Crankshaft Pully busted!

[DreamsofaCobra]

Hey everyone. My friend with her '97/'98 escort (not sure which) with the little 1.9L had her crankshaft pully go out on her. I don't know how bad it is, since I can't look down there and get a good view, or pull the pully off to check it out. But the outter ring of the pully, where the belt itself touches, is no longer attatched to the inner parts of the pully. I can reach down and slide the thing around with my fingers. The only reason it is still in the engine bay is because the clearence between the pully and the inner fender is too tight. She had an accident about a month before this problem, which damaged the front passenger side of the car, where the pullies are, and I suspect that might have caused the failure, but the mechanic said that it is a common problem with these cars. I was wondering if anyone else has had the same problem, how much it costs to fix, etc. If this is a common problem, someone would have had it happen to them too.

(on another note, is it possible to get the engine they put in the cosworth escort here in the states? Probably not eh?)

thanks in advance, Matt

[replicant_008]

The RS Escort Cosworth engine is very similar to the one in the Merkur XRTi (which was available in the US). Unfortunately, the RS Cosworth was based on the Merkur platform (the European Sierra) which was predominantly rear-wheel drive - even though it looks like an European Escort Mark VI.

This meant that the RS Cosworth engine was installed longitudinally (north south) as opposed tranversely (east west ie across the car). So it won't fit and the transaxle etc are based on a 4WD car.

Also to be even more confusing from 1989 on, the US Escort was based around the Mazda 323 platform not the shared US/Europe platform that earlier Escorts were based on... However, Ford eventually got the concept right with the Focus which is built in Europe and the US.

[HillbilySailor]

Ouch! I've never heard of this problem myself, but I just replaced the timing belt, water pump, a few hoses, and the serpentine belt on my 94 Escort. I'll give you a little walk-thru on this. First thing you're going to have to do is take the serpentine belt off. You can put a socket wrench right into the belt tensioner (there's a little hole near the top). Push down towards the front of the car, and remove the belt. Jack up the front passenger side of the car and place it on a jack stand. Take off the passenger side wheel. Remove the plastic access cover at the bottom of the wheelwell. You should now see the crankpulley. You'll need a strap wrench of some sort to hold the crank pulley while you take the bolt out. Take out the bolt, and pull off the pulley. Here comes the interesting part. Look at the pulley. Did it come off in two pieces, or anything move on it that shouldn't (none of it should! lol)? Those teeth you see on the back of the pulley are for the ignition. If it didn't come off in two pieces, or nothing moves on the pulley, you might have a real problem. Take a look at the crank snout. Is the key still there? That might have sheared off. If it did, I don't know of any way to fix it, other than replacing the crank. If the crank pulley is the culprit, make sure to look at the reluctor (the sensor that reads the teeth on the back of the pulley). If the teeth hit it in any way, you're going to have to replace it. If you don't, the car will get no fire from the ignition. Also, You should be able to get a pulley at the junkyard. Probably alot cheaper than getting it from the Ford dealership. Hope this helps!

[DreamsofaCobra]

That sounds much simpler than I would have suspected. The mechanic said it was the harmonic dampener, (integrated into the pully I guess) and went ahead and replaced it. He also said it is a common problem. I still dunno. Now the car is lighting the "check engine" indicator. The mechanic said it was an undocumented code. (is there such a thing?) perhaps something to do with those teeth you mentioned. I should check it out. Thankyou for the advice though.

[HillbilySailor]

I've never heard of an "undocumented code". How does the car run? If it runs like it did before the pulley problem, I'd suspect a code is hung in the computer. If the car does run fine, try this simple fix. Take your negative cable off of your battery and leave it off for about 5 minutes. This should be more than enough time to clear any codes that might be hung in the computer. If this doesn't fix it, let me know. I'l tell you how to check codes the 'shade-tree" way! lol And yes, I do know what I'm talking about when it comes to computers. I work on advanced electronics for the Navy! lol Hope this helps!

[replicant_008]

Good call Hill Billy Sailor. Powering down the system and letting it 'reboot' is a tried and true way of clearing these hang ups.

The same goes for undocumented code (say what?) - it sounds like doublespeak for 'I don't know what it means and I don't know how to fix it' or alternatively I've not connected a sensor properly and it will take hours to fix which I can't bill the customer for.

[fordman123]

This is a common failure of the crank pulley.

Ford has sinced (redesigned them)
They say they have.
I guess so, I have had no comebacks!!!

Hope this answers your question DreamsOfACobra