AwwPhooey

Hello everyone- could use some input from any folks who can spare a minute.

I’ve posted on my car before, and have a new set of questions. The background is, I used to have a 2000 GT, automatic transmission, bought it new. "USED to have" because my son totaled it. Yes, he’s still alive (meaning the accident didn’t kill him, nor did I)…

Not having money for a new car, and not wanting to buy something used that I don’t know the history of, I decided to take the engine out of it and swap it into something else (engine is tip top, I’m **** retentive about maintenance. Have a ’01 Explorer with 250K and a ’96 Ranger with 320K).

I found a solid ride to work with, another 2000 GT, cherry front to rear. Engine was seized (140K), but everything else was stellar. When we took it apart, we found that one of the timing chain tensioners busted, thus the reason for engine seizure.

So, here’s the deal… I’m ok with basics, but I’m not too experienced with more “advanced” concepts- namely, flywheel balancing (which I *think* may be the issue here). The “new” GT is a manual. I wasn’t sure what shape the clutch would be in, so got one ahead of time (just a regular stock). We pulled out the seized engine, swapped in my engine from the automatic, used the new stock clutch and pressure plate I bought, and kept his flywheel and tranny (just stating the obvious). Everything went in fine, we were as careful as can be, and once done car runs like a champ. Except for the vibration. It’s pretty noticeable. Can hear it and feel it and man it feels like crap. So here’s where my inexperience comes in.

A couple of friends suggested that the flywheel may have been balanced with the original engine. I know this may be some basic knowledge for you more steeped folks, it’s just something I never realized the importance of- I’ve only really owned automatics (well, my Ranger is a manual, but hell I’ve never had to do anything with the clutch/tranny). Is this a possibility, and thus a potential cause for the shakes I have now?

If it truly is a case of the flywheel not being in synch with my engine, do I have any options in trying to fix the issue? With a son now in college and Christmas here, I am absolutely too broke to be able to buy another vehicle right now. Plus, I absolutely love this car, it came with lots of nifty aftermarket bolt ons, and I know my engine is in tip top shape.

I’m really dreading the answer that may come out of this. Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Phoo

school boy

first off, where on the car was it totaled? was the totaled car started and engine run fine after wreck? there could have been internal damage. also, what brand flywheel/clutch?

Stevo86

A flywheel is balanced independent of the engine. Like school boy said are you sure the engine is ok? Is your harmonic balancer cracked? Where does the vibration come from? Is it all the time or only when driving? Is it worse at high rpm or speed?

Derf00

Check the Harmonic Balancer and Engine/tranny mounts. Suprisingly a bad motor mount can feel like a miss at idle and under light to moderate loads.

If it's not that simple, get ready to remove the tranny and have the flywheel checked for trueness and balance. In some cases a simple clocking of the flywhere can fix it. By that I mean to take the flywheel off, turn to the left or right byt 90 degrees or 180 and reattach it to the crank. If that doesn't resolve it or turns up nothing, you'll have to take the motor out and check the crank.

AwwPhooey

Thanks Guys for taking the time to respond. I'll try to answer the questions as best I can.

1. First off, where on the car was it totaled? was the totaled car started and engine run fine after wreck? there could have been internal damage. also, what brand flywheel/clutch?

My son smacked into a rear left bumper, so the passenger side front was smacked up, but only up to the engine on that side, and I drove it (albeit slowly). It started and ran at idle after, the same as it had previously (keeping in mind that it was a motor on an A/T at the time). I installed a stock clutch kit from Autozone (I’ll try to post a pic from the part number I have - NU-31175).

2. Is your harmonic balancer cracked? Where does the vibration come from? Is it all the time or only when driving? Is it worse at high rpm or speed?

Feels like both, at idle, taking off and definitely when I’m down the road- at certain speeds I can hear a metallic shimmy sound that comes and goes (wish I could explain it better). The first thing I thought when I heard it was the muffler pipes weren’t secure, but they indeed are. The other noise I have is the ever present Ford tob, but it’s exceptionally chattery in this vehicle (I say ever present, as my Ranger has always had tob chatter, and I’ve read Ford seems pretty notorious with it). But, this tob noise in particular may be a further sign of bad install.

Here’s some add’t info from questions I was asked from others:
1. Did you have the flywheel resurfaced prior to installing the new setup?

Definitely did not.

2. When you assembled the clutch cover/pressure plate to the flywheel did you ensure that the dowel pins on the flywheel were in place?

Yes, fairly certain this was done correctly, because after 30 minutes of trying and not getting it right, (I actually posted a question to this board asking “what the hell am I doing wrong”, then about 20 minutes later after slowly slowly slowly turning, they finally lined up just right).

Thanks again for taking the time to respond!

[img] https://mustangforums.com/forum/memb...re52189-4.html [/img]

school boy

before you start jumping in head first tearing things out, take a visual inspection under the hood while the car is running. make sure everything is turning true without wobble. there were some good advice given above also. in my honest opinion, its a clutch problem

tredburn08

AwwPhooey,

The answer that you are looking for is actually very simple, if your problem is exact to the point where: The entire car shakes upon takeoff, and proceeds to drive normal after getting off the clutch and out of the low RPM's.

The reason for this: The flywheel wears in accordance to that specific clutch. In some cases, it will be only a light vibration and proceeds to go away after a few hundred miles. This is mostly dependent on your shifting habits.

The solution: Simply take your flywheel to a machine shop and have it resurfaced for about 35-40 bucks. DO THIS EVERYTIME YOU REPLACE YOUR CLUTCH. Put all the parts together an enjoy your clean feeling ride!

school boy

its still vibrating after take off and during idle. this is a balancing issue, not a break in issue

tredburn08

Im guaranteeing this is the problem. I just got done doing the same thing with my GT. If the flywheel was not resurfaced, it can cause a variety of different vibrations. I suggest getting the flywheel resurfaced and then diagnose the problem from there. It will get a lot of noise out of the way and you can concentrate on other noises/symptoms.

Just saying that this is a VERY necessary step if you want your problem to be fixed.

tredburn08

Also, how were the flywheel bolts tightened? If I remember right, they should be torqued down to 33 lbs. A moderate to drastic deviation from that spec can cause major driving issues.