Car shuts down violently!?

Been having this little problem lately...here goes: I was driving the other night and just after 2nd gear I got on it a little. All of a sudden the car had what I describe as a horrible misfire and basically felt like it was fighting to stay running. It finally shut down in the middle of the road. I got it started again and it made it home like nothing happend. Next morning it started up fine. Went in the house for 5 minutes and when I came out it was off! Couldn't get it started.

Basically I can start it most of the time but if I take it around the block it will shut down. If I swap on another DIS it starts right up. Eventually its same problem with the other DIS.

So I'm not sure what this is. I did search some stuff here and here is what I've found. The upsift light isn't on when its cranking and not starting. The fuel pump and filter are ok. Replaced cam sensor too. Both DIS units are iffy however, neither is new.

I have a feeling its the dis or crank bolt/balancer. I was looking around the crank pulley and noticed the timing cover is loose. If the crank bolt broke does that mean the balancer is sure to be gone. How exactly can I check the bolt? I'm not sure what to do at this point.

Any ideas?

pipecraze@yahoo.com
Thanks

Is the bolt there? You can reach in the front of the pulley and feel around for it. If its there you'll know it, likewise if its missing you'll know that too.

Thanks for the reply!

I'm gonna check as soon as I get home. If it is missing is the balancer toast! I'll let you know what I find.

I'm no expert, but I would think that the crank position sensor would be to blame.

Thomas

If the crank bolt breaks, the balancer eventually squirms forward far enough that the vanes on the back side move far enough out of the crank sensor gap that it becomes inoperative. Based on the fact that he said the upshift light doesn't come on, the crank sensor is getting some input some of the time at least. We'll just have to wait to see what he finds out and go to the next thing.

But from the description of the problem, its consistent with a bad crank sensor.

I agree sounds like crank sensor. You can change it without removing the balancer. Just make sure the balancer still has the bolt.

Ok, took a look last night and no crank bolt! I had a feeling that was the problem. I think the crank sensor is ok however, I have no upsift light coming on when I crank it.

So now the question is where do I get the bolt/blancer. Ford dosent have it anymore. I understand I can get the bolt and washer from a 98 mustang 3.8. I am looking to get the balancer from the junk yard as I need the car this weekend. Is that a really bad idea or will it buy me enough time?

Well if all you need is time, just go ahead and put in a new crank bolt. It'll hold for a while (don't know for sure just how long) while you look for a replacement balancer. Most people here think that the OEM balancer isn't reusable due to the inner race being made of soft aluminum. Once it works itself forwards (like yours and soooo many others), it will do it again. Its due to vibration/stress which will snap the bolt eventually.
Shoot, I'd guess you could drive it for a few months like that.
Of course, you still have to get the rest of the old bolt out and that's usually done with an EZout or stud extractor.

Has the balancer been off the car previously? I'm just curious if the balancer was removed and reinstalled.

You can get a new Ford Balancer for around $215 from some of the online Ford parts places. I bought one from: www.fordpartsnetwork.com Go to Ford and buy the 98 Mustang V6 bolt and washer.

ford does have the bolt and balancer,not sure the price.
they put a new one on my car about a month ago under warranty .broken bolt and balancer.
joe

I think everyone is right on. I had the same problem about two weeks ago. The bolt was broken and I had to drill it out and use a eazyout to remove the bolt. Ford carries the bolt, washer, pulley and damper however they do not carry the orginal bolt for the SC but the mustang bolt is crossreferenced by Ford. My damper had a piece of rubber between the parts that had deteriated. If you replace the damper with a new Ford damper be sure to purchase the assembly which includes the pulley. The reason is Ford balances the damper and pulley assembly "together". Mine had yellow paint indicating the match up point and small balance material the size of a nickle glued (kind of like silcone rubber) to the inside of the pulley. It believe the orginal bolt was not tempered since it was fairly easy to drill where as the replacement Mustang bolt was all but impossible to drill.

Having said all that, my upshift light came on while cranking the engine and yours doesn't.

The local Ford dealer charged me $296.26 (including 7.5% sales tax) for two bolts, one washer and the damper/pulley asssembly.
The extra bolt was used to make a installation tool that didn't work and had to be removed from the crank (about 4 hours to remove my stupid tool).

Also.....

I have not seen anyone write this yet, but you need to know that the harmonic balancer can be faulty, but you can also wear a front engine bearing and go through this sort of hell!
dirtybird91

if you wear the front bearing this may cause a knock?
see thread knock knock.

Thanks to all who had some answers!!!

Sorry I didn't write back with my findings but I was busy fixing the car and work. After finding that the crank bot failed I went ahead and ordered another from five star ford as well as the harmonic balancer/pully assembly and a crank sensor for good measure. These guys at five star gave me very good prices and shipped everything to my door next day so that I would be able to fix it by this weekend.

I did the job an night in the rain over two days! I got the balacer out with no problems, it looked fine and wasnt cracked but went ahead and replaced anyway. The broken bolt came right out using a flathead....thank god! Crank sensor wasn't too bad considering the balancer was out of the way. Hardest part for me was getting the new balancer on. I gave up on it the first night but was able to get it on the following night. That was my biggest hold up. I even removed my griffin radiator to be able to hammer it on better (using a block of wood of course) I adjusted the crank sensor and put everything back together. Started it up and all is good! Replaced the DIS while I was at too!

This site is great and has saved me alot of money doing these jobs myself. Just want to thank averyone for posting anything on this site!

Sean

Ouch - You really shouldn't hammer the balancer on. Most parts stores will rent an installation tool. Hell, if you asked, I would have sent you mine if you paid the shipping.

Aaron

I wasn't even aware there was an installation tool!!

I used the balancer remover and even thought about using that to install the new one but the threads were different. The instructions I had said to isntal by lightly taping on the balancer.

Wish I new there was an installation tool, would have made things alot less frustrating.

pastera said:

Ouch - You really shouldn't hammer the balancer on. Most parts stores will rent an installation tool. Hell, if you asked, I would have sent you mine if you paid the shipping.

Aaron

Click to expand...

You can also buy a generic longer bolt to help start the balancer then switch to the Ford bolt. That's what I do.

Hey man...where did you find a longer bolt? I drove around for an hour stopping at five different places but nobody could match that thread!

Me too, I couldn't find those threads anywhere. I ended up welding two bolts togethor that broke while in the crank.