98 legacy GT Keyway gone Need help/advise

[nocmonkey]

I hope this is the right forum. If not please Redirect me kindly
I have a 98 Legacy GT Limited sedan AWD 2.5l DOHC (w/only 85k miles), a long story short....the keyway in crankshaft is mangled beyond the point of repair (according to the dealership). I realize I have few options,
1. drop a new motor in and be done with it
3. put a new crankshaft (I dont really wanna spend money on full rebuild)
2. put a new small block on it (too much $$$)
4. Weld the pulley to the cracnkshaft....maybe throw a pin in it first

If anyone could help me, I need to know 2 things.
1. How do I find out what engine(s) are compatible with my car (Ive asked and seem to be getting different answers) I thought the standard 2.5L DOHC would fit but have been told otherwise ( i need the GT engine?) whats the difference?
2. Has anyone ever heard/seen/done a weld fix on the cracnkshaft/pulley? and how did it work out?

[Huffer]

Search under Grafton's threads...he dealt with this one.

[99gtlimited]

careful welding to the crankshaft, if you introduce too much heat into it, it will become brittle and have a much higher chance of failing. I would suggest dropping in a new motor and selling the other for parts, or swapping over a crank, you can do it in a weekend with the right tools and enough patience.

[ouch1011]

Don't weld it. If the weld doesn't break, the crankshaft will.

BTW, did the entire keyway break? If so, the timing belt sprocket (which is also keyed to the same keyway) would have spun freely on the crank, so the cams wouldn't turn. Thats the same as breaking the timing belt, and if that happened with the engine running, you are going to need a new engine anyway, because chances are that you have bent/broken valves now.

If you are ok with pulling the engine and cracking it open, you could get a crankshaft kit and throw that in. Otherwise, you'll need a "new" engine. Trying to repair the existing crank is just a bad idea and it won't last.