Crank Shaft/Harmonic balancer Problems

Myrden Bac

Registered User
Well. where do I start. About a couple months ago I was coming out of a red light and at a very mellow rpm my engine died. It just went from 3k rpm to nothin. I pull over and try to start it and all I hear is the starter engage and the engine flutters alittle bit.
Its seams as though the crank is turning over but when I look at the front end none of the pullies are turning. So I took off the crankshaft pulley to see what was going on. As I turn the crank over by hand I get to spots in the rotation where I hear a clunk. I do hear however, the compression stroke. I'm not sure if my crankshaft is broken, or if its the harmonic balancer that is broken. Oh and when I crank it around it definately does not rotate evenly around center. I am not sure what to look for in either one of the dilemas. Any help would be awesome.

Thanks,
James
 
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the only way to realy know is pull the balancer off but it is likelythe problem as they are prone to break at that age as i learned the hard way. and the clunk is no doubt the crank sensor being destroyed by the sensor vains that is attached to the balancer goodluck ;)
 
Jack up the front of the car and get onto your back under the front and reach up in there and see if the main bolt is still in there. It's likely the bolt has either backed out, or broken off the end of the crankshaft.

You'll need to remove the harmonic balancer and get the broken part of the bolt out of the end of the crankshaft. Then get a replacement balancer and install with a proper tool and a new bolt.
 
I got the pulley off and the balancer looks very much skewed. The Main crank bolt is still entact. I am havin a pain of a time gettin that dang crank bolt off. I have no way to keep the crank from spinning. Also I havent' taken the fan shrowd off yet so I can't get in there with my impact. Its starting to lean toward it being the balancer. I won't know for sure until I get it off and see if the crank spins evenly with it off. Any ideas on how to get the crank bolt off?
*Dang now I gotta clean grease off my keyboard* lol.
 
You can hold the crank from turning by screwing back in two of the pulley bolts without the pulley on. Then hold a large screwdriver or prybar wedged between the two bolts while you break loose the balancer bolt. This worked fine for me. John
 
hold it from a torque perverter bolt just slip a socket onto bolt then turn crank bolt till it jams against the side and remove crank bolt then when tightning it do the same in other direction . :eek:
 
until you break one of the bolts like I did

You won't break one of the bolts if you screw it in nearly all the way.
 
AnnivSpeCpe said:
You can hold the crank from turning by screwing back in two of the pulley bolts without the pulley on. Then hold a large screwdriver or prybar wedged between the two bolts while you break loose the balancer bolt. This worked fine for me. John

I actually did this and it started to bend the bolt so I stopped. I couldn't fit it in with the whole bolt screwed in. It wasn't even budging. I had a breaker bar on my wrench too.

Just so I'm not going crazy.... Its a normal exit bolt right. not a clock-wise off bolt. or "backwards". If it is, then that would make sense why its being a pain to get off. I know that they do that sometimes with pully and rotating parts. Let me know! oh and since I will have to replace that bent bolt, will I need to replace all of them if I can't replace with exact duplicate, to keep balance.

Thanks guys.
 
do the torque converter bolt thingy it gives you added leverage to hold it as its farther out then use a good breakerbar on crank bolt maybe a pipe to make it easyier if you have to rap the breakerbar with a rubber hammer. if it has locktite on it it can be a bear to turn. :D oh yeah its a normal bolt counter clockwise to remove it.
 
Thanks. Isn't the Torque converter on the back end, by the tranny? I've never dealt with it so I'm not sure where its located. And I don't have the engine that far torn apart so that might not be an option.
 
yes at bottom of oil pan at bell housing there ias a inspection plate remove it to get acsess to bolts.

pain but it keeps engine from turning
 
I think your crankshaft is broken. Once you try what Manny said about putting a socket on one of the bolts that holds the converter to the flex plate you will know for sure.

David
 
Well... I turned over the crank by hand and the torque converter doesn't even move. Yeah, I guess the damn crank is broken. Why it broke is what I want to know now! There is new Ford Long Block in there that is just outside of 2 years old. :mad: What do you guys think I should do? I know I have to pull the engine to replace the crank, and even when I get it open I have no Idea why if failed and what kind of can of worms I might be opening up! :( Any help?!?
 
Sometimes they break for no apparent reason like a hairline crack from the factory. Other times it's because the balancer is bad. You mentioned than when you turned the crank by hand it wasn't turning true...that could have been the reason the crank broke, or could be because the bearings are not supporting the crank after it broke.

Either way the engine has to come out for a rebuild or replacement with a remanufactured motor. If you not planning any serious mods, your probably better off with the remanufactured motor.

David
 
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