And one more thought ... Several of you chimed in to say you would work really hard on some kind of bodge before pulling the engine and swapping the crank. This was helpful advice because I was actually starting down the road of pulling the engine. It would've been a shame because this 200 Tdi...

Might be helpful to others to know how this problem started so I will pass along my thoughts on this -> I don't think the bolt was loose initially. I replaced the cam belt 2 years ago and when I went to reinstall the damper I think I damaged the Woodruff key (without realizing it at the time)...

Success :). I made a new steel shim after filing the sharp edges off the Woodruff key slot in the damper. I then took my time and managed to introduce it the whole way without buckling or tearing. It is really tight. I have not assembled the rest in order to start the engine yet - but it...

You are correct that it is a non-tapered shaft. No taper at all. It is much more than just a loose sliding fit between the damaged crankshaft and the damper.. You can grab the damper and wobble it while it is on the shaft in the installed position (without the bolt cranked tight). The amount...

I appreciate the comments - but I would like to know what sort of wobble you wound up with when filling a .014 (.36 mm) gap with filler? I think the prior experiences have been with a chewed crank but one that did not have such a massive and uniform reduction in diameter. I don't see how you...

Further to last - The vehicle does not have to be roadworthy at the time of import. My old South African Truck (a 1974 Series III LWB) had to be carried to the top of my driveway - which fortunately has a nice slope. Gravity moved it to my workshop, where I put it back in good shape before it...

Speaking from the west side of the Atlantic ... I have imported from South Africa to the USA but never from the UK. I can only speak to the law on our side, which varies greatly from state to state. As far as our federal government goes it must be 25 years old. Here in the Free State of...

Fifth photo - The Crankshaft Cozy was not going to survive under this plan, no matter what. New plan -> Adapting some suggestions here into a combination. I will make a new Crankshaft Cozy out of .005 steel. I will use aerospace epoxy to bond this to the crankshaft - with aviation lockwire...

Fourth photo - It starts to look promising. But then - after advancing about 10mm along the brass shim (aka Crankshaft Cozy) the shim buckles. I put on the makeshift puller to remove the damper.

Third photo - The damper in place with the 90mm bolt in place. Damper rotation restricting tool bolted to front of damper (this is a 1/4 inch by 3 inch piece of bar stock with holes for the damper bolt pattern). Large ratchet with 30mm socket on bolt.

Second photo - Aviation lock wire used to secure the Crankshaft Cozy. The idea here is to clamp it near where you introduce the damper, then keep loosening it and move it back as the damper is pulled into place. Idea is to prevent buckling.

Here is the latest work with some photos. First photo is the "kit" I created. There is the .007 brass shim rolled form to be a good fit around the crank. My wife has named this the "Crankshaft Cozy." Then there is the long bolt I ordered. I also made a damper holding tool.

For guys using some type of filler: (1) How did you center the damper? (2) Were you able top get the thing back off next time you needed to change the timing belt?

Progress report - I made a first test shim to try with the timing cover still off just to see how hard it would be to introduce the damper (I realize the key is out - will replace the key). This is .007 brass shim stock. I formed it to a diameter slightly smaller than the crank so it wants to...

Some work progress to report. After cleaning up the crankshaft extension (with the Woodruff key out) it really did not look too bad. I then set out to carefully measure it. From the cam belt cog all the way out to the end of the shaft it measures 1.241 +/- .002 (That's 31.52 mm). There is no...