Classic Alfa Forums

Ever seen a crank break right across the web before?


I hadn't until unearthing this bust motor and investigating the crank pulley wobbling about in the breeze!


Weird thing is that nothing else appears damaged, at all, so i suspect it broke upon starting up or turning over rather than when running at any engine speed.

My alfa 33 broke the crack like that then in was about four years old with 69k on it and alfa rebuilt it. I've got a pic somewhere

alfachris wrote:My alfa 33 broke the crack like that then in was about four years old with 69k on it and alfa rebuilt it. I've got a pic somewhere

Funny you should mention that Chris as I showed the above picture to my Dad who used to sell new Alfas in the 80's. He said he's replaced perhaps 4 cranks that have cracked, the last one being a Sprint 1.5 Greencloverleaf that was about 4 years old. He said it's always 'journal' number 2. The car will still run but it knocks.Strange, perhaps a casting fault?

What are you all doing? I've never broke anything like that!

I had an "A" series crank break across the web at the flywheel end.
I was in my Frogeye Sprite going on holiday and it started knocking between Penzance and Lands End so I returned to Penzance and spent a day on my back in a gravel car park. I checked the top end - all ok so decided to drop the sump, pulled the big end shells, hitching to Redruth and return, to get new shells. I then washed as best I could in the sea, stayed in a B & B (making the pillow filthy despite 3 hair washes). Then I put it back together and started it up - it still knocked.....so I went surfing for three days and tried to nurse it home........gave up in Cambourne, spent a day in a garage - pulled the Sprite engine out and apart to find the two piece crank!! then getting a SH crank out of a scrap engine and putting it in the Sprite.

Now thats motoring with "Character!"

Well done Phil, regardless of catastrophy, do you think that time of your life could have been much better

Nürburgring 2009, 1700 8V...

Wow!

Thats an identical break that is.

Did you find a reason or was it simply fatigue failure?

I guess, the vibrations compared to 16V worse guided timing belts at high revs are the cause of the crank breaks at the 8V .
I've never heard of a broken 16V crank ..

Ali

Found the photos of the broken crank at 68500 miles in June 95