Still bucking

Douglas Walker

Registered User
I replaced the dis and put a thin layer of heat sink compound. I also change out the cam sensor. After that I noticed a small change. It ran alittle smoother and didnt start hard as much. But today I was cruisin down the road at about 80 and it started to buck again. This time it didnt die. The tach just bounced around off and on for about 2miles and then came out of it. Any other thoughts on what I could check or try.

Thanks Doug

89 sc 5-speed
 
Bucking

I had a somewhat thing also , changed my plugs with motorcraft and never did it again, if not next thing is the crankshaft sensor . DW , fast car ,slow window .
 
I had the same problem. It ended up being cracked spark plugs from the person not putting them in correctly.
 
Had same problem

changed my plugs and wires back to Motorcraft problem went bye bye:D
Rick in FL:cool:
 
Damn crank sensor

Well so much for running good. Today I was crusin around town and it just died and wouldnt restart? While I was trying to restart it I noticed that the upshift light was on while it was cranking. So tomorrow it looks like I have something else to fix and hopefully the problem doesnt come back. Any input is good input.

Doug
 
what the hell

Today was the day I tore into my car to replace the crank sensor. After I pulled the plastic cover off I found I was going to need more than the sensor. :eek: :eek: Heres the story a few months ago I was driven and heard something pop and bounce off the bottom of the car. It was one of thoughs sounds that makes u turn around and see what it was. It was the end of a bolt. So I kept it, I wasnt sure if it was off my car or if I just hit it. I didnt think about it much because my car was still running. Boy I wish I would have check my car better than I did. Come to find out it was the bolt that held my HB tight to the crank. :confused:
So with that broke and a little time to work itself loose and finally broke the HB sleeve flush with the front seal. Which in turn took out the crank sensor. Lets say I was not looking forward to all the work of fixing it. But after all was said and done I started her up and drove her home with no problems. So the moral behind the story is, if u hit something on the road turn around to see what it was because u never know if its off ur car or not. Personal note : everytime I do an oil change Im gonna check my HB just to be on the safe side.

I'll posts some pics tomorrow. Hope this helps others also.

A ford dealer said they made 2 HB's for 89s. 1 for a forged crank and the other for a steel crank but only one is avalable. Does anyone think it would matter to enter change them?

Thanks for the help
Doug:D
 
Doug, unfortuneately that is all too common on our cars. First of all the two balancers for the '89 cars were because the Forged crank and Duracast crank were balanced differentely. Check the 8th digit of your VIN, if it is an R you are OK, you have the same Forged steel crank as most of the rest of us. If it is a C you might be out of luck..... maybe a new engine, or a rebuild with a forged crank....

Now the Balancer, I suggest heading over to www.tbscec.com going to the forums there, go into the FAQ forum , and look for a post by Duffy Floyd titled something like "what is and is not known about the Balancers."

(edit: here is the link http://pub29.ezboard.com/fthunderbirdscenthusiastclubfrm13.showMessage?topicID=33.topic)

If you look at the stock balancer it has a poor design, it is a steel ring pressed onto an aluminum hub, not a great design. It might be OK for a 'normal' engine, but consider that along with a full load of accessories, this balancer is also transferring power to turn the SUPERCHARGER, which, straight from Eaton, is around 60 HP. So with A/C, power steering, water pump, and the Alternator you are transmitting 75 - 100 HP through that little bit of Aluminum. Also if you ever remove the balancer consider it junk, the aluminum will wear and stretch so it won't fit right again.

Luckily an aftermarket comapny is making New all steel beefy balancers for us, BHJ. They can be expensive, $350 - $400. But it is worth it if you don't ever want your balancer coming apart again. Also Ford has discontinued our Balancer bolt, that you broke, the solution is to get the bolt from a 1999 -2003 Mustang 3.8L They are a bit longer, but work just fine for us.
 
Last edited:
Heres the damage

This is something I dont want to happen again. I Put a used one on to get me by untill my bhj balancer arrives. Any quick tips on the install for the bhj. I would have shown a pic of the crank sensor but there wasnt much left.

Thanks for all the help
Doug
 

Attachments

  • mvc-048s.jpg
    mvc-048s.jpg
    24.1 KB · Views: 232
Back
Top