a forth the way . It is very possible to (using the new pin) knock the left over section of the old pin father in the sprocket . It will not go far enough to do anything. It will at most go as far as the center on the crank timing sprocket , not far enough to do any harm at all. or take a drill bit the size or preferablly a tint bit smaller , a reversable bit , once the bit bites it should be possible to work it out .

Hello KIT, It sounds like you have experience with this issue so I would like to get some information. I have a 1997 montero and the crankshaft pulley loosened and fell off (not all the way, just enough for the belt to hold it). I am trying to loosen the bolt that holds it and it is very tight. I just want to make sure that it doesn't have left hand threads, Otherwise, I'm afraid I might break the bolt. Any advice would be appreciated. The engine is a 3.5 l.

Okies , so basically the outer portion of yur harmonic balancer has detached frum the inner portion? The threads are regular , the pulley bolt unscrews in the normal direction , but it is very tight , there is a harmonic balancer holder tool that holds it in place for removal. Besides that , not having the tool the bolt is very hard to get off.