Cracked crankshaft pulley 3858533 BJ - weld / repair or replace?

[Scott S.]

Should a cracked original crankshaft pulley (GM 3858533 BJ) be welded and repaired? Are there potential problems, like 'balance' or other issues with a repaired pulley? Or is this a situation where the better idea is to find a good used or NOS example?

The crack appears to extend all the way to the holes on either side of the mounting hole.

Thanks,

Scott

[William C.]

Re: Cracked crankshaft pulley 3858533 BJ - weld / repair or replace?

I'm looking at a '68 parts book, and that pulley was used in a variety of high-performance applications so an original or possibly a reproduction should be readily available. I don't think I would try to weld something thak flexes as much as that pulley shows signs of doing.

[Jim L.]

Re: Cracked crankshaft pulley 3858533 BJ - weld / repair or replace?

It would make me nervous to weld and re-use that pulley.

Jim

[Scott S.]

Re: Cracked crankshaft pulley 3858533 BJ - weld / repair or replace?

Thanks Bill,

It doesn't seem hard to find used or even older NOS, and it's still available at GMPartsdirect. I'm just trying to weigh the pros & cons of saving the original vs. replace, knowing that even the older NOS examples may not be just like the original production part. Also from looking at pictures on the internet, the current GM part does not have "BJ" stamped after the part number.

[Scott S.]

Re: Cracked crankshaft pulley 3858533 BJ - weld / repair or replace?

It would make me nervous to weld and re-use that pulley.

Jim

Sounds like the cons are outweighing the pros. I'm trying to repair/restore as much as I can, so if it was reasonable to fix this one then I would try to do it, but this looks like a situation where I should just replace the part and move on.

Thank you,

Scott

[John D.]

Re: Cracked crankshaft pulley 3858533 BJ - weld / repair or replace?

scott,
The net price of p/n 3858533 is $28.35 and retail is $49.73....so unless you can weld it yourself without warping it, it may not make economic sense to try to repair it in my opinion.

[Edward B.]

Re: Cracked crankshaft pulley 3858533 BJ - weld / repair or replace?

Get a new one. When, repeat when, not if, the repaired part breaks there is no telling what the collateral damage may be.

[Bill M.]

Re: Cracked crankshaft pulley 3858533 BJ - weld / repair or replace?

Get a new one. When, repeat when, not if, the repaired part breaks there is no telling what the collateral damage may be.

When my original broke, it only made a very loud bang....but left me stranded on the side of the freeway. I replaced it.

[Clem Z.]

Re: Cracked crankshaft pulley 3858533 BJ - weld / repair or replace?

didn't GM have a reinforcement plate for the crank pulley for this reason ??

[Scott S.]

Re: Cracked crankshaft pulley 3858533 BJ - weld / repair or replace?

didn't GM have a reinforcement plate for the crank pulley for this reason ??

There was a reinforcement plate on my water pump pulley (pulley # 3848904 CS, dual groove / deep groove), but there was not a reinforcement plate on the crankshaft pulley.


Is there supposed to be one on the crankshaft pulley too?

[Clem Z.]

Re: Cracked crankshaft pulley 3858533 BJ - weld / repair or replace?

There was a reinforcement plate on my water pump pulley (pulley # 3848904 CS, dual groove / deep groove), but there was not a reinforcement plate on the crankshaft pulley.


Is there supposed to be one on the crankshaft pulley too?

i remember there was a TSB on a plate for the bottom pulley but not sure what year or what car

[Scott S.]

Re: Cracked crankshaft pulley 3858533 BJ - weld / repair or replace?

i remember there was a TSB on a plate for the bottom pulley but not sure what year or what car

I know there are a few TSB's listed over on the CAC, but I checked and didn't see anything relating to crankshaft pulleys. I tried a Google search and didn't find much that way either.

Is there a resource for TSB's?

[Joe L.]

Re: Cracked crankshaft pulley 3858533 BJ - weld / repair or replace?

Should a cracked original crankshaft pulley (GM 3858533 BJ) be welded and repaired? Are there potential problems, like 'balance' or other issues with a repaired pulley? Or is this a situation where the better idea is to find a good used or NOS example?

The crack appears to extend all the way to the holes on either side of the mounting hole.

Thanks,

Scott

Scott------


This crack could be repaired by welding. Would I do it if it were mine? Absolutely not. I'd replace it with a new pulley. Period.

[Scott S.]

Re: Cracked crankshaft pulley 3858533 BJ - weld / repair or replace?

Scott------


This crack could be repaired by welding. Would I do it if it were mine? Absolutely not. I'd replace it with a new pulley. Period.

Thanks Joe, that is what I have decided to do. I did a little research on this part today. My original has "3858533 BJ" and "GM" stamped on it, and I can't see any other markings.

GMPartsdirect shows that they have this pulley still available, but they don't show a picture. A close look at pictures of the current 3858533 pulley on two of the vendor sites (which may be the current GM production piece) showed a distinct lip around the outer perimeter that is definitely not present on the older NOS and original 3858533 pulleys, and I could not see any "BJ" stamped after the part number.

The fairly recent NOS (circa 2005) GM 3858533 pulleys appear to be made in Canada, and are very similar to my original, with "BJ" and "GM" stamped in the center area of the pulley. The only difference I could see is that there is an additional set of numbers/letters stamped, e.g., "C5" over "S2".

Joe, if you get a chance to comment on my part number confirmation Thread about the early/1st design steering column lower bearing, please do!

Thank you,

Scott

[Richard G.]

Re: Cracked crankshaft pulley 3858533 BJ - weld / repair or replace?

I may have an original. Email me off board if interested.
Rick