Is my engine toast, broken harmonic balancer

[jstang209]

So I was driving down the street and bam the got worse sound out of an engine you can possbily hear.. shut the car right off and tow it home.. and find this, as you can see there is a large crack on the shaft that slips onto the crankshaft, so I remove the balancer and notice that I can slightly pull out/push in the part of crankshaft that sticks out, this isnt a good sign right, did my crankshaft or something in there possbily break too?

 

[Lawbreaker5.0]

Picture doesn't work. But sounds like your thrust bearing is shot if you have that much endplay on the crankshaft.

 

[2000xp8]

Picture didn't open for me, but i can tell you this, anytime a 5.0 has a balancer failure, theres a good chance the engine isn't far behind. Depending on the damage you may be able to put a new balancer on, but IMO you engine isn't going to last long.

If i were you, i'd be preparing to buy an explorer engine and swap it out with yours.
You can use car-parts.com to find them local to you.

This is why i tell people the balancer should fall under the category of routine maintainence, not fix it when it breaks.

 

[jstang209]

thing was a brand new motor straight from ford..i think the 3 yr warranty just expired too..fml..pic should work now

 

[Lawbreaker5.0]

If it just expired, I know certain places will make an exception, but 6months+ over and your screwed.

You should check your oil or cut your oil filter to check for bearing material. And also check the exact endplay with a dial indicator.

 

[Lawbreaker5.0]

The actual crank pulls in and out or he harmonic balancer. You should be able to pull the balancer off without the removal tool after you pull the bolt.

 

[Bullitt95]

It sounds like the balancer might have broken the front of the crankshaft in which case, just pray that it didn't take out the front of the block as well.

 

[Rick 91GT]

It is weird to crack the hub of the balancer with out another type of failure.....pull the balancer off and see if you can move the crank, if it moves more then .008" total the thrust is gone and the motor needs to come apart.....

 

[BlownFiveLiter]

It sounds like the balancer might have broken the front of the crankshaft in which case, just pray that it didn't take out the front of the block as well.

I agree. Try rotating the engine over by hand and see what you find.

 

[jstang209]

finally had sum time to pull the motor and bam..yay for me...

So what's next...can I just buy another crank shaft and put it back in? It only slightly hit the bottoms of the pistons and left a couple of scratches..I dont need to replace them do I?

 

[2000xp8]

Sorry, i know the feeling, that's why when you said balancer, i figured she was gone.

No don't buy another crank or even attempt to repair it if it's a stock shortblock.
Get an explorer engine and swap out the cam and accessories.
Use car-parts.com to find a price and local engines, i looked a while back for my brother and there was literally hundreds of them on there.

 

[Bullitt95]

finally had sum time to pull the motor and bam..yay for me...

So what's next...can I just buy another crank shaft and put it back in? It only slightly hit the bottoms of the pistons and left a couple of scratches..I dont need to replace them do I?

Looks like I was right. I was hoping otherwise. If the block is still good, you might as well buy a 331 or 347 stroker kit (you need a new crank anyway and possibly pistons too) and gain something from your misfortune.

 

[livinitup11]

This brings back memories for me my 306 did the same thing. My Block cracked and the front half of the crank and balancer were hanging there. Just a thought but might want to invest in a block anyway. Would suck to rebuild the Engine and find out later you had a hairline crack. I went with the 347 and a sportsman block. was a blessing in disguise for me

 

[Cobra912]

yikes sorry to see

 

[jstang209]

This gives me a perfect reason to start my 351 swap but I was recently laid off and UI is a joke..so I dont really have the money right now for anything special. The block is still in good shape, so I would really like to take the cheapest route available just so I can get her running again. She is my DD

 

[2000xp8]

This gives me a perfect reason to start my 351 swap but I was recently laid off and UI is a joke..so I dont really have the money right now for anything special. The block is still in good shape, so I would really like to take the cheapest route available just so I can get her running again. She is my DD

Cheapest route is another complete engine.
I've been in your position, no matter how you slice it, a rebuild is going to cost more than either a 5.0 donor from another mustang or an explorer engine.
You can't just slap the parts back in there, unless of course you don't mind putting oil in the car every few days.

 

[LarsD]

Ouch, that thing is going to need a complete rebuild. Block might even have some hairline cracks that you can't see that could cause problems later on.

Funny, my old 89 cracked its balancer at some point in its life and other then a minor vibration I never new it was busted till I took it apart. I would take it to the track and hot lap it like crazy and it never gave me trouble once. :-/