MrMiata

Mazda MX-5 Miata · Engines

Short Nose Crank Keyway Early 18

MrMiata house reference

If you have a 1994 or early-1995 1.8 (NA), you have the short-nose crank, and the crank keyway is the one catastrophic-sounding failure worth checking. It is preventable.

The nose of the crankshaft drives the timing belt and accessory pulley through a small Woodruff key. On the short-nose crank (all 1.6s and 1.8s up to roughly mid-1995), the pulley bolt is the only thing clamping that stack together