Need Help: 2000 Mustang V6 Rough Start(cold) Rough Idle, Misfire/Shudder
10-10-2014, 07:56 AM
#22
1st Gear Member
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: FL
Posts: 90
What you are describing sounds exactly like the harmonic balancer has shifted. You can't tell by looking at it, but it sure throws the engine out of balance. It will rattle the car at different RPM's and start shaking the engine apart. If you go to replace yours, make sure you have the VIN#. There was a change in design mid-year and the only way to get the correct replacement is with your VIN. I chased this problem for a few months - I was convinced it was a miss and I checked that engine all the way through. Fuel, Ignition, compression, plugs, engine mounts, trans mount - I checked everything. I put a new balancer on the engine and it smoothed right out.
Corky
Corky
10-10-2014, 02:23 PM
#23
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 80
What you are describing sounds exactly like the harmonic balancer has shifted. You can't tell by looking at it, but it sure throws the engine out of balance. It will rattle the car at different RPM's and start shaking the engine apart. If you go to replace yours, make sure you have the VIN#. There was a change in design mid-year and the only way to get the correct replacement is with your VIN. I chased this problem for a few months - I was convinced it was a miss and I checked that engine all the way through. Fuel, Ignition, compression, plugs, engine mounts, trans mount - I checked everything. I put a new balancer on the engine and it smoothed right out.
Corky
Corky
I know I've read countless threads on this issue and have been thinking about the HB all along in between.
I drove the car yesterday, put about 50mi on it, mostly hwy and some around town. When I first got on the hwy at first yesterday the vibration was mostly inherent at a steady 55mph, when I got it up to 65 it started to smooth out. Parked the car for a few hours, then drove back home, same route and on the hwy returnining home and the vibration felt worse than before. I got on it pretty hard a few times and it seemed to pull ok and felt smoother when in the power band. But as soon as I cruise again vibration there, especialy in the sweet spot of 1500-2000RPM.
Is there any way to tell visually if the balancer shifted on itself? Any alignment marks one can go off of the balancer?
10-13-2014, 07:19 AM
#24
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Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: FL
Posts: 90
I didn't line up the timing marks to check to see if the HB moved. I looked very closely at the rubber insulator and I could see small cracks and the rubber appeared to be dry rotted. I figured it should be replaced anyway and I was at my wits end with the vibration. It was so frustrating that I couldn't get this car to run smoothly. That was the first HB I replaced in a car in 35 years. I wish I could post a few pics for you, but I'll be damned if I can see a way to post!
Corky
Corky
10-13-2014, 08:00 AM
#25
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Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: New Jersey
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I've uploaded a few shots I took of the balancer. The rubber appears to be fine, I don't notice any cracks or any separation. Not completely ruling it out of the picture.
On a side note, I drove the car quite a bit over the weekend and noticed that out of the blue sometimes once I start driving the vibration isn't as bad, when other times it's super annoying. Could a faulty HB intermittently exhibit vibration while cancelling itself out a bit? Perhaps shifting around ever so slightly?
On a side note, I drove the car quite a bit over the weekend and noticed that out of the blue sometimes once I start driving the vibration isn't as bad, when other times it's super annoying. Could a faulty HB intermittently exhibit vibration while cancelling itself out a bit? Perhaps shifting around ever so slightly?
10-13-2014, 05:01 PM
#27
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Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: FL
Posts: 90
That's the way mine looked, except that I had many small cracks in the rubber around the circumference. I would have never condemned it, because I couldn't see where anything had moved. I do recall driving the car would feel better than idling - as I shifted thru the gears and got to higher RPM's the vibration was less. But it was always there when I pushed the clutch in and the RPM's dropped at each shift - and it was always present at idle. Driving it, it sometimes felt like the vibration was loping (come and go) as I passed thru certain RPM bands.
I don't know, it's a tough call. Continue eliminating possible causes until the HB is your last possible cause.
Corky
I don't know, it's a tough call. Continue eliminating possible causes until the HB is your last possible cause.
Corky
10-13-2014, 05:26 PM
#28
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 80
That's the way mine looked, except that I had many small cracks in the rubber around the circumference. I would have never condemned it, because I couldn't see where anything had moved. I do recall driving the car would feel better than idling - as I shifted thru the gears and got to higher RPM's the vibration was less. But it was always there when I pushed the clutch in and the RPM's dropped at each shift - and it was always present at idle. Driving it, it sometimes felt like the vibration was loping (come and go) as I passed thru certain RPM bands.
I don't know, it's a tough call. Continue eliminating possible causes until the HB is your last possible cause.
Corky
I don't know, it's a tough call. Continue eliminating possible causes until the HB is your last possible cause.
Corky
11-07-2014, 01:34 PM
#29
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Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 80
Just an update, I've done some more tinkering with my scan tool with the live data feed and modules present. Not sure if anyone here is experienced with this stuff, I've tried looking some of these up online but very hard to. Still NO check engine light triggered but car experiences same behaviors. I recently changed the trans fliud and filter (complete drain and fill) which didn't seem to affect anything.
What I noticed from my scan tool is there appears to be a minor 'event' going on in cylinder 5. All cylinders pull the same readings in the 'test' field except for #5, which tells me to suspect something there. Also, when running through options with the EGR, it shows a failure in the DPFE Downstream hose so I'll have to inspect this further and check for breaks in the hose itself or possibly blockage I suppose. Keep in mind that I've replaced all plugs/wires/coil w/ motorcraft parts and had already inspected the plugs and they all looked fine. Looking back when I did the wires originally, I DID happen to cross #5 & 6 wires and started the car up, of course it ran like hell so I immediately shut it down. Not sure if any permanent damage could've been caused to the new wires but I'll check them for spark and also the injector on #5. I can try and get some screenshots of this live data if someone has any experience w/ these advanced OBDII modes on Fords?
What I noticed from my scan tool is there appears to be a minor 'event' going on in cylinder 5. All cylinders pull the same readings in the 'test' field except for #5, which tells me to suspect something there. Also, when running through options with the EGR, it shows a failure in the DPFE Downstream hose so I'll have to inspect this further and check for breaks in the hose itself or possibly blockage I suppose. Keep in mind that I've replaced all plugs/wires/coil w/ motorcraft parts and had already inspected the plugs and they all looked fine. Looking back when I did the wires originally, I DID happen to cross #5 & 6 wires and started the car up, of course it ran like hell so I immediately shut it down. Not sure if any permanent damage could've been caused to the new wires but I'll check them for spark and also the injector on #5. I can try and get some screenshots of this live data if someone has any experience w/ these advanced OBDII modes on Fords?
