Honda Repair: Prelude - damage to crankshaft/engine, honda prelude vti, pulley bolt

Question
Hi Rick,

I own a 1997 honda prelude vti-r SA.  It has done 119,000kms.  Last week my car broke down (actually i stopped as soon as began making a pretty awful noise).  I was told that one of the bolts in the harmonic balancer pulley worked loose damaged the pulley and damaged the crankshaft.

The mechanic told me that they need to establish whether the crankshaft can be repaired or whether it will need to be replace and they have sent it away for crack testing.  I've now also been told that the timing belts on two of the gears were damaged at the same time.  Firstly, does this sound right that it has done so much serious damage to my car - I stopped driving immediately the engine sounded/felt different (less than 10metres of driving) and I haven't had any problems with the car since I bought it in October '04 and all of the services have been done (mind you it was coming up to a new one at 120,000kms).  

Secondly, everyone I have spoken to has said that I should sell the car as soon as I can once it is fixed because once something big goes wrong the car will never be the same again.  How sensible is this?  I really (really really) like my car, but if it is likely to be one problem after another now that I have had problems with the crankshaft etc I can't really afford to keep it.

thanks for your help,

aj :)  

Answer
AJ, yes, if that bolt backs out and allows the pulley to become loose it can chip the crankshaft making it sometimes impossible to reinstall the balancer. I haven't seen any of them do damage to the belts but is for sure possible and likely considering that engine has a second pulley for your balance shafts. Hopefully you'll be O.K. As far as getting rid of the car I don't think that statement is correct. I'll tell you why. Those bolts(crank pulley bolt) DON'T come loose. I suspect when the timing belt was replaced the tech didn't torque it, instead he installed it with an impact wrench which is a bad practice among shops. Good luck with your crank, RICK