I’m hoping someone can help me diagnose my car problem. I was driving my '93 Ford Escort and it threw off the serpentine belt that I had just replaced. When I went to replace it, I found that I couldn’t get the serpentine belt on because the crankshaft pulley was touching the wheel well/car body.
A friend suggested that it is probably an engine mount issue, and I have replaced the front, and passenger side engine mounts, but that has not solved the problem. I’m planning on checking the rear engine mount and the transmission mount, but I was interested in hearing what else might be causing this?
Other details in case they are relevant: It’s the 1.9l engine with 5 speed manual transmission. The engine itself seems to be running fine, except that the crank pulley rubs the wheel well.
Check if the harmonic balancer isn’t coming apart. The harmonic balancer comprises of the outer pulley, an inner hub, and between these two pieces is a piece of rubber. Sometimes the rubber part of the harmonic balancer delaminates which allows the pulley part of the harmonic balancer to shift forward touching the inner wheel well.
Yes, since the belt got thrown off, this clue us in to the harmonic balancer itself comming apart.
a car that age.
a thrown belt.
time for a crank pulley.
Thanks to both of you for your help. If the harmonic balancer is bad will I be able to tell by looking at it without the engine running, or should I watch it with the engine running?
Also, one detail I forgot in my original post, that may be relevant, is that I drove it home without the serpentine belt after it threw the belt, and the only times I could hear the crank pulley rubbing the wheel well were when the rpms would drop, and during turns and braking.
I think the boys are giving you good advice. Think about it, all of the accessories run off the belt are connected to the engine. If the engine mounts were bad, it wouldn’t cause the belt to be thrown.
The outer faces of the inner and outer portions of a good crank pulley will be even with each other ( – ) and you would be hard pressed to even know it was a two piece assembly.
When comming apart you’ll notice the two surfaces un-even ( -_ ).