Is the flywheel an ATP branded one? Or just the ring gear? I'll use their ring gears and flexplates, but I'd stay away from their flywheels.

If it were my truck I would get a new flywheel, either a factory ford piece or a nice billet steel one. I wouldn't trust the cheap aftermarket flywheels. Their casting and machining quality is suspect, I wouldn't be surprised if they machined it off center.

Sam

 

Very strange, poor quality is the only thing I can think of.

 

I'll get back in there and measure clearance to the pinion gear in a few places to see if it's not straight. Seems weird that two of them in a row would have that same issue, however cheap.

 

Very weird. Having gone through some issues with the ring gear pitch (number of teeth) on my own FE's, I'm still not sure what's going on here.

The ONLY thing I can think of is, who's putting the ring gear on the flywheel? The common way to do it is to heat the ring gear, and then quickly put it on the flywheel, and tap it down before it cools off again. If the installer is heating the ring gear up too far, the hardening is gone, and the teeth break. It shouldn't even be slightly red when heated up. And the entire ring gear should be heated to install it, not just one spot.

If I'm reading this right, you're buying the entire flywheel with the ring gear already installed? Just buy a ring gear, drill some holes in the old one and chisel it to break it, and install the new one after heating it evenly with a torch. But not until it's even a dull red, it doesn't have to be heated a whole lot.

Again, nothing comes quickly to mind except that the ring gear was heated up too much during the install.

How hard is it to break off a tooth with a pair of vice grips or a hammer? If you tap the end of a tooth with a hammer, does it mush like clay, or does it splinter and crack? (wear eye protection )

 

The best method I've used for installing a ring gear is to put the flex plate in the freezer and the ring gear in the oven. Set to 400 degrees. Make sure to wear thermal gloves and be quick.

 

The first one was a complete ATP flywheel. The second one was another complete ATP flywheel (because they replaced it for free - it had 7 teeth broken off, all in one section). The third time I put a ring gear from O'Reiley on using the freezer trick for the flywheel and some light torch heat for the ring gear. I'm confident I didn't get it too hot.

 

Your timing may still be too far advanced. This can happen when the outer ring of the balancer slips on its hub and the timing marks become meaningless.


Check your TDC marks are correct by using a piston stop and degree wheel (rotate both ways with plugs out, and the average should be zero).

 

Well... Thanks Argess - I think (know) you may be on to something. Only, I don't think the balancer slipped - I think it was the idiot under the hood with the wrench. I played with the timing once I had everything back together and discovered that she had quite a bit more power with the timing advanced - a lot.
Before I pull this gd transmission for the 4th time, I'd like to understand exactly how dumb I am. How does advancing the timing cause this? I'm almost sure you're right, I just want to completely understand the "mechanics" of the horribly stupid mistake I've made. (talk about wanting to kick yourself..)

 

When you set the timing too far advanced, you are setting the spark plug to fire farther away from TDC. If the spark plug fires and the intake charge starts burning too soon, it will try to push the piston back down backwards in rotation, causing the engine to kick back and not run. Also it will kick the flexplate against the starter and whichever tooth is weaker or more brittle..... well, just say BYE-BYE TOOTH