Wow that rope trick worked great. I luckily found a 94 2.3 in the junkyard someone murdered the harmonic balancer on and the bolt was loose but it too did not have a washer behind it. But the bolt was already hand loose so the washer could have been lost. I then found a 99 Sport 2.5 automatic that I decided to try the rope trick on. I put it in the #2 cylinder because it was the easiest to get to and it took nothing to break it loose. This one had the bolt and a thick hardened washer just as specified in the fordparts website. So I took it and did the same trick on my 98 2.5 when I got home. It was easy but I should've waited until it was cold. I was able to get off my bolt no problem with the rope in the #2 cylinder and was able to tighten it too to 121ft-lbs factory spec. So now it has the correct bolt and washer. I'm optimistic that this was the fix so I'll drive it a few days before I say it was fixed for sure.

 

OK, good feedback & to hear you found a useable salvage yard crank bolt & washer & got it on without anymore drama. Will be interesting to hear if all remains well.

 

It appears that the crank bolt washer is what it needed. I've been driving for several days and it's ok. I did have to replace the belt because it was stretched. It runs good for the amount of miles it has now which on this replacement engine is probably over 200,000. The idle has calmed down dramatically but it still has the rolling idle at stops but it's far smoother now. It's just weird you can still hear it through the exhaust. It's got good power close to original.

 

OK, that's good to hear, way to hang in there on your trouble shoot. So can we now call it fixed & close out this 9 page thread?

 

Definitely. I'm glad it wasn't a bad motor yet.

 

Ok, well you've earned an Attaboy for not giving up & hanging in there on your looooong 10.5 month resurrection trouble shoot, to see it through to a successful ending. I think we've All learned something from this one on how to put Everything on the suspect list & make All things prove themselves out!!!! lol