My Poor Little Tracker

[farmerfelts]

Well, my 96 Tracker seems to be going down the old "Hershey Highway". Last week it started knocking and it seems that the front main bearing is toast. I can move the balancer pulley up and down with a pry bar so there's probably some major/fatal damage to other parts of the engine. It runs good and isn't leaking oil but I haven't driven it since I first noticed the problem.

Anybody got any idea of what this fix would entail/cost? Would just replacing the front main bearing fix it or is the engine basically toast? Would a rebuilt engine be as "economical" as having the bottom end done? I'm not much of a mechanic so DIY is pretty much out of the question.

I love driving this car and and can invest some amount of money in it if it makes sense.

Thanks

[denisond3]

Its extremely unlikely that replacing one bad bearing would be worthwhile. If one is making noise, all of them are worn - and the one that is audibly knocking would likely require the crankshaft to be ground for an undersize bearing - which means doing it for all of them.
Anytime you have the crankshaft out, its worthwhile to rebuild the entire engine; new rings, maybe new pistons, at least hone the cylinders, replace main seals, get a valve job done on the head.....etc.

And if its a manual tranny - a new clutch. If its an automatic, how long do the auto trannies last in Trackers?

Im not a tracker guru at all, but with my Ford Escorts (3 of them), I got each one with known problems; & not-running. I rebuilt the engines and transmissions myself. Each one occupied my time for 3 to 4 weeks. There was ALWAYS things I found needing work in addition to what I expected.

For getting your engine rebuilt (or buying a rebuilt engine), I would think its going to cost you at least $2500-$3000. You can buy a 'short block' and have the engine head you have rebuilt - that might cost a little less. The lowest cost repair is NOT always the one to pick. An honest shop doesnt need to give you a low-ball price, and run it up later with 'it was worse than we thought' stories.
While it may seem expensive - what newer (used) car could you buy for a similar amount of money that would have a 'new' engine in it?
I knew a guy whose price for rebuilding engines was twice what his competition charged; you had to make an appointment to bring the car in -- and he had a waiting list of customers! If you were a new customer he also required half of the repair estimate to be pre-paid.

[farmerfelts]

Thanks for that information, its exactly what I was looking for. I pretty much feel the same way about the money to rebuild the engine etc. since the car looks great, I like driving it and I'd know what I had after the engine rebuild. Now I just have to find someone to do the job in the sparsely populated wilderness we live in.

Other than passing on the opportunity to go to work for Southwest Airlines the day they opened back in the early 70s, my biggest regret in life is never being mechanically minded enough to attempt a project of this magnitude on my on.

[farmerfelts]

Found out what the problem was with my Tracker and that was the keyway for the balancer pulley was wallowed out due to a sloppy timing belt change done by PO years ago. Couldn't find a machine shop around here who would take on the job of repairing the keyway but have since found a NOS crankshaft for cheap and a friend and I are in the process of rebuilding the bottom end of the engine. Hope to have it running next week, will update as to progress.

[farmerfelts]

My Tracker is back together and running fine with a NOS crankshaft, however, since putting everything back together the gearshift (5 speed) has so much slop in it that its an Easter egg hunt trying to find the right gear. Dammit, there's always something.

[farmerfelts]

OK, found the problem with the shifter and it was a nylon bushing that had disintegrated where the shifter plugs into the transmission. Got a replacement from the local Chevy dealer and all's well in Trackerland again. What a long, strange mechanical trip its been.