Crack on a shaft is one of the common damages in a rotor system. In this paper, transverse vibrations are calculated to compare the influences of transverse crack and slant crack on the rotor system. Results show that the vibration amplitude of the rotor system with a 45° slant crack on the shaft is larger than that with a transverse crack when the two types of crack have the same depth and the rotor system runs in the same condition. Stability and dynamic characteristics of the rotor system with a 45° slant crack on the shaft under torsional excitation are analyzed by considering opening and closing of the crack. It is shown that the instability of the transverse vibration of the rotor system increases with increasing difference between the bending stiffness in two main directions, and the vibration is stable when the two bending stiffness are identical. The spectrum analysis of the steady-state response reveals that the gravity and the eccentricity produce different frequency components, and when the two bending stiffness are identical, the multiple frequency components of the torsional excitation disappear. Further investigation shows that the vibration amplitudes in combined frequencies increase rapidly in transversal, torsional, and axial vibration with increasing slant crack depth. The results are helpful for the understanding the dynamic behavior of a rotor system with a slant crack on a shaft and can be used for the detection of the slant crack on a shaft.